Tag: goals

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The “I bought a boat” Theory of Taking Action One Step at a Time

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I once heard a terrific story that illustrates the power of taking action one step at a time.  It came from a general manager of a yacht sales dealer. His typical customer would purchase new yachts and other boats for $1 million dollars or more.

He tells the story this way:

One morning, several of the sales people were standing around, and they were having some fun razzing the newest sales person, a young woman who didn’t really fit the part of a wizened “boater” like most of them did.  Into the showroom walked a couple who also didn’t really fit the part – they weren’t dressed very nicely, and they appeared to be young and probably not quite ready for a $1 million dollar investment in a new yacht.  So, they all “offered” to have the newest sales person talk with the couple – since they didn’t think it would amount to anything.

After quite a while, it became obvious that the couple was serious, and that they planned to purchase a yacht that day.  However, the husband confessed that they hadn’t come prepared to purchase and didn’t have a credit card or much cash to make a down payment.   The new sales person, undaunted, asked them what they did have?  “We only have $100.”  So, the sales person took the cash, and shook their hands.  The couple left the showroom with a huge smile on their faces.

When the new sales person came back to the group of sales people, she was the laughingstock of the group.  The group exclaimed, “You took a $100 deposit on a $1 million dollar boat?  That’s ridiculous!”  But the general manager knew better. He celebrated the sale with the new sales person and responded back to the sales team with this (now famous) conclusion:

“You may think that they didn’t actually buy anything, and you are right that $100 isn’t much of a deposit on a $1 million new yacht.  BUT, what do you think is the first thing that couple did when they left the dealership? When they saw people they knew?  They said, “We bought a boat today.” Now they didn’t really buy a boat – they only put down a $100 deposit on that boat.   But once they told everybody they knew about that new yacht, do you really think they weren’t going to follow through on the rest of the sale?”

Since I first heard that story, I have reflected on the lessons from it many times.  Let’s see if you agree that these are the lessons learned from the “bought a boat” theory.

  • Any action taken towards a goal will get you a step closer to actually achieving the goal itself
  • Just START on your way to the goal – step by step, you’ll get there
  • Once you say your goal out loud to those around you, you are much more likely to follow through
  • Stating your goal as if you are already there, as in, “we bought a boat today” helps you to take action and keep moving toward your goal.  (Note: When was the last time you said your goal out loud as a way to keep yourself motivated?)
  • And, not everyone looks like they can purchase a $1 million dollar yacht, but looks can be deceiving!

What “boat” are you trying to buy? What goals are eluding you this year?  Make the commitment today to take a step – “buy that boat” – and then take another step tomorrow.  Step by step, you WILL get there.

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How Do My Goals Contribute To The Strategy?

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Strategy and goals should influence everyone’s behavior in the organization!

The work at the top of the organization in creating strategy and goals is intended to influence behavior that drives results. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for the primary impact of the work to remain at the senior management level. It’s kind of like having a car with an engine and no wheels. Despite the importance of driving the strategy and goals deeper into the organization, the messages as to how the strategy relates to execution typically become unclear and confusing the further down they go.

Passing goals down without creating meaning causes frustration…

The responsibility for creating clarity around what the strategy means at the business unit, team and individual levels, and for ensuring that the strategy is executed is a shared management responsibility.

There are many dynamics within fast paced changing organizations that contribute to the lack of alignment. However, the biggest obstacle appears to be “a lack of understanding.” Why is this? Repeating the company strategy is easy enough, but without translating strategy into relatable actions with those who are expected to execute at every level of the organization, has limited impact. When managers involve people and teams they lead in these discussions, SMART goals can be written that connect everyone’s contributions to the strategy. It also improves sustained commitment through the ability to measure ongoing results.

Planning backwards focuses on results…

Managers can facilitate the process by asking three questions:

  1. How does the strategy affect our unit?
  2. What must we accomplish?
  3. How will we accomplish it?

Through this process a shared language and framework for how to think and talk about alignment occurs among the team/department enabling them to match their behavior to a set of commonly understood goals and actions. To create focus on the truly critical goals to your team and the company, apply the following questions as a litmus test to each of the existing goals: 

  • What is its economic impact? – How will this goal contribute to company performance?
  • Is it aligned with the company’s strategy?
  • How will it satisfy stakeholders?
  • What is my level of passion, talent, and energy for it?
  • Do we have the resources? 

