How To Set Your Goals

In my role as a conference speaker I’ve had the opportunity to meet and mix with many successful people and I’ve discovered that there is a common factor in their success. What is that common factor? It’s that they’ve done the necessary preparation for success. They understand the six P’s--- proper preparation prevents pretty poor performance. They know that:

Luck is when preparation meets opportunity!

And it doesn’t matter what business you are in, what role you have, where you are on the ladder of success or whether it’s your personal or business life there is always opportunity available. The problem for most people is that they never bother to do the preparation.

And what does that preparation consist of?

Simply setting your goals, in other words knowing where you are going, how you are going to get there and when you’ll arrive. Goals are dreams with dates on that turn them into concrete meaningful, attainable objectives.

The problem with dreams is that they exist only in your mind and you can change them as easily as you change your mind. Because most dreams start with the word “someday” they are a mirage like island called “Someday Isle”--- that never appears.

So, no matter what your talents, skills or station in life is right now, why not decide to get on the success express and set some realistic, achievable goals.

To do this, you need to ask yourself 3 questions.

• Where am I now?
• Where would like to be?
• How am I going to get there?

And although you can have a vision of where you’d like to be in 5 to 10 years you should be looking at the answers to these questions 12 months from now.

It’s important, if you have a life partner, to do this goal setting with them otherwise you might find that your goals are inconsistent with theirs and therefore you’ll have little chance of achieving anything that makes both of you happy.

When setting goals it is important to set them for both your personal life and your business life because you cannot be happy in one and unhappy in the other. If you are to enjoy a balanced, fruitful and rewarding life then all aspects need to be in synchronicity.

I’d suggest that you aim to set 5 or 6 key goals for yourself, perhaps 3 business and 3 personal; I don’t recommend that you set lots of goals because good time management teaches that it is difficult to manage any more than 5 extra tasks at one time. Its far better to set fewer goals and, as you achieve them, devise new ones to replace them.

Basically, a good goal comes in a format of:

What do I want to achieve by when?

And to assist you in setting your goals it’s important that you know the SMART formula which will remind you of the important components of well set goals.

S is for specific and your goals should be as clearly defined as possible so that you know exactly what you are aiming to achieve without doubt or ambiguity.

M is for measurable because if you can’t measure it you can’t make it. Important in the goal achieving process is to reward yourself when you achieve a goal and, if you have no measure of success, you can’t achieve that.

A reminds us that our goals should be attainable and not so far out of reach that it is too big a stretch to achieve them. It’s always better to set smaller goals and have the euphoria of achievement than the disappointment of failure.

R means relevant in that goals must be congruent with what you want to achieve in your life. There is no point setting a goal which may be nice to achieve but which has no impact on you attaining those things you want out of life.

T means time bound because every goal you set must have a deadline otherwise you can keep deferring them indefinitely. Once you put a time deadline on a goal you have something by which you can gauge your success.

Now there’s something you must do when you’ve set your goals and that is to commit them to paper because, once you’ve written them down you’ve got them set in concrete. You’ll not be as prone to change them as you may be if you just have them in your head.

Don’t be afraid to revise your goals due to changing circumstances but not because you are not achieving them. The only thing certain in life is change and, as a consequence, there is nothing wrong with adapting or modifying your goals to suit those changing circumstances.

The wonderful part of goal setting is that 60% of the effort is in setting those goals which means that only 40% of your effort is expended in achieving them. What this tells you is that, when you’ve set well balanced, meaningful goals to which you are committed, you are more than halfway to the success that you desire.

In setting your goals it’s good to have a few thought starters to ponder on to help you decide your ultimate objectives in life. If you’d like some questions to think about just ask us to send them to you.

Get New Customers As Easy As Falling Off A Log!

My next TeleSeminar is all about creating that little black box to generate you heaps of new prospects for your business. Most business people are good at selling prospects once they get them but lousy at getting them. I’ll show how to solve that problem and make it as simple and easy as falling off a log. And you don’t have to dress up, travel, find a car park or have any of the hassles of normal seminars because this is one that you listen into over the phone from anywhere you like. Details are at our website.

How To Get Your Team To Generate Referrals.

You’ve probably heard me say that between 80% and 92% of new clients, customers or patients come from referrals. So it stands to reason, that the more referrals you can drum up, the more business you’re going to get!

