Future

“If you do not think about your future, you cannot have one.” – John Galsworthy

When I became a travel agent more than 20 years ago, agents did things differently than they’ve been doing the past few years. Then, we were working on travel arrangements for the future. Clients did not contact us to go on travel in the next few months. They were planning a year if not longer in advance. It may have changed the way we look at our businesses.

I hear from fellow advisors that there are roadblocks in the way of selling travel currently. I understand ships are not sailing and there are quarantine orders in place. However, the future will not be what it is today. Just because we can’t set sail on a ship today doesn’t mean we won’t be able to next year. We need to plan for our future to have one. If we don’t cultivate our vision for the future, next year this time we will still be where we are today. Our businesses will not be here to be ready for the green light.

It is a helpful practice for any business to have at least a six month to a year plan in place. You should be looking at a year out and have a plan to get there. A question you need to ask yourself is, where am I now and where do I want to be in a year?

But for many advisors, all I am hearing about is what is happening today. We are stuck in a present that is not very positive and hopeful and many of us are struggling to imagine what it will look like when we come out on the other side of this pandemic. We must force ourselves to think beyond today and focus on what we can do for our future. Most successful people have learned how to create a strong vision for the lives they’re working towards creating. As such, our planning strategy as advisors right now needs to be focused on where we will be a year from now rather than getting stuck where we stand today.

I recently posted about a webinar which was met with negativity because the webinar is about a location that has a quarantine in place. I understand it’s frustrating that nothing seems like a good option right now and places that are quarantined stir up all of our feelings and fear again, but thinking on the wavelength of, “it is not possible now” does not help our future self. We should still be learning about all of the beautiful places to travel, and educating ourselves as much as we can, especially now while we have the time!

The future will be here before we know it. We need to be prepared and ready for it. Having the ability to imagine something greater for the future is a skill that you must cultivate in order to move beyond getting stuck spinning your wheels in the same place you are today. Anything useful and important in this world first began with a vision. If you pour some of your energy into creating a vision for the future of your travel business, it will surely set you above the competition.