Last Wednesday I saw the first daffodil of the season, surrounded by its buddies, poking green stalks through the hard earth. The bloom of that daf has been working consistently, underground, since last summer's warmth ended. 'Out of sight' does not mean 'out of work' for soon-to-be-colorful planters, lawns and gardens. The dropped and planted seeds have been developing, transforming, shifting, through a natural and long-repeated process. I often hear small business owners say that they: tried marketing a couple of times but it was a waste of money; would delegate but in the time it takes to teach, could do it themselves and better, too; would love to visualize the big picture but have too many fires to put out; want the business to grow but just don't have the energy to come up with new ideas; need to focus on what's on their plate now but too stressed about what happened yesterday and what's coming tomorrow; All those 'buts' - seeds that didn't get planted; daffodils (or joint ventures, product development, process efficiencies, brand enhancement, team synergies) that are not given the opportunity to break through the cold, hard earth of the 'urgent' that so often trumps the 'important.' When we're kids, we don't have the concept of long-term planning, of investing now for tomorrow's rewards. Until of course, we see something in a store window, in an ad, a website; we've 'just gotta have it'. We start saving up whatever we can earn with the mental image of that 'just gotta have it' item and how great we'll feel when we have it. It becomes something worth obtaining, not just to have that thing, whatever it is. We imbue the 'gotta have it' item with emotional power - somehow we know it will add to our life. What is your 'just gotta have it' item or circumstance now? What is that back-burner dream that your business, crafted and nurtured, has the power to provide? Know what's truly most important to you and know that your business exists to help you achieve it. Doing the 'under the hard earth' work (marketing, training, delegating, developing and envisioning the big picture) is what will ultimately produce the object of your 'just gotta have it' passion. Want some help tying the big picture vision you have for your life to the planned achievements of your business? Sign up for the "I Can See Clearly Now" vision teleclass, on the house, on April 25th. My contact info is below. Enjoy the first bouquets of Spring; they've worked hard all winter to show up at your feet.