As I began my day today by reviewing goal setting strategies and how to better set them up for success I listened to a video about goals where the speaker mentioned the Idea of writing out the intentions for each of your goals. Over the years I have often talked about the small percentage of people that set goals. This speaker brought a perspective that truly made me stop and think. Everyone has goals, resolutions, or dreams. However a very small percentage of people ever accomplish or reach them. The Idea was simple really however the implications on staying focused and determined through whatever roadblocks we encounter as we push towards our destination was astounding.
Resolutions often remind us of our faults and weaknesses while intentions tell us about all of the benefits that reaching the goal or accomplishing the resolution will bring us. Human nature is to give up and justify our failure when we hit a difficult point in our journey. Success always comes when people prepare, take action, stay focused on the destination, and remember why they are trying to get there. Success comes when we apply the discipline, work, and sacrifice necessary to reach the goal. The idea of keeping the intentions around the goal top of mind seems simple yet I wonder how many people do this compared to how many simply keep the goal itself in mind.
For example;
The goal is to buy your own home within two years your intention might be to provide more living space for your family. Invest money into something that you own instead of dumping money into a rental. And enjoy the ability to creatively alter or enhance it without asking someone else.
The goal is to be a better wife this year but your intentions are to strengthen the bond between you and your husband. Show him how special he truly is. Better understand his needs and how you can help him with them. And to invest time on truly understanding what makes him happy then exerting effort into making that a reality for him.
The goal is to make $5,000 more this year and the intention is to pay off debt and then celebrate by taking a long desired vacation. Then you will begin to utilize the extra money to build a family savings and do a monthly family fun day.
What is clear in this is that it is natural and easy to set down the resolution to buy a new house after the second or third time that life throws you a curve and you are struggling to save a down payment or your credit is not good. It is very easy to use the money that you are supposed to be saving to go out to dinner or to take that vacation that you have been daydreaming about. However what is not natural or easy is to stop and focus on why you want the house and what benefits it will bring to you and your family or why you want to save that money. Those are the things that will keep us motivated and encourage us to get back up even after several falls. That will be the fuel that keeps us pushing forward.
This year whether it is your first time writing out your goals or if you are doing an annual update make sure that for each goal or resolution that you make you write down your intentions. Then if you utilize reminders like photos or sticky notes make sure that those reflect your intentions in addition to the primary goal. Remind yourself of all the great things that achieving the goal will bring you and why you are willing to work hard, sacrifice, and to not give up when the going gets tough.
In goal setting we must remember that the basics are what work and that we have a natural tendency to get distracted, frustrated, and to justify not doing the work it takes to get us to our goal. We must understand this and implement strategies that help us to prevent that from happening. Write down the goals, add the intentions, set realistic times, share them, set reminders where you can see them, and review them often.
I hope this year brings each of you happiness, joy, success, and closer to all of your goals and dreams.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
Prepare For The New Year
As Christmas fast approaches and the winter prepares to get underway I cannot help thinking about the relevance that this time of the year has to the beginning of the next. This is a time for reflection on the year past and preparation for the year to come. It is a time to relax, enjoy family and friends, while recharging our batteries for the Ney Year.
During this holiday season I encourage you to set down your fear, anxiety, and your pain if for even one day. Look around you, not at what you do not have or did not accomplish but look at what you do have and what you did accomplish over the years. Notice even the simplest things and write them down to remind yourself later. These are the foundation on which you can build your plans for the New Year.
Now begin to think about your resolutions and lay out your goals for the New Year. Write them down as well and write down one or two Ideas for how you will get there. Dream about success and happiness and then lay down the tracks that will get move you in that direction. However always remember that life is not about the destination but about the journey. That’s where the true rewards are discovered and where the greatest memories are built. The building blocks of life are dedication, persistence, consistency, and hard work. This applies to all areas in life including relationships and work. Do these things diligently and rewards will follow. That does not mean that there will not be hardship and failure it simply means that if you are diligent in their application you will continue to grow and reach new heights. It means that if you set your personal bar and goals high enough even if you fall short you will be amazed at where you end up.
Merry Christmas and a very happy and successful New Year to you!
During this holiday season I encourage you to set down your fear, anxiety, and your pain if for even one day. Look around you, not at what you do not have or did not accomplish but look at what you do have and what you did accomplish over the years. Notice even the simplest things and write them down to remind yourself later. These are the foundation on which you can build your plans for the New Year.