If people in the organization don’t understand how the company is supposed to be different and what opportunities they are to pursue, how can they make the tough choices that they have to make every day? (Porter, 1980)

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One 3-Letter Word You May Want to Rethink

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Let’s talk about a word we probably all use frequently—it’s a very powerful word, but not in the way you might think.   It’s the word TRY.  How often do we use that word in the context of something we are doing, a goal we are setting, an objective we are reaching for?  It’s hard to even write that last sentence without using “try,” as in “something we are trying to do, an objective we are trying to achieve.”

“Try” has become part of our vocabulary, but it limits our abilities to focus on a goal and commit completely to achieving something.   As a way to illustrate this, let’s do a quick activity.  If you are sitting down, stand up.  Are you standing?  Now … try to sit back down.  No, don’t sit down, TRY to sit down.  How did that work?  What do you notice?   The bottom line:  You can’t try to sit down – you either sit down or you don’t. 

Is that same principle not also true of goals or something we set our minds to – that we either do them or we don’t?  We either accomplish or don’t accomplish what we set out to do.  In a take-off from what Tom Hanks said in the movie League of Our Own,  “there’s no trying in life.”  (Well, he actually said, “there’s no crying in baseball,” but you get the point!)

The point is that you can’t try to achieve whatever you set out to achieve – ultimately, you either achieve it or you don’t.  Consider how often we either hear others say “try” or we say “try” ourselves.   How much more powerful and accomplished might we be if we took that pesky three-letter word out of our vocabulary?  Here are some examples across a wide spectrum of areas:

  • Your kids:  from “Yes, Mom, I’ll try to get my homework done before dinner,” … to … “Yes, Mom, I’ll get my homework done before dinner.”
  • In a meeting at your workplace:   from “I’ll try to talk with them about the project,” … to … “I’ll talk with them about the project.” 
  • With your wife/husband/significant other:  from “Let’s try to spend more time together on the weekends,” … to … “Let’s spend more time together on the weekends.” 
  • In your life:  from “I’m trying to exercise three times a week,” … to … “I am exercising three times a week.”

Do you notice the difference in how the statements above sound when the word try is in them or not in them? 

So, here is your challenge:   For the next week, don’t just try to do whatever you are focused on – do it without the “try” in your sentence.  Catch others in the act too – have them try to sit down to illustrate your point.  And as always, let me know how it goes!   

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DON’T Use Business Metrics…At Your Own Peril

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They say what you don’t know won’t hurt you, but nothing could be further from the truth when you run a small business. If you operate based on “gut instinct,” or you make assumptions on how your business is performing without knowing the facts, you can run into problems quickly. Fortunately, there is a simple solution. By monitoring a few key business metrics, you can quickly gain a handle on your business and start on the path to improving your profitability.

Business Metrics
Business metrics, or measurements of business activity, have long been seen as the exclusive tool of the pure number cruncher, the bookkeeper, and the statistician. That’s no longer the case. In today’s increasingly flooded marketplace, the mantra must be: “You can’t manage it if you can’t measure it.” By defining the metrics that are important to your business and monitoring them closely, you gain three key benefits:

– Focus. Defining the metrics that are most important to your business allows you to tune out everything that isn’t related to those key measurements. As a result, you’ll find that you and your business are much more efficient.

– Better Vision. Companies that monitor metrics can spot threats and opportunities faster than companies that don’t. Your metrics will give you keen insights into what’s happening within the four walls of your business as well as overall trends in your industry.

– Better Decisions. Metrics provide a framework for making business decisions. With the numbers in black and white, you can make well-reasoned decisions on how to proceed. If it improves your key metrics, consider it. If not, move on.

