Weekly Focus: Goal Setting
The beginning of a given year is the time to rewrite our goals, our mission statement and our business plan. For some of us that will involve a major overhaul and for some of us it will involve a tweak. For all of us, it will be a thought-provoking experience. Goal setting comes first. Decide what you want to accomplish and write it down. Set a date by which you will accomplish each goal. If you were charged with running a twelve-minute mile and nobody posted a finish line, you would have no way of knowing if you succeeded. It’s no different with business goals.
In addition to making your goals specific, make them concrete. “I’m going to earn more money next year” is not a goal. It’s a desire and desires cannot be measured. You need to be able to measure your progress. Concrete goals and the time you plan to achieve them are measurable items.
As well, make your goals magnetic by making them achievable. They must pull you toward them. Think of goals as mile markers on a long journey to a specific location. The mile markers measure your progress. They let you know you are heading in the right direction and you are making progress on your way to achieving your objective.
Action Plan
After you write down your goals, create your mission statement. This is the tool which will serve as your rudder. Like your goals, make it specific. Spell out your goals and your responsibilities. Your mission statement tells your target market who you are, what you do and why you do it. Make sure your clients are aware of and understand your mission statement. It tells them what you are all about and sets up their expectations.
Now write your business plan. This is not a daunting task. You can do it in one or two pages. This is your blueprint for dealing with the future, the strategy used for attaining your goals. Too many Advisors have never written a business plan. They instead erroneously conclude that if they do a good job, their clients will simply give them more money. That’s not a business plan. That’s a delusion.
Start off this year by making sure you have clearly established your goals and your mission statement and then finalize a business plan that supports both. Once you have visualized yourself as a top tier professional, focus on the task at hand. Get it done. Pick up the phone and make an appointment. Return that call you should have returned yesterday. Clear your phone messages. Do one thing at a time. Get in the moment. You will feel a sense of accomplishment.
How Strongly Do You Feel About Your Goals?
Running Time: 2:43
Are you committed to the long term as you pursue your goals? Is hitting your goals vital to your success? If the answer to each question is yes, and I’m sure it is, write your goals down and refer to them every day.
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I was fortunate tp play golf with Don @ TPC Sawgrass & Johnny Putnam-Phoenix. By the back 9, Don’s driver was referred to as the vining rod.
Hope all is well.
David Zilkowski
Ponte Vedra