Ask yourself why?

“What’s your vision?”  I was asked.  And there was a silence as I pondered over the question.

Coming from the non-profit sector, a vision to me was often some lofty goal of saving the world, etc… And so I really hadn’t spent too much time figuring out what my vision was.  I was just too busy doing it.  

Plus … when I started Company of Women, beyond wanting to meet up with other like-minded business women, I really didn’t have a vision or a even a mission statement for that matter.  Basically I was finding it lonely working at home and craved the company of others who were in the same situation.  Nothing altruistic there.  My plans were quite self-serving.

Little did I know that a couple of years later I would be giving up my consulting practice to pursue this further.  But even then, I can’t say I was super- ambitious.  No, I preferred to grow the organization organically.  Quality was more important to me than quantity, so the thought of having chapters across Canada just seemed too unwieldy and hard to manage.  I chose to go deeper with my offerings rather than wider.

It does seem ironic however, that now, ten years later, I am actually moving in that direction, with a chapter opening up in Winnipeg this fall and discussions underway about Vancouver. 

Having still not answered the vision question, I turned the conversation around to why I do what I do.   This I could speak about passionately and from the heart. My whole career in fact has focused on women and their needs – from young mothers to abused women and now to business owners.

I am driven  to making a difference; to helping women achieve their potential.   Company of Women just happens to be the current vehicle through which I deliver my dream of women being successful on their own terms, believing and investing in themselves and others. 

And as I noodle this over, I realize I do have a vision.  It was just tough to articulate what it was. 

What about you?  If you are struggling with what you want or what your long term goals should be, ask yourself why are you doing what you are doing?  Because maybe then you will tap into your core reason for being. Maybe then you will have the big picture vision of your life before you.