Implementing Metrics
Getting started with metrics is easier than you might think. Many small business owners don’t understand how simple it can be to collect and analyze these important numbers. A simple seven-step process gets you started.
1. Define Your Goals. Make a list of business goals. Goals might include sales objectives, target profit margins, or success at signing up new customers.
2. Define the Metrics. For each business goal on your list, write down a metric that will help you track your progress to success. For example, if your goal is signing up new customers, your metric might involve stating the number of meetings you will have per week with perspective customers.
3. Benchmark Current Status. Now that you established your metrics, you need to measure them. You must determine exactly how your business is doing, even if the truth is hard to swallow. By establishing the current value of each metric, you will be able to track your improvements in the future.
4. Put in Place a System to Monitor and Report Metrics. You may need to add new business processes that will help you calculate and report your metrics. For example, is the number of your customers who view your customer service as being “excellent,” then you may want to survey your customers every month and ask them how you are doing.
5. Communicate Metrics with Employees. Once you’ve defined the key metrics that are important to your business, be sure to let your staff know. Then, everyone can make decisions that help improve the metrics.
6. Review the Metrics and Make Decisions. With your metrics in place, you have greater insight into which strategies work and which don’t. Review the metrics and take steps to improve your results.
7. Promote Successes. When your metrics improve, let your staff know and reward everybody that helped make things better.

Effective use of business metrics can have a profound impact on your business. As you gain a better understanding of your business and move closer to achieving important goals, your day-to-day work will become easier and your staff will be more accountable to the metrics that matter. You’ll make better decisions, based on data, and you will have a powerful new tool for managing your business.

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The Biggest Killer of Business Growth

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Last week I asked a friend of mine about his business. He told me that he’d had a pretty good year so far but felt frustrated. For the third year in a row, he’s falling short of his annual goals but feels complacent since he’s still doing okay financially.  That complacency has lead to him making fewer calls, having fewer meetings and doing less business than he’d like.

What’s the biggest killer of business growth? It’s not lack of skills or talent; it’s not a poor business plan or even the economy.

The biggest killer of business growth is COMPLACENCY.

How do you know complacency is killing your business growth?

  • You know what to do to grow your business but, for some reason, you’re just not doing it.
  • You’ve lost the excitement you used to have for your business
  • You seem to constantly hit a plateau in your business but can’t get to that next level of growth
  • You set the same goals every month or every year without challenging yourself to get your business to the next level

The antidote for complacency is PASSION. Here are some steps that will help you to get passionate about your business again:

1. Create a 3-year vision for your life in the 6 areas of the life wheel below.

Don’t get too detailed. Spend about 90 minutes and create a compelling future by writing a paragraph or two for each area.

2. Rate yourself in each area. Where are you compared to your vision on a scale of to 100%? If you’re at 80% or above in each area, it’s time to create a new, more compelling vision.

3. Define 1-2 goals in each area that would get you closer to your vision. Goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistically high and Time targeted).

4. Document your emotional “why” for the highest priority 2-3 goals on this list. Your “why” should include how your life will change if you accomplish the goal. What are the rewards of achieving the goal? What are the benefits of not achieving the goal?

5. Create a detailed plan for the top 2-3 goals. This plan should include specific action steps and target dates.

6. Read your 3-year vision daily to keep your excitement about the new, compelling future. Find other ways to keep the vision in front of you.

7. Update this vision annually.

8. Update your goals as needed.

Have you been complacent and found some ways to regain your passion? If so, I’d love to hear how you did it.

Are you complacent now? I’d love to hear how it’s impacting your business and/or what you plan on doing about it.

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Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

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In Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles, he tells the story of a seminar where he held a $100 bill in the air and asked the audience, “Who wants this $100 bill?”

Almost everyone raised their hands, dozens of people shouted “I’ll take it!” and many more stood up and cheered. This went on for a while, but Jack just stood there and waited. Finally, someone ran up and took the $100 bill right out of his hands.  Everyone else wanted the money, but no one else had the guts to take the necessary action.

When Jack asked the audience why they didn’t do what the one lucky audience member did, most said they thought about it but didn’t have the guts to do it. Fear held them back. Some of the reasons they gave him were:

  • I was afraid I might be doing something wrong and then people would judge me or laugh at me
  • I wasn’t sure you’d really give it to me
  • I didn’t want to look greedy
  • I didn’t want to look like I wanted it that badly
  • I was too far back in the room
  • I was waiting for further instructions

What’s interesting is that these are the same fears that stop us from reaching our goals in our own lives. What actions should you be taking in your business or your life that you’re NOT because of fear? 

Let’s face it, there’s a lot to be fearful of these days.  Fear is natural. We all feel it. The difference between incredibly successful, fulfilled people and everyone else is how they react to that fear.  

Some respond to fear by worrying, stressing out, excessively planning every thought and action. The effect is paralysis in our business and our lives.  Often times, this paralysis causes our