15. The best system for setting goals?
Would you like to be more successful? Would you like to make more money? Would you like to take more exciting vacations? Would you like to have more security for you and your family? You can have everything you ever wanted. All you have to do is one thing.
What is the one thing it takes to be successful? In order to evaluate this question it is first necessary to understand what "success" is and what all successful people have in common. It is probably safe to assume that you want to be more successful.
By definition, success is the realization of a worthy goal. Success is different for every individual. For some people, an annual income of $25,000 would be a success, for another it may be $225,000. Whatever it may be for you, there are specific characteristics that you must have in common with other successful people in order to achieve true success.
A goal is the one thing - the single most important factor in achieving success. Without a realistic goal, you will never know when you have reached your success level.
The goal must be realistic, measurable and obtainable. As time passes, your goal can always be adjusted upward. However, if your initial goal is to be worth $1,000,000 by the year end and you are currently only worth $100,000 with an annual income of $50,000 a year and this is November, you most likely will never be able to reach it and therefore, it is unrealistic.
Biting off a job in small portions makes the eventual achievement of the total task seem easier and manageable. That is why a 90-day goal is so effective. Successful people set a goal, re-evaluate their goal, and scale it upward toward an even greater accomplishment.
So many people never get anywhere in their lives because they don't know where they are trying to go. If you don't have a destination you will have no reason to make plans? If you don't know where you are going, you won't be able to help anyone else reach their destination?
Several years ago there was a study done at Harvard University. The graduating class was polled and it was found that only 3 percent of the class had any clear goals set for their future. Twenty years later, the researchers followed up on that same graduating class. The 3 percent who had clearly defined goals accomplished more and made more money than the other 97 percent combined!
Once you get into a habit of goal-setting, you will wonder how you ever managed to accomplish anything before.
The best goal is a 90-day SMART goal. The SMART system works - it has stood the test of time. SMART is shorthand for the five characteristics of a well-designed goal.
S = specific. When a goals is specific, it tells you exactly what you have to do, when, and how much. Because the goal is specific, you can easily measure your progress. A 90-day sales objective is specific.
M = measurable. What good is a goal that you can't measure? If your goal is not measurable, you never know whether you are making progress toward successful completion. A 90-day sales objective is measurable.
A = attainable. A goal must be realistic and attainable. The best goal is one that requires you to stretch a bit to achieve it. That is, the goal is neither out of reach nor below standard performance. If a goal is set too high or too low it become meaningless. A 90-day sales objective is attainable.
R = relevant. Eighty percent of productivity comes from only 20 percent of your activities. Relevant goals address the 20 percent. A 90-day sale goal will give you a long list of benefits when it is achieved.
T = time limit. A goal must have starting point, ending point, and fixed duration. Commitment to a deadline helps to focus your efforts on completion of the goal on or before the due date. A goal without a deadline for completion tends to be overtaken by the day-to-day crises that invariably arise. A 90-day sales goal has a very clear time limit.
What about long range goals?
A five year sales goal is much more attainable if it is worked on 90-days at a time. Set your long range goals - but break them down into 90-day increments.
Comments:
Sometimes I set goals, then assume the path to reach the goal will require suffering and sacrifice – which is a recipe for failure. A better idea would be to set a goal and pay attention to the effect it has on my present reality. I need to set goals that yield a positive effect on my life whenever I think about them, long before the final outcome is actually achieved.
Treat goal-setting as a way to enhance your present reality, not as a way to control the future.
Gary Caudill
How to lose your best sales preson.
I came off of a very good year of $650,0000 in new business, only to find that management set my goals for the next year to be 1,000,000 in new business.
“Out of all the sales people we know you can do it!”
Hello! If I could acheive something like that I would be considered a super hero! Then management felt they needed to help me reach the goal. They added a‘punishment factor!’ My commission would be cut by the % I missed achieving my goal (reviewed monthly). 1st month down to 97% lost 3%, by May I was down to 88% losing 12% of my commission, and by July I told them to stick it! I was gone.
David Vize
Employers can tend to be stingy with compliments and pats on the back. So how do you know if you are satisfying or exceeding their requirements and expectations? Many times you only find out when you are not. So an employer-set goal has the advantage of letting you know where you stand with them.
A personal goal lets you know where you stand with yourself. Have you really done all that you know you are capable of doing or do you need to come up with some more effort?
Crocker Smith
I once read that,"the road of someday leads to nowhere."
It never ceases to amaze me how people just coast along in life Hoping to reach goals they never set. People spend more time shopping for the next big bargin in the weekend flyers and looking for new cars then they do investing into their future goals and dreams. I can remember the first time I actually set a goal and achieved it. I think I was more inspired by the fact that I actually did what I set out to do then the financial reward I received from it. Knowing I did something that all my friends and family said was impossible especially with my skill set. Boy! Am I glad I don't listen very well! The reason you are were you are this point in time is because of your actions,behaviors,attitudes and beliefs. If you want more out of life then you need to become more personally and you need to write out your goals and review them on a daily basis.
Dwayne Mitchell
My comment on this lesson may not be popular but this is what I have found to be true. As a manager I am big on goal setting, however, I learned early on that a sure fire way to destroy moral is to set unattainable goals. Yes, goals can be lofty, but not unrealistic. There truly are only so many ours in a work day. No one wants you to create burnout in their employees. It is a thin line.
Lynn Mosely
"A five year sales goal is much more attainable if it is worked on 90-days at a time. Set your long range goals – but break them down into 90-day increments."