1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,160 Welcome to Milestone Moments, the show where we explore the journeys that lead to success. 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:14,000 I'm Sheila Slick, your host and founder of Five Milestones. In every episode, we will bring you 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:21,520 insights from the minds of entrepreneurs, leaders, and experts who will share not just their expertise 4 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:27,440 but the milestone moments that have reshaped their journeys and led to significant achievements. 5 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:33,120 So if you're looking for motivation, you're in the right place. Subscribe now and discover the 6 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:43,600 milestones that mark the path to success. Welcome to another episode of Milestone Moments in Business 7 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:51,600 and Leadership. I'm Sheila Slick, your host, and today my special guest is Alison Vowen. Alison is 8 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:57,040 a positive intelligence coach who helps people unlock their potential by mastering the mental 9 00:00:57,040 --> 00:01:03,440 habits that lead to greater clarity, focus, and success. Welcome to the show, Alison. 10 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:09,680 Thanks so much for having me again, Sheila. I know we were just talking about this synergy 11 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:19,920 that we're feeling which shows living the example of what life brings when you meet other people, 12 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:25,920 you find like-minded people, you join community groups, that power of networking because you 13 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:32,160 never know how you're going to connect and grow with someone else. Absolutely. Absolutely. Meeting 14 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:39,520 you has been so exciting, and I'm telling you, when you find people who are like-minded, the 15 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:45,840 things that you can do together far exceed anything that we can do independently. We can reach more 16 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:51,040 people, we can help more people, we can solve more problems. So I'm really excited to be here with 17 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:59,600 you today. I'm excited too, and I wanted to make this a continuation. When we were talking in one 18 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:06,400 of our other episodes, we were talking about you call it a vision plan. I was calling it my next 19 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:16,640 steps or my milestone moments plan that helps us to build a vision that lasts not just for today, 20 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:27,120 but through time. Envisioning our future self is so powerful. We can actually go and consult our 21 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:37,760 future self, and it will help us to do the things today that are going to get us there. But in order 22 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:46,080 to even have that conversation with our future self, we have to have some idea of who she is 23 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:53,200 and what she's up to and what her dreams are and what she has accomplished. So that's my personal 24 00:02:53,200 --> 00:03:00,880 vision. I write that down, and I read it every day. Well, we were both in synergy when we used 25 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:07,280 the word compass, right? Because I like to think of that long-term vision as an internal compass, 26 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:11,920 right? It helps you keep on track. So when challenges arise or you think you're going off 27 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:17,360 track and you can look back and say, well, I had it written down somewhere, but I do keep it in a 28 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:25,120 place where I can see it and be revising it. And that also allows me to make better decisions, 29 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:31,040 because if I've already set that vision, then it can work as a filter when I'm trying to make 30 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:37,520 a decision and then analyze it and say, well, is this decision based on track? Is it going to get 31 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:42,800 me to where I want to be based on this plan? It doesn't mean it can't change. It just provides 32 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:50,000 like that internal filter that makes decision making easier for me. Absolutely. I love what 33 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:55,360 you just said, because what I do is I, when I'm in the process of making a decision and I 34 00:03:55,920 --> 00:04:00,480 didn't come up with this myself, one of my coaches has taught me how to do this, 35 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:09,440 ask myself, is this in alignment with my vision? If I have a vision of financial prosperity, 36 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:18,400 but I am and ease and flow in my life and building wealth, but I decide to embark on an activity that 37 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:24,960 really doesn't fit with that, not thinking of a very good example at the moment. Maybe I'll come 38 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:31,600 up with that in our conversation, but asking myself, does this decision align or this opportunity 39 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:36,800 align with my vision? Because not all opportunities that come to us are things that we should get on 40 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:46,080 board with. And I also liken the personal vision to when we buy a vehicle. I don't know about you, 41 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:54,960 I don't know about you, but when I buy a vehicle, all of a sudden I see my vehicle so much more on 42 00:04:54,960 --> 00:05:02,560 the road. Like I see all the same models and I just, you know, it just cracks me up. But it is 43 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:09,840 an example of how what we're focusing on is what we recognize more of in the world. So if we're 44 00:05:09,840 --> 00:05:16,160 reading our vision, what happens is we recognize more opportunities that may have been there all 45 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:23,280 along that we didn't see because we weren't intentional about keeping that alive in our mind, 46 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:31,440 in our thoughts, in our dream. I agree. And sometimes life will just have different plans 47 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:38,480 for you and that's okay. But I think it wasn't in my earlier years that I was able to appreciate 48 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:46,080 what you just said. But as a joke when my daughter, so I have three kids, two boys, my middle child 49 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:52,240 is my daughter and we were living overseas even though, and we always meant to come back, 50 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:58,080 move back to Florida, but it was when she was getting ready to graduate that I just kept 51 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:03,200 telling her, well, I'm going to go with you in your suitcase. I'm going with you back to college. 