Now begin to think about your resolutions and lay out your goals for the New Year. Write them down as well and write down one or two Ideas for how you will get there. Dream about success and happiness and then lay down the tracks that will get move you in that direction. However always remember that life is not about the destination but about the journey. That’s where the true rewards are discovered and where the greatest memories are built. The building blocks of life are dedication, persistence, consistency, and hard work. This applies to all areas in life including relationships and work. Do these things diligently and rewards will follow. That does not mean that there will not be hardship and failure it simply means that if you are diligent in their application you will continue to grow and reach new heights. It means that if you set your personal bar and goals high enough even if you fall short you will be amazed at where you end up.
Merry Christmas and a very happy and successful New Year to you!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Action is the key
As we look at the talents and skills of a sales person one of the key skills is the ability to talk or communicate effectively in creative and enthusiastic ways to paint a picture that creates the desire to own our product. This skill is a crucial part of any sales presentation. This also flows over into other areas of our day and can be just as destructive as it can be helpful. Sales people love to talk. They love to present ideas, to solve problems, to plan for success. Where we often fail is in taking action on these ideas.
For example I have seen countless sales people struggling to reach their goals and when asked about their activity they go on about their new plan to streamline their selling process or their new tools that will help them sell once implemented. Inevitable we come to the pesky question "tell me about your daily selling activities". "How many sales presentations are you giving? How many calls are you making? This is where we can very often quickly identify a primary missing element "action".
Sales people will begin to paint the picture of when these new plans and tools kick in how wonderful everything will be. How many new sales will come in and how deep their pipeline will run. When I hear this I always think of a line from a sales video I watched a long time ago where the trainer said "when your numbers are down set down whatever you are doing and pick up the phone nothing solves sales issues like presenting your product or service to more people."
This is so true and I am sure all of us can relate to a list of things that we fully intend on doing Monday morning that remains virtually untouched on Friday because we were distracted by other tasks that we truly felt were important at the time. Later as we look at our list we realize that we focused on the wrong Items, burned through the week, and need to push our list off to the next week. Then the cycle begins again.
Build your plan during non-sales time, write it down, organize your day, and then when the click strikes the beginning hour for selling, take action, start dialing the phone or knocking on doors. Don't wait until the time is right. Don't send those email first, just start calling on prospects. There is no substitution for old fashioned action. Track your activities, adjust where necessary and possible, but most of all call on prospects. The best goal to set is how many prospects you will call on this week or this month. The old saying will always hold true "the more people you present to the more people you will sell".
Also remember this as sales people one way or another we get paid to sell and to produce revenue so anytime we are not presenting our product to a potential client we are unemployed!
For example I have seen countless sales people struggling to reach their goals and when asked about their activity they go on about their new plan to streamline their selling process or their new tools that will help them sell once implemented. Inevitable we come to the pesky question "tell me about your daily selling activities". "How many sales presentations are you giving? How many calls are you making? This is where we can very often quickly identify a primary missing element "action".
Sales people will begin to paint the picture of when these new plans and tools kick in how wonderful everything will be. How many new sales will come in and how deep their pipeline will run. When I hear this I always think of a line from a sales video I watched a long time ago where the trainer said "when your numbers are down set down whatever you are doing and pick up the phone nothing solves sales issues like presenting your product or service to more people."
This is so true and I am sure all of us can relate to a list of things that we fully intend on doing Monday morning that remains virtually untouched on Friday because we were distracted by other tasks that we truly felt were important at the time. Later as we look at our list we realize that we focused on the wrong Items, burned through the week, and need to push our list off to the next week. Then the cycle begins again.
Build your plan during non-sales time, write it down, organize your day, and then when the click strikes the beginning hour for selling, take action, start dialing the phone or knocking on doors. Don't wait until the time is right. Don't send those email first, just start calling on prospects. There is no substitution for old fashioned action. Track your activities, adjust where necessary and possible, but most of all call on prospects. The best goal to set is how many prospects you will call on this week or this month. The old saying will always hold true "the more people you present to the more people you will sell".
Also remember this as sales people one way or another we get paid to sell and to produce revenue so anytime we are not presenting our product to a potential client we are unemployed!
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