Today I’d like to talk about taking some ACTION. Action is the difference between success and failure with anything and your goals are no exception.
The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch it, get started, take action, move. Anonymous
So, know that you have your goals that meet the SMART test and if you would add the 3 of my suggestions you’ll be right on target. To remind you I have included them here
1. Goals need to be Specific.
2. Goals need to be Measurable
3. Goals must be Attainable
4. Goals must be Relevant
5. Goals must be Time-based
I also suggested that the following points are also important
6. Goals need to be Written.
7. Goals must be Reviewed
8. Goals must generate some Passion.
The first action is related to my extra items which is “Goals need to be written”. I would suggest that a typed set of goals makes a nice clean list but there is something in the physical writing of your goals down on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil. Hand written goals engage the brain in a different way than typing does.
Writing your goals out on a piece of paper helps you to clarify what you want. It brings clarity to your mind. It also allows you to start some of the planning need to make you goals come true. If your goal is to make $200,000 then you can start to break that goal down and create some short statements that need to come together to make that a reality.
So let’s see how this looks using the $200,000 goal in the health and fitness market. (I haven’t a clue about this market so if you think this is off the wall, remember it’s an example not an idea I’m looking at to create a business. Although I used most of this from a video I watched that was laying out their business. This was very close to it)
By the end of December 2017, I will have a business that generates $200,000 in profit. I will do this by providing exceptional service to my customers in the field of health and fitness.
To achieve this goal I will produce free articles, paid for reports and books along with exercise videos and training programs to help people get started. I will also create a membership site where people can join to have access to a monthly special for a fee and they will be able to record their progress. I will also create a 3 day and a 5 day personal training program that people can come to my home and I will train them in proper nutrition and fitness.
Because I enjoy helping people and getting them healthy, I am energized to provide this exceptional service.
Get the idea? You’re also most creating a mini business plan. This will lead you into the next part of the goal setting which is about how many people I would need to get to pay for one-on-one training, how much should it be and how often, to how many members do I need and how many reports will I need to sell. What about nutrition supplements? Should also be part of the goal? How many people do I need to join my monthly site? What will you provide ongoing value for my customer?
Hand writing your goals out is exciting and scary because you are taking a thought and moving it closer to a reality. Your goals start to become real to you and are taking shape and develop on paper right before your eyes. This will motivate you to take action. It will clarify the next steps and possible obstacles. This will provide you with some clarity as to where you need to focus some attention to work out the details.
Hand writing your goals will focus you in on your plan. It’s easy to get distracted by all the other things going on around you. This gives you a list of real to-dos that you need to get done to achieve you goal. And don’t forget distraction can look like opportunities but if it delays you without getting you closer to your goal faster than discard it or write it down on an “ideas for the future” list to look at later and get back to work on you defined list. Create this level of detail will bring some clarity to your goal and you will be able to look at an “opportunity” and decide very quickly if it makes sense follow it.
This will also give you the focus to get through the resistance that will come. Before you achieve your goal you will be challenged to quit, slow down or just stop for a while. These actions will kill you goals and make it harder to achieve anything in your life.
You will need breaks to keep the energy level up. The easiest way to do this is pre-schedule the breaks. For example you could plan to take Friday evenings off and spend the evening with friends or at the movies. Pre-scheduled breaks also take the guilt about not working on your goals.
The other thing you should do is to have some built in celebration points. Let’s say you are writing a report and after you get it done you plan on going out for dinner to celebrate. Or celebrate your first sale and your $100 or $1,000 of sales. You pick the celebration point.
Remember, by the yard it’s hard but by the inch it’s a cinch. Take some action and write out your goals BY HAND.
Well I hope this has helped and thanks for reading. Leave a comment and tell me what you think.
Chat soon.
Percy