Goal Setting For 2008

Guest Contributor: Kayleen Reusser
Kayleen's Posts - Kayleen's Blog

As we near the end of the 2007 calendar year, I've done some reflecting over the past year. In totaling my income for the year, I realized it was not at the point where I had hoped to be when I set goals at the beginning of 2007. There may not be enough time yet this year to make up for it, but it did help me see that it is still good and helpful to set goals and strive for them, even if there's a possibility they won't be achieved.

Goal-setting had never been a favorite activity of mine. In past years I'd simply work hard and hope for the best in various areas of my life.

From studying Napoleon Hill's Master Mind philosophy, I now see goal-setting doesn;t have to be painful or disappointing if I don't accomplish everything I set out to do. I can keep striving to reach them and improve my life while doing so.

So while my 2007 goals may not come to fruition, I'm going to keep trying to reach them in 2008. Through setting goals in 2007, I have been able to send financial contributions to the children's home in that our church supports and that's a good accomplishment. God will bless my efforts there and provide more income for this family that is trying to help kids with nowhere to go find shelter and safety and spiritual guidance within its walls.

Do you have your goals set for 2008? Do they include helping others financially? I encourage you to find something you're tied to emotionally. That is where your heart is and you'll work harder to reach your goals when your heart is wrapped around something.

I do know of several legitimate charities so if you need ideas about where to give your money, let me know. I'd be glad to recommend them.

My Master Mind group will be reviewing our goals at our next couple of meetings to see where we've come and to prepare for the new year. It should be an interesting meeting.

The Importance Of Written Goals

We've found two key things about entrepreneurs and goal setting. 1) When you commit to someone else (ie your Mastermind Group) you are more likely to follow through and 2) When you have clearly written goals you are more likely to understand where you want to take your company and will actually go out and achieve it.

In my Mastermind Groups everyone has two set of written goals. The first is one main annual goal. Each entrepreneur takes the most important goal for them for the year. Come December 31st what does your company look like? It has to be a goal that is numeric and can be measured. It can't be something qualitative like "I want to feel better about my company." Most of my members choose a revenue goal but sometimes they have a goal that is more meaningful than revenue. For example, my December 31st goal is to be at 35,000 or under in Alexa rankings.

Each meeting the members update where they are with their goals and how they are making progress (or not). The key here is to have the other members help hold you accountable for doing what you said you were going to do and help you achieve your goals.

The second set of goals we write down are the plans of action for the next month. We meet on a monthly basis so at each session the members discuss their plans and write down the three most important things they are going to work on over the next month. Throughout the month they are partnered with another member who will check up on them to make sure they are following through. Then at the next meeting each member updates how they have done and checks the items from their list.

By writing down your goals and sharing them with the Mastermind Group members you gain greater clarity on where you want to take your company and have someone to help hold you accountable for accomplishing what you said you were going to do.

Evan Carmichael

Automate Your Mastermind Group

I currently run three Toronto based Mastermind Groups and while it could be a lucrative opportunity for someone to turn into a full time business, for me it is more about having fun and helping out other entrepreneurs. One of the useful tactics I have used to help the groups succeed is to automate many of the processes around them.

Automation through technology helps give a better experience for the members, reduces my workload, removes me as the bottleneck for many of the processes needed, and allows the meetings to run smoothly.

Here are 3 of the things that we do to automate the process:

1) Goal entry system
At the end of each of our meetings the members are required to set goals for the next 30-90 days. Goal setting is an important part of almost every Mastermind Group that I have seen but ours take it a step further and requires the members to enter their goals into a computer program that we built. The members are forced to come up with their goals for the meeting and are held accountable by committing to the other members. On top of the goal setting feature we require members to partner up and call each other every week at a certain time to follow up with each other on the goals they set and help each other move forward. They have to put into the computer program who is calling who, at what time, and at what number. Again, this creates accountability to a specific person and in front of the rest of the group to follow through on their goals.

2) PayPal meal subscription
Our groups meet once per month on a set Thursday with a starting time of 6:30pm. We have found this to be the most convenient time for everyone to come out. As a result everyone gets hungry and we have the meal catered by a local entrepreneur. The cost is $15 per person for the meal which usually includes a main dish, salad, and dessert. I used to collect cash from the members and pay the caterer but we ran into issues such as people canceling last minute for an emergency and not having exact change on hand. To fix these problems and automate the process we have all the members sign up for a $15 per month charge to their PayPal account or credit card.

3) Goal reminder system
You can have all the goals in the world but you need to follow through on them to create results for your business. As a follow up on the goals that the members set in point number 1, the members are required to call each other at a specific time every week. The day before the scheduled call our program automatically emails the partnered members a reminder to call including who is calling who, what number to call and a list of both members' goals. It is an automated process that removes the excuses members can make such as "I forgot that we had a call scheduled" or "I was not sure what your telephone number was" or "I forgot what my goals were and what my partner's goals were." By eliminating excuses and automating the process we have made a more powerful and effective system for our members.

