As a business owner, many opportunities arise. Many of these opportunities will be incredible business opportunities to grow or increase income, however many of these opportunities will also move you away from your vision of your ideal life. A life plan is the foundation for not only your business plan, but also for the decisions that you will need to make in your business.
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Dream Your Life into Existence
As children, daydreaming was a daily activity. We imagined growing up to be doctors, firefighters, or famous rock stars. We dreamed of traveling the world, learning to surf, or meeting our heroes. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, society told us that it was time to stop dreaming.

Dreaming is a powerful tool. Take some time to dream about your ideal life. Imagine a day in your ideal life ten years from now. Describe it in vivid detail from the moment you wake up. Don’t censor yourself! Include details about:
• Who are you with?
• Where are you?
• What are you doing (for income/for fun/for health)?
• Why are you doing it?

If you have a significant other, include them in this process. Each person should create their own vision. Share your visions with each other. Are you on the same page? Can these visions happen together? With some creativity and comprise, you can create a vision for your relationship that allows both partners to live out a dream. The ability to dream and plan your life together is one of the secrets to happy and long marriages.

Focus on Values
Former Coca-Cola CEO Brian Dyson once said “Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them: work, family, health, friends, and spirit – and you’re keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But, the other four balls – family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.”

Understanding your core values will help you to make better decisions to achieve your ideal life. For example, one of my core values is my marriage. My husband is my partner in life. I nurture that relationship and quickly back off of projects, situations, or business relationships that will prevent me from spending quality time with my husband.

When discovering your core values, here are some questions to consider:
• What’s really important to you?
• When you think about your life, what’s most valuable to you?
• What is the purpose of money in your life?
• Where do you want to spend your time?
• What do you want to contribute?
• What do you want to leave behind as your legacy?

Clearly write out your top five core values in a value circle. (If you have a partner, have them do the same.) Each decision you make should be helping you to live a life in balance with your core values. When you make decisions based on someone else’s needs or values, you will quickly find that life becomes more difficult, stressful, and unbalanced.

Set Goals!
Once a year, millions of people make a hoopla about setting a goal that will help them achieve (or get a step closer to) their ideal life. Lose weight! Save money! Spend time with my family! And two weeks later, these goals are long forgotten until the same resolutions are made next year.

People that achieve incredible things in their life are goal setters. They understand the importance of achieving small victories as you work towards the bigger vision. Goal setting is powerful. It is an inspiration to work towards your vision every day. A milestone in the creation of your ideal life. And most importantly – it is written down and reviewed regularly!

Start creating powerful goals! This technique will help you write clear goals that include the actions that you must take to achieve them. Consider each of the following when writing your goals for the next 1, 5, and 10 years.
• Specific – Describe in detail who, what, when and where.
• Present Tense – Write the goal as if you are achieving it today.
• Measurable – How will you know you have accomplished the goal?
• Time bound – Give yourself a specific deadline – down to the day!
• Challenge – If the goal is not challenging you, why aren’t you doing it already?
• Actions – Include what you are doing to achieve your goal!
• Affirmative – Write affirmative goals about want to want to happen – the law of attraction does not see the difference between what you do and don’t want. So leave out the don’t wants!

Here is a template for creating 1, 5, and 10 year goals for your personal life, health, and career.Download Goal Setting Worksheet

Now create your business plan!
Now that you have a clear picture of what you are trying to accomplish in your life, you can begin to manifest a career or business that will help you to achieve your ideal life!
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Learn the essentials of creating a functional business plan with The Yogipreneur Blog – Creating a Business Plan coming June 24th!

Owning and running a successful studio requires more than knowledge of yoga. It requires more than knowledge of business. A yogipreneur embodies a unique set of skills and traits required to endure the roller-coaster of running a business. Do you have what it takes to be a spiritual entrepreneur?
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Why do you want to open a yoga business?

This is one of the most important questions to ask yourself before opening a business. Do you have a burning passion for yoga? For helping people? For making a difference? Most likely, this passion for transforming lives is your primary reason for starting a yoga business.

However, businesses do not survive on passion alone. Unlike many other entrepreneurs, yoga business owners often view money as a necessary evil. Money is neither good or evil – it is simply one energy exchanged for another. And most importantly, a solid understanding of the true nature of abundance reveals that an abundance of money allows you to provide an abundance of services, education, and training to your students.

You must have both a passion for yoga as well as acceptance of financial sustainability to ensure the success of any yoga business.

The Ideal & The Real

Opening a new business very similar to having a child. You dream of having this beautiful baby who giggles and coos, smelling that sweet baby smell, dressed in those tiny little clothes. Then you wake up. Reality sets in. You are up all night. Just when the baby settles down, you are up again. It is messy and you are exhausted. Isn’t it lovely?

So let’s start with the good news first. There are many pros to opening a business, but here are my top three:

• Freedom! Finally – you are out of the daily grind. You are the boss. And you can work in the middle of the day in your PJs if you like. You decide what to do and when to do it.
• Fun! If you love what you do, it never feels like work! So creating a career out of a passion be one of the most rewarding ways to make a life, not just a living.
• Financial Abundance! Owning a business is one of the best ways to eliminate that cap on your income. Your income is 100% dictated by your success. The sky is the limit!