Often it’s your existing clients, customers or patients that generate referrals for you, but wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could get your own team members to do the same thing? Many of them probably don’t realise that their continued employment depends on the creation of new clients to replace those that fall away. In any event, often the staff are not offered an incentive to generate new clients so why should they?

If you want your team to get serious about creating new business for you, there are a couple of things you must do.

1. Reward your team members for introducing new clients. People respond better to an incentive, so make your team aware of what they can expect if they generate more business for you. The team should know that the level of the reward will depend on the value of the new business. A client worth $20,000 should generate them a greater reward than a client worth $1,000.
2. Explain to your team members the characteristics of your ideal client. Many of your team would have no idea who you’d like to have as a client and, as a consequence, they’re not game to recommend their families, friends or acquaintances. They’re not quite sure whether you would welcome those people and, rather than embarrass you, they’ll let these potential clients go to your competitors. So outline the key features of the new prospects that you are interested in pursuing and then tell them that their friends and relatives are welcome if they fit in with that definition. You’ll be amazed at how many people your staff know and can introduce.
3. Make your team aware of what is unique, special and different about your organisation --- how you stand out from your competitors, offer a better service, a wider range of ideas and so on--- so that they can tell other people. There’s nothing wrong with instilling a bit of company pride. If somebody works for you, they should be thinking that they work for the best people in town. Generate some major team spirit by holding a ‘boast session’ at your team meetings from time to time. Get the team together and talk about some of the latest achievements. Make sure each team member talks about one or two successes that they’ve had so everybody understands that they’re part of a very successful team.

It’s easy to get your team to generate more business. Give them the incentive and the system to make it happen. It really is amazing! When you have the right system and you generously reward team members for the introductions you’ll have virtually an endless stream of new clients.

For Dads and Daughters Only

Remember I talked about Brendan Walsh last month. He’s as Irish as Guinness, a leprechaun with a twinkle in his eye with an enchanting Irish brogue who can charm the birds out of the trees.

Well, if you’re the dad of a daughter or the daughter of a dad (see I’m speaking Irish already!) have a listen to for Dads and Daughters which is just a sample of a beautiful monologue Brendan recorded on CD for dads and daughters that’ll bring a tear to you’re eye.

It only runs for a bit over 4 minutes but it’d make a wonderful Christmas or birthday gift. Its $20 incl. postage and if you’d like a copy email us.

In This Month’s Audio Program

Bob Burg is the author of the book ‘Endless Referrals” which I’ve had for years and just loved it because it makes generating referrals so easy. The book is due for reprint soon (and we’ll let you know when it’s available) but Bob made a guest appearance on the October edition of my audio program Business Marketing. Here’s just a small slice of what he had to say.

You In 5 Years

Remember: five years from now, you'll be the same person you are today -- except for the people you meet, the situations you've encountered, the information you’ve taken on board and the thoughts you've thought. Keep your internal dialogue positive, upbeat, and future-oriented. No one is in a better position to be your biggest cheerleader than YOU!

So keep feeding your brain and here are two great ways to do it:

The audio program that I did with marketing genius Mr Fire, Joe Vitale, that people reckon is one of my best for gangbuster ideas. The Marketing Toolbox

Just in time for you to get the team maximising Christmas sales is Retail Whiz Jurek Leon’s latest e book 52 Terrific Tips For Christmas. Download it and guarantee that your team will add big dollars to your profits. Details are here

How To Pick The Winner Of The Melbourne Cup!

A mate of mine, Max Hitchins, knows more about the Melbourne Cup than anyone else on the planet I reckon. Every year the media hound him for his tips because he has a mighty record of winners. Last year he picked first and second and he gets results like that pretty much every year. Visit www.mugsguide.com.au to find out more and you’ll get the good oil on the winner of “the race that stops the nation.”

Another Great Viral Marketing Movie!

Remember last month I showed you the Fosters movie that worked its backside off for Fosters because people e-mailed it onto their friends. Well here’s another movie that worked just as well for another brewery, Budweiser in the USA, who do great adverts. Don’t worry I’ll find a great non-booze advert for next month!

Ever Thanked Someone When They Don’t Buy?

Well maybe it’s something you should try because it’s not something many business people do… and when you do what others don’t do you get the results others don’t get! So the next time someone breaks your heart by choosing a competitor don’t cuss them but instead drop them a line like this.