It's simple to become enthralled by a vision, yet visions are rarely turned into action. We have the responsibility of converting visions into reality and putting plans into action as community leaders. It's our obligation to plan and assign effectively so that collective energy is not spent on ineffective tasks.

While vision boards and vision exercises help us instinctively align our actions to meet our goals, success also requires deliberate action. Here are some things that you can do to bring your vision to life:

Determine and Define Your Goals

You would not just hop into your car and aim to the south if you wished to go to Disneyland; you’d first get directions. Your vision is a road map to your goals and objectives. Make a vision board for yourself and post it somewhere visible where you'll see it frequently. Alternatively, as part of your mindfulness practice, compose a vision statement for yourself and read it every morning. To anchor that vision in your working memory, use multisensory imagery.

Break Your Vision Into Goals

Write statements about your vision that begin with "I want to...", and don't worry about how you'll reach these objectives right now. These statements could be about income, operations, marketing, products and services, or even personal matters. Are there any of these goals statements that make you feel differently than the others? Sit with each assertion until you can start to order them from most important to least important.

Concentrate Your Efforts

Your objectives will have a significant influence on you and your company, and they deserve the time and attention that they require to be realized. This is not the time to multitask; instead, you should concentrate your efforts (multitasking is so 2010!). Make a list of your objectives and give each one a deadline. Each quarter, you should concentrate on no more than three major objectives.

Find the Gaps

What assets (time, income, talents, knowledge, etc.) do you really need to achieve your top three objectives? What has previously prevented you from accomplishing your objectives?  If you understood what to do and how to do it, you'd probably be doing it, so what help or information do you require to succeed?

Get the Job Done

For many entrepreneurs, this is the most challenging and stressful step. We enjoy chasing squirrels, and they tend to proliferate when we must get down to business.

Create a daily schedule that allows you to perform needed duties while also allowing you to participate in things that you enjoy. That's why you should divide your objectives into teeny-tiny bite-sized chunks. It enables you to tackle a 20-minute task each day, knowing that over the course of a week or month, it will all add up to significant progress toward the ultimate goal. You can learn a lot more about turning your vision into action by reading the famous book called “Think and Grown Rich” by the successful author Napoleon Hill.

This article is part of our Business Coaching blog series. At Dataczar we talk to a lot of small businesses. We’ve found a few books that we keep recommending time and again. To better help our customers, we’ve added a Reading List for Small Businesses to our website. We encourage every small business owner to read and keep these timeless business books on their office shelf.

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