Forty years ago NASA successfully landed a team on the moon.  I was fortunate to see the launch in-person.  I remember like it happened yesterday and will remember it for the rest of my life as it impacted me deeply.

At the moment just before lift off, when the rocket engines are igniting, the sheer power caused the ground to shake, like every molecule of air was vibrating with the force and power of the rocket’s accelerating velocity.  The moment is full of power and potential.  The power was so immense you could feel it in the ground, the air, and in your body.  I’m sure the moment right before lift off was actually only seconds, but it seemed like eternity and I wondered, “would it overcome the pull of gravity and fly?” All the potential, energy, force, and power….and then it happens-, momentum has gathered, thrust has accelerated, the rocket is in the air, speeding rapidly toward its destination, the moon!  And I’m on the ground, flying with exhilaration and touched deeper than words can describe with a memory that inspires me all these many years later.

What does this have to do with launching or growing a business?

That force of thrust that lifts a rocket off the ground is similar to the dynamic that’s needed to successfully launch and grow your business.  In order for the rocket to get off the ground, there has to be more a force of thrust that is greater than the pull of the gravity.  To launch a business, you need to generate force and accelerate to the point that your momentum is greater than anything that holds you back as in gravity.  In my twenty plus years of experience in launching and growing small businesses, I’ve noticed the following factors important in accelerating thrust for lift off.

1.  Plan of Action
   This starts with all your planning, efforts, strategies, networking, and conversations with potential clients and evolves into a blueprint for the future of your business  It is essentially your to-do list, and business activities that you perform daily on a regular, consistent basis.  This is only one “engine” generating thrust and I’ve seen many people make the mistake of relying on this one engine to create lift off.  As a result, people burn out, the business becomes more work than fun, and it’s just a hard way to make it go.
2. Nurturing the Heart
   There are several hearts to nurture in your business:- the heart of the business owner which we’ll cover in the next point, the heart of your business, and the heart of your customers, both potential and existing clients.  When you aren’t nurturing the heart of your business or client, you may notice that your business becomes only about meeting objectives, about the bottom line, more focused on profit and loss rather than people and love.  We need both for a successful business. 

When you nurture the heart of your business, you are focused on the purpose and vision of what your business is designed to give the world, making it a better place.  When you continue to nurture this vision in a sincere way, it will help attract people to your business, keep you excited and revitalized, and your business will feel alive, dynamic and full of vitality.

When you are nurturing the heart of your clients, you are mindful of the problems you are helping them solve with your product or service.  Your focus is on serving the client and their needs.

3. The Business Owner’s Heart: Strong and Aligned

In addition to nurturing the heart of your business and client, your heart as the business owner must also be nurtured.  You align yourself with your own personal purpose or passion for being in the business.  You allow yourself to feel the excitement that originally inspired you to be in this line of work.  You allow this vision to create a momentum of positive energy that becomes another force of momentum for your business.

You then channel this positive energy in a focused, singularity of efforts.  Some people call this commitment and dedication and while this is part of it, there is more that’s needed to gather enough thrust for lift off.  We have the force of gravity to deal with.  We all have opposite forces that want to keep us where we are, forces that pull us down and keep us from living our purpose; we’ll call this the inner saboteur. 

We all have this inner saboteur to deal with.  It comes in many disguises and may sound like any of the following:  “ I don’t know enough”;  “I need to get it more perfect or just right before this or that”;  ”I don’t know where to begin”; “it will never work”; etc.  Overcoming the inner saboteur is a topic larger than the scope of this article, so for now, become aware of this dynamic that is moving in you.  Most of us just try to ignore it or pretend it isn’t there.  These strategies are ineffective in overcoming the force of the saboteur. 

One key to overcoming the saboteur is in how we choose to relate to it.  Stop ignoring or pretending it isn’t there.  Become aware of its presence.  As you become aware of this dynamic, acknowledge its voice without judgment.  It is important that you not judge in the awareness stage.  Once you’ve acknowledged this part of yourself the response is, “Thank you for sharing; I understand what you are saying.  I choose to listen and follow my purpose and passion instead.”