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Goals

Guest post by: Craig Jennings

Article Overview: What we strive to achieve, what we enjoy accomplishing, what teaches us when we fail. Small business is a tough school, and you pay up front for your training!

Goals

Goals!

What most of us set around the End Of The Year/First Of The Year.

What most of us forget Shortly Thereafter.

As you read more, it will be clear why both are true.

Importance? Higher than it might seem.

Goal-setting is very powerful.

Goal-setting is easy to do badly, difficult to do well.

Doing it well is enormously effective!!! And the return is way higher than the effort. There's a reason why.

When you have committed to a goal, it's in your mind all the time. It actually "changes your mind." It conditions all your actions. And your actions toward that new goal produce new and different results.

The Harvard Business School did a study of the goal-setting practices of a graduating class some 30 years ago - about 900 in number. They were all asked to set goals for themselves.

Some 40% of them did set some goals.

Some 3% of them wrote them down, focused on them.

You guessed it. Those 3% outperformed the other 97% 10-100 times over. Huge. Lotsa money, adventure, challenge, excitement, fame, fortune. Yes? Well then...

Moral of the story:

Goals are all about creating focused action. Writing, including this document and the conversations which follow it, is the focus part.

1. Set yourself some goals.

2. Write them down. Yes, on paper. Or create a directory on your computer hard drive. Call it Goals. Put there what you write. Write what you want for next year. Think about change, think about achievement.

1. ________________________________________________

2. ________________________________________________

3. ________________________________________________

4. ________________________________________________

5. ________________________________________________

Are you still with me?

Let's refine those goals and create stepladders for each. (If they're big goals, you'll need stepladders to get up to them.)

Stepladders? If you want $100,000 in new income, good.

Step 1 - the first $100. Where, when, what, who, how?

Refining and defining:

1. Throw out all the goals which include the

word "more" and think again. (reason - this is a

time to re-think, not just add on. )

2. Have a look at the goals you've still got left. Categorize them.

a. Removal of pain - Mark with a P

b. Achievement, challenge -Mark with an A

c. Relationships - R

d. Business - B

e. Other - O

You probably want goals in each category.

3. This leaves you with categorized goals, each with steps.

4. Getting more complicated, yes?

You've figured out by now that you might need an accountability partner - someone who will help you spell out what you want, decide how you'll achieve it, and hold your feet to the fire until you get it. Now, begin to think who that might be.

Here's what's surfaced.

Setting goals and achieving them is one of the most powerful practices on the planet. It's a matter of confronting the challenges first, then defining them, then taking action. Many of us start and most of us do not complete the process. Most of us do not get the results and rewards.

Everything in this document-discussion is theoretical except that last phrase - taking action. which is where the money is!

Call me at 516 944-6454 or email to craig@craigjennings.com if you'd like to explore this but only if you're willing to take action. I'll give you a free starter session.

Best,

Craig Jennings

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Article Tags: goals



Related Forum Posts
Re: Set goals that motivate you! - Sounds simple enough when you take it at face value, but what are goals? Are these short term or long term Goals, Are theses goal realistic, achievable? How to make them motivating Goals, What is motivation? Is motivation the same for all of us Hmm so many questions, so few answers. must a an article in this somewhere Btw (by the way) GT, nice Blog
Re: Alexa Ranking Goals - Thanks GT! This is still the right post for Alexa Goals but everything else can go to Kevin's Mastermind post! Cheers!
Re: Alexa Ranking Goals - Hi Timothy, It's good to see a new "competitor" on our Alexa Ranking Goals list. Good luck in your efforts to improve your website Alexa rankings. David
Re: Quote of the Day - Ted Turner - Hi Evan, I mentioned on another thread that I'm reading Saint Joan of Arc by Vita Sackville West. I think Joan of Arc set some pretty high goals, for an unknown peasant girl from an unimportant village in the middle of nowhere much... Goals: 1. Go and see the Dauphin! 2. Help him relieve the siege of Orleans!! 3. To lead the Dauphin to his coronation at Rheims!!! The first time she tried to put this plan into action, by seeking permission from her local feudal lord to travel, he told her minder to "reduceret eam ad domum sui patris et daret ei alapas" which is to say, "take her home to her father and give her a smacking". The rest is history!
Re: Should you hire ambitious workers or employees with no goals - [quote="BuzzAroundBooks":2ijq3b5e]As a small business owner, should you hire ambitious workers or employees with no goals? My friend's father is a relatively successful entrepreneur and it's his belief that you should primarily hire employees with no ambition because you can get away with paying them less and they're less likely to leave (thus saving you money from a high turnover rate). "Grunts" are the way to go, even though ambitious workers are typically smarter. What do you think?[/quote:2ijq3b5e] I say YES to hirin employees with no Goals!!! they make great "front-line" employees as long as you have carefully documented your process for them to follow. They typically are open to perform routine administrative tasks and they work for a much lower wage. I know what I've said is pretty gloomy but it's reality from my experience. Occasionally one of the "employees with no goals" will stand up and say, "I love working here". You pluck these individuals and promote them to tasks which require more decisions.


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