Now let’s look at what really goes into owning a business:

• Sweat Equity Expect to work long hours and weekends to get your business off the ground. The “if you build it, they will come” mentality is business suicide. You will need to learn and execute all areas of business (marketing, sales, operations, and finance). Expect to keep your nose to the grindstone for at least 2-3 years! The pros (above) only come once you have established your business and it is breaking even.
• Getting Paid You will have to sacrifice a regular paycheck and benefits until your business can afford to pay you.
• Issues Problems will arise on a regular basis and you will have to figure it out.

Although it can seem overwhelming, you can create a successful and profitable business if you have the personality, skills, and traits of successful entrepreneurs.

Are you a Yogipreneur?

It takes many different personalities, skills and traits to build a business. The only trait absolutely required of an entrepreneur is the ability to see opportunities instead of problems. This is what distinguishes entrepreneurs from most people. Obstacles are simply challenges. Entrepreneurs find a way to move forward. The burning passionate desire to achieve their vision motivates entrepreneurs to forge ahead.

What else does it take?

• Positive Attitude Yogipreneurs are optimists. They believe that they can overcome any challenge. They don’t let negative energy deter them from achieving their goal.

• Confidence Yogipreneurs believe in themselves and their vision.
• Perseverance Patience is a virtue! Yogipreneurs know that they will have to fail before they succeed.
• Motivation Yogipreneurs are motivated and driven to achieve their vision.
• Discipline Yogipreneurs can stay focused and achieve their goals on time.
• Adaptability Yogipreneurs can handle new challenges and situations. They understand that the only constant is Change!
• Time Management Yogipreneurs organize their time to focus on the most impactful tasks.
• Persuasiveness Yogipreneurs can convince anyone to try yoga! Their passion attracts new students consistently.
• Emotional Competence Yogipreneurs understand there will be incredible days and there will be horrible days. They understand that failure is a learning opportunity.
• Support System Without a strong support system, you will begin to feel very lonely very fast. Although friends and family are well-meaning, most entrepreneurs are initially discouraged to leave the security of a regular paycheck to start a new business.
• Strong Team Yogipreneurs surround themselves with a business team, mentors and coaches. A strong team can provide advice, insight, and support as you start your business.

Starting a yoga business requires ongoing learning. Your business will only grow as fast as you can learn, adapt, and overcome obstacles. Mistakes are a blessing and valuable learning tool. Have humility and ask for help or advice. And never waiver from your burning passion of sharing yoga to the world.[/private]

Take a moment now and consider that vision. Imagine that you had achieved this ideal business. What does it look like? What are you doing? Where are you spending your time? What kind of services do you offer? Who are you helping? Who is on your team? What is your ultimate goal?

Hold this mental picture of your ideal business in your mind. See yourself in that vision. From this day forward, each time an opportunity or idea arises, ask yourself if it will bring you closer to your vision. Action in the direction of your ideal business will magnetize your dream to you.

So it surprises me that many yogis begin on the journey of a yoga business (teaching or owning a studio) without a goal in mind. They spend more time planning classes than planning for their business.

Without a clearly defined purpose, the business is more likely to be unfocused and lack direction. When opportunities or roadblocks arise, how do you decide what to do or what not to do if you don’t even know where you are going?

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1. Work/life balance – People say that they want to have a better work life balance, but what do they do? Instead of spending quality time with their family, they are checking emails. Instead of having a date night, they sit in front of the tv.

2. Health – We are the only developed nation that is going backwards with our health. How many people say that they want to lose weight, they want to get in shape or even just get off all the medications? MILLIONS. But what do they do? Make excuses.

3. Wealth – Ummm, all I have to say is look at the economy. People want to become wealthy, but they are not going about it the right way. Greed never brings abundance.

Why am I talking about these values and what do they have to do with yoga?

Yogipreneurs – as the Blues Brothers said, you are on a mission from God. Yoga offers an outlet for people to live a great life (as opposed to mediocre – see other notes). An inspiring yoga teacher helps their students realize what is important and commit to their own transformation. And it is only their transformation, their own journey to enlightenment, that will allow them to find stillness and peace in their life, on and off the mat.

MEDIOCRITY

* Living a “FINE” life
* Just going with the motions of life – not “living” life
* Status Quo
* Following a predetermined path
* Following a “leader”
* Stagnant
* A vocabulary full of “I wish and I hope”, excuses and blame
* Worrying about what others think
* Not taking control of ones life
* Continually trying to look good
* Not loving every moment life
* Unhealthy Mind = Unhealthy Body

GREATNESS

* Leading a “great” life on a daily basis
* Creating your own path in this world
* Being a “leader”
* Unique individual
* Do not live your life concerned about how you look or what others think
* Live a life full of endless possibilities
* Open to failing and making mistakes
* Learning and new experiences
* Knowledge
* Continually moving forward
* Confident, strong and courageous
* Personal Responsibility – full ownership of one’s life
* Making a difference – being a contribution