52 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:09,520 I had always wanted that master's degree. You're a hyper achiever. Yes, hyper achiever. And it was 53 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:16,880 a joke. I wasn't planning on packing my bags and moving back to the States to go to college with 54 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:26,480 my daughter. And 2018 came around and within 48 hours, my life just changed. We ended up living 55 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:31,920 like we were living in, you know, COVID. Schools got canceled and we all had to just jump online 56 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:36,880 and figure out how to finish out that school year. That's what that situation was like. So yeah, 57 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:45,360 that vision plan was beautiful. And it certainly didn't have Sheila moving back to the States 58 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:52,320 in March. And in June, I found myself living here. And you know what? I went back to college. 59 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:59,200 Oh my gosh, that's amazing. So what you just described, I call a pivot. Your life took a pivot, 60 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:05,680 right? And sometimes we choose to pivot. Sometimes circumstances require us to pivot, 61 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:12,960 but it does have an impact on our vision, right? And look at you. You stepped into something. You 62 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:18,960 were almost prophetic in your joking with your daughter and talking about going back to college 63 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:25,360 with her. And here you were going back to get your master's degree. So tell us more about that. 64 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:30,080 I'm assuming you finished, right? I was so motivated. It was going to be an MBA 65 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:35,440 because there's two skills I think everyone needs, no matter what you do in life. One is communication, 66 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,200 the power of communication. It's not what you do. It's not who you are. It's how you say it, 67 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:44,080 how you treat people. And communication is key to be able to express yourself. 68 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:50,400 The second one is finances. Because you could be a doctor, you could be a lawyer, 69 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:57,280 you could be a janitor, you could be an admin, and you need to learn how to manage that salary 70 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:03,280 or that profit if you're a business owner. And so those are two skills that I think are essential, 71 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:10,400 no matter who you are and what you do in life. Totally agree. So Robert Kiyosaki talks about 72 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:18,720 it as our financial IQ, that we always have to be improving that and understanding money 73 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:24,320 and understanding how to manage money, how to invest money, understanding our money mindset. 74 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:31,360 There's even a term now that they call money trauma, because we might have experienced times 75 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:41,200 of great loss around money or our parents may have had lots of fear about money. So I love that you 76 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:47,360 just brought up this knowing what your relationship to money is and how to manage it. 77 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:54,160 I was pulling my hairs out because even though I was budgeting and doing cash flow statements, 78 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:59,920 I felt that they didn't teach me everything I needed to know at the undergrad level, right? 79 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:05,600 Like how to interpret these ratios and how to make smarter decisions. And sometimes I found myself 80 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:12,080 like scratching my head and looking for those mentors to help answer questions. So that 81 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:17,840 opportunity here was going to be an MBA with a focus on finance, because that's where I felt 82 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:26,720 I had to get to that next step. But I ended up choosing a leadership elective and it began 83 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:35,760 with critical thinking. And so none of that was in that vision plan necessarily. And what perhaps was 84 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:43,680 all along was that internal need or want to get that master's degree. So it did get fulfilled. 85 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:50,640 And I still question myself, did I plant that seed in my head when I kept joking with my daughter, 86 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:58,720 right? With college with you, because we did end up at college during the same time frame, right? 87 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:05,680 I was still getting the master's when she started college. So be careful what you wish for. And to 88 00:10:05,680 --> 00:10:14,000 me, that's what this vision represents, whatever you're envisioning can happen. And you can take 89 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:20,880 those steps to also get there. And if life gets in the way or a change comes, you just need to 90 00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:24,320 adapt and continue with that long-term vision. 