REALITY CHECK
September marks the
concluding month of the third quarter of 2000. If you are
like every other person involved in sales within the
financial services industry, you probably set a series of
goals at the beginning of the year. The month of September
is therefore a good time for a reality check. You had
(past tense) great aspirations when the year started.
Before the year concludes, you still have time to increase
the horsepower to the engine. The following list of hints
will hopefully be helpful:
1. BABY STEPS
Sometimes the weight of deciding what you want to do and
how you are going to do it can be overwhelming. Break down
your goals into manageable categories. You can brainstorm
a lot of ideas about what you’d like to accomplish in one
category. Then pick three or four that you feel will have
the greatest impact upon your success.
2. BE SURE YOUR GOALS
ARE YOUR GOALS
If an objective is set by you and is something you really
want to achieve, the chances for your success are
immensely improved. If, on the other hand, the goals are
dictated to you and you are forced to sign a document
indicating your commitment to reach a particular
production level, you may not have the same level of
commitment. A “want to” is much stronger than a “have to”.
3. PUT IT IN WRITING
Writing down your objectives is important for two reasons.
First, it helps you clearly identify what you want.
Secondly, it increases your personal commitment. When you
invest more of yourself in the goal, the potentials payoff
is increased.
4. CHALLENGING BUT
ATTAINABLE
If your goals are easily attained, they won’t give you
much satisfaction and you will likely lose interest in
achieving them. On the other extreme, setting what you
perceive to be impossible will also result in little or no
motivation. What is attainable is a personal decision, but
IF YOU THINK YOU CAN, YOU CAN. Go for it.
5. GOALS SHOULD BE
SPECIFIC AND MEASURABLE
The more specific an objective is, the more direction it
will give you. Try to specify as clearly as you can what
it is you want. This will save you an enormous amount of
time and effort. Not all goals are easy to measure. In
these cases, make a rating scale from one to ten, with one
the poorest
6. MAJOR OBJECTIVES MUST
BE COMPATIBLE
It’s easy to fall into the trap of setting important goals
where attainment of one prevents the achievement of the
other. Worse yet, incompatible goals can lead you into
putting your efforts into several projects and achieving
no major goals at all. After you decide on your major
goals, check them for compatibility. You will prevent a
lot of frustration and wasted effort.
7. GOALS ARE SUBJECT TO
REVISION AND CHANGE
A good system for goal setting is to always be flexible
enough to take advantage of the possibility of raising the
goal and/or changing the goal.
8. TARGET DATES
Never think of a goal as a goal, until you set a deadline.
Goals without deadlines are daydreams. If the action steps
you take are accompanied by specific dates, within your
objective time frame, your ultimate target date can be
met. Putting deadlines on your objectives and action steps
is a major key to increasing your motivation and
commitment.
9. ESTABLISH CRITERIA
FOR SUCCESS AT THE BEGINNING
The fastest way to destroy your enthusiasm is to set one
criteria for success and consider anything less than that
failure. You can better evaluate the results of your
efforts if you give yourself a success range. Ask
yourself, “What can I hope to achieve?” “What is
realistic?” and “What is the minimum I will accept?”
10. PRIORITIZE YOUR
OBJECTIVES
Every set of goals should be ranked in order of
importance. Sometimes it is difficult to decide which ones
are more important than others. A good way to clear up
this confusion is to look at your objectives and ask,
“Which one of these has the greatest potential for a
positive impact upon my results?” Then, continue to rank
your list of objectives by their potential for positive
impact. It will suddenly become abundantly clear where you
need to spend your energy.
11. VISUALIZE THE END
RESULT
You have to think of success before you experience it. You
do not have to know exactly how your goals will be
achieved. Stay focused on them and your creative
subconscious mind will help you get there. Or, to put it
another way:
You Rise or Fall
Succeed or Fail
By the Image You
Hold in Your Own Mind