Do you have any additional ways to automate some of your Mastermind Group processes?

Mastermind To A "Goal Medal" Life

Ed Sykes had a great post in his blog on how to create a "Goal Medal" Life. The point of his entry is to follow the example of Olympic athletes and create goals for yourself that you work towards and accomplish. His 5 tips are:

• Create Passion with Goal Setting
• Believe in Greatness
• Embrace Challenges
• Don't Ever Give Up!

And my favourite... Create a Mastermind Group

There is a saying, "A wise person learns from his own mistakes, a wiser person learns from other people's mistakes." That is what a mastermind group will do for you. Winning athletes have a mastermind group so that they will make fewer mistakes and take less time achieving their goals. A mastermind group is an assortment of people dedicated to give you the best advice, feedback, training, etc., so that you can achieve your goals faster. The mastermind group also gives you encouragement when needed. In sports, this might be a coach, a trainer, a physical trainer, manager, and agent. In your situation at work, it might be the following:

* A mentor that has intensive corporate knowledge and can maneuver you around "corporate landmines"

* A human resources specialist with thorough knowledge of skills needed for a promotion

* A manager that wants to showcase your skills to impress their manager

*If you are thinking about or have already started a business, it might be the following:

* Lawyer(s)

* Accountant

* Tax expert

* Business associate in non competing field

* Retired executive

* Association leaders

* Customers

Note: Be very careful about whom you allow in your mastermind group. Ask yourself, "Who can help me achieve my goals through skills, knowledge, and honest feedback?" Honest feedback is the key. You don't want "yes" people around you; you want people that will give you positive feedback that will set you back on course for success.

Use A Mastermind Group To Get You Into Gear

One of the greatest things about effective goal setting is that when you commit to someone else you are more likely to follow through. When you get involved in a Mastermind Group, make sure that you use your fellow members to hold you accountable to doing the things you said you were going to do.

A great example of this is Naadi Salaam. Naadi is a startup entrepreneur who always wanted to create a company in the hair industry. With the help of a newly formed Mastermind Group, Naadi was able to get the support and ideas she needed to launch her business.

I decided to embark upon the exploration and creation of a mastermind group in order to pursue my life's passion (natural hair and make-up). i'll have to expound more on the mastermind group, but i HIGHLY recommend the book think and grow rich by napoleon hill. since the creation of the mastermind group, 7 weeks ago, i have finally legitimized my hair business and created promotional materials and an advertising plan for the south asian bridal make-up service! ever since i got the ball rolling, it has grown and taken on a life of its own. i am now considering pursuing a home study course in aromatherapy so that i can better understand essential oils and their healing properties, in an effort to grow and expand my business by offering different services and products. i would have never thought that i would have gotten so much out of a simple networking seminar, but i did.

Have you had any similar experiences where your Mastermind Group really helped you get into gear?

Mastermind Goal Setting

Ellesse Chow writes the Goal Setting College blog. Her recent post 5 Tips to Daily Motivation discussed how to stay on top of your goals every day and move forward to achieve success.

Four of her tips are:

• Develop an Energy Plan
• Setup Little Reminders on Your Goals & the Whys
• Listen to Success Motivation Cassettes, MP3s or other Materials
• Visualize Living Your Dream Everyday

The 5th point involved Mastermind Groups and I thought I would share it with you:

Connecting with Your Mastermind Group Regularly

Napoleon Hill first brought forth the concept of a Mastermind Group in his 1937 classic Think & Grow Rich. A mastermind group is simply one that is made up of 2 or more people having a common goal. These people can be from different backgrounds and possess skill sets that help to provide leverage in the pursuit of your own goals.

In my opinion, if you're able to connect with a bunch of like minded folks and form a mastermind group where you're able to learn and tap on one another's knowledge, you'll be able to reap great rewards, one of which is constant motivation and encouragement from one another. For instance, if you're interested to learn public speaking, you can sign up for a toastmaster club within your vicinity. Mingle around and network, you'll likely find some folks very willing to share their knowledge and tips with you. Who knows, you may be able to team up with anyone of them to participate in a public speaking contest!

Nowadays, it's also very common to find online forums or communities of all sorts where you can register with so it's no longer just the conventional club that we're referring to. Just do a search in Google and you'll be directed to the forum of your interest. But remember, whether is it a brick and mortar special interest club, online forum or any group of friends with similar goals, it's important that you maintain the frequency of such contact. Too long a lapse is unlikely to bring any substantial leverage. Contribute your knowledge, experience and encouragement just as when you're receiving. Only then, you're truly living the spirit of Napoleon Hill's definition of the "Master Mind".