91 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:30,880 Absolutely. I love what you just said about adapting and going into those pivots, because 92 00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:35,920 circumstances can sometimes call us to have to do that. And how amazing that you and your daughter 93 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:42,560 were in college at the same time. And it all started with this joke. And who knows whether 94 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:47,520 that was something that you were birthing in yourself, or maybe it was there all along and 95 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:52,880 all of a sudden, you were just, your joke was the way of it coming forth into your life. And 96 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:58,240 the way of it coming forth into your consciousness and your awareness. And you just followed that 97 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:03,920 call to learn more, be more, and break that glass ceiling for yourself. 98 00:11:03,920 --> 00:11:10,240 So it was, but it wasn't on purpose. And I, you know, we were there, I still have a younger 99 00:11:10,240 --> 00:11:16,320 child who's about to graduate this year. But at that moment, I was not contemplating. Like I said, 100 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:21,120 I was happy with my company. I was happy with my life, everything. I felt I was like at the top of 101 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:28,560 the game. So it was a joke. I figured maybe once the youngest, which was six years ago, graduates, 102 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:34,560 that's when we'll start to plan and put in that vision moving back to Florida. But it happened a 103 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:40,800 lot sooner than you thought. And that's a great point. So sometimes when we create a picture of 104 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:46,560 our future self, we have to be careful that we don't try to put into place all the ways that it 105 00:11:46,560 --> 00:11:52,640 could come to be and could come to pass. Because there may be things that are coming that you don't 106 00:11:52,640 --> 00:12:00,640 realize it could accelerate your progress in that direction. So be careful that we stay focused on 107 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:06,880 where we're headed and become intentional about just continuing to keep that in our awareness 108 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:14,640 and be open to showing, seeing the opportunities that show up in our lives. And have the courage 109 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:22,640 to take steps. And if you're listening to this and you're in business or you have that seed in 110 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:28,880 your head that in your future vision, you want to be self-employed or start your own company. 111 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:36,960 I can't underestimate the importance of taking the time to do a business plan. And it could be 112 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:42,320 a simple one pager, which we call a Kiva business plan that'll help you validate, you know, that idea. 113 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:47,280 Or then it can become an eight, nine pager. And unless you're looking for loans, which is why 114 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:53,600 financials are always important, it can at least help you visualize and make sure you know how 115 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:59,840 you're going to get from that vision to the end of the plan and what that looks like two years on 116 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:04,960 the road and three years on the road. In a previous episode, you talked about building that home or 117 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:11,280 that house and the in the case of building a business that plan it to me is that foundation. 118 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:17,280 And so if you don't have a strong foundation, it's your structure is not going to be stable 119 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:23,440 and sustainable over time. So it is so important. And if you have a business, and maybe this wasn't 120 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:29,520 a step that someone advised you to create, it's not too late, you can go back and you can create 121 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:34,560 it because it will still support your business and its growth and in your own development as a 122 00:13:34,560 --> 00:13:40,080 business owner. It's like building a house without a blueprint. That's a good way to 123 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:46,960 that's a good way to reframe that I'm going to build that house or building something without 124 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:51,200 a set of instructions, right? Where you're like, I'm going to just wait, I can figure this out. 125 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:59,440 That's exactly what life is without some kind of long term vision. Well, I want to share how 126 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:06,720 you get through that vision, right? Because we're talking long term vision, even if at this point, 127 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:12,000 one year is long term, which to me is medium term, right? Long term, what, three to five years, 128 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:18,800 it's really important to be able to balance the short term wings with that long vision, 129 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:25,680 those long term goals. And I do that by three ways. I break it down in a step. So if my personal 130 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:30,880 vision, if I'm starting where I'm at, and let's just say, I don't know how to put this into an 131 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:39,280 example. Okay, let's put it in the architectural home. Okay, my first step would be to get a plan. 132 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:43,920 And then that would be a celebration. That would be the first step, I would break it down. I know I 133 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:48,880 can't build the house if I don't have the plan. So the moment I do the plan, that's a baby stepper. 134 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:56,000 That's a step. And you celebrate that. Even that step has very a lot of micro steps in it, because 135 00:14:56,000 --> 00:15:01,280 you have to decide how many bedrooms, how many stories, how many bathrooms, where are the bedrooms 136 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:06,720 going to be? What's the square footage? It's, you've got to look at where you're building the house. 137 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:12,560 And does the topography of the ground support the home that you want to build? And so on and so forth. 138 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:19,360 So yeah, I love having the plan. And that plan has many, many steps within it as well. 139 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:25,360 That's a great point. Because I was about to just jump into the permits, right? Like the second part 140 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:31,440 is going and get the permits and the builder. Oh, goodness, I've had my conversations, you know, 141 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:38,160 with builders and customers about those decisions. And those are interesting decisions when you're 142 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:44,720 building a home. And sometimes they have to be tweaked. Because if you find out the topography 143 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:49,120 doesn't support it, or you're going to talk about going to the permitting stage, sometimes you go 144 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,960 and you request permits, you don't get the permits you requested. So you have to go back to the 145 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:59,440 drawing board. And it's all part of the journey, that it's okay. So we have to, as we're creating 146 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:06,080 plans for our life, our businesses or for a home, it's best for us to anticipate that we're going 147 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:13,360 to have to pivot. It's part of the process. Nothing's gone wrong here. And to stay committed to 148 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:18,640 the journey of whatever you're building. I love that because you mentioned point number three, 149 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:26,480 which is refine as you go. So even if you export it from Word to PDF, just make sure you have that 150 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:33,200 Word document available that's editable, because more than likely, it's going to change. And you 151 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:39,680 just have to adapt and move forward. So I love that. The only thing in life that's guaranteed 152 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:47,600 is that things will change. Also, by breaking it down and making sure to celebrate each step, 153 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:53,040 if you see it as that building blocks, as we were talking about homes, you're also keeping yourself 154 00:16:53,040 --> 00:17:00,160 motivated. And that leads to momentum. In the end, that's what's gonna generate success, right? 155 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:06,880 Sustainable, rather than just a temporary thing where I said, okay, that's what I want to be, 156 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:12,240 but then not break it down and not acknowledge where you're at along the way. 157 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:18,880 Absolutely. And I am a voracious reader. And there's a book that I like to recommend that 158 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:24,160 the listeners consider getting an audible or buying, and it's called The Gap and the Gain. 159 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:32,640 And what you learn there is it's important for us to look at the gain, which is what you just 160 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:37,600 described in celebrating these small successes that are all part of the building blocks of where 161 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:45,120 we're headed, right? Celebrate every time we get to the gym, celebrate every time we add more reps 162 00:17:45,120 --> 00:17:50,560 or we increase our weight if we're lifting, just to use physical fitness as an example. 163 00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:57,920 What our brain has a tendency to do is look at the gap. So the gap is that's where I want to go, 164 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:04,240 this is where I am. And wow, look at that huge gap that I have to fill. And that's not where the 165 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:09,600 motivation is going to come from, because that's negative. It's kind of discouraging because 166 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:14,800 sometimes it's a long way, you know, if we're looking at getting our PhD, let's say, and we're 167 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:19,120 still in undergrad, that's another what, five, six years before we're going to get to that point. 168 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:25,360 So looking at the gain and all the progress that we've made from where we started to where we are 169 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:33,520 now. Gap and the gain, trying to remember that I think the author's name is Silverman, but I'm not 170 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:39,600 sure. Well, when you remember it, I can find it and put that link down below in the description. 171 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:48,400 And do you have a plan or you have an assessment in case some someone wants to contact you or say, 172 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:54,480 help me with my vision plan? Is that part of your program? That's not the work that I typically do 173 00:18:54,480 --> 00:19:00,880 with clients. So that's not something I offer at this point. Something that I would like to offer 174 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:07,680 in the future. Well, there you go. So I need a name for mine and we can start by sharing mine 175 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:14,080 as we continue to explore all the different ways that we have that synergy. Maybe we can 176 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:19,280 continue sharing resources. I'll name mine either next steps or it's going to tie in a 177 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:24,240 milestone because I'm all about celebrating the milestones. Anyone have any suggestions, 178 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:29,360 feel free to reach out on social media or leave me your comment with your name suggestions. And 179 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:36,720 as soon as I have it, that I will wrap it up and leave a link in the comments for you so that you 180 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:47,040 can start on your next steps plan. Yeah. And the author of the book I recommended is Dan Silverman 181 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:52,480 and he writes it with Dr. Benjamin Hardy. And Dr. Benjamin Hardy also wrote another book, 182 00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:58,640 which ties into our conversation today called Be Your Future Self Now. And it's a beautiful 183 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:06,560 example for people to start stepping into who is your future self. Thank you so much for joining 184 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:12,800 me today, Allison. And to all of you listening in today, if I can leave you with a thought, 185 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:19,040 it's that the future isn't built in one day, but every day you do have the opportunity to take a 186 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:29,920 step towards that life that you envision. So until next time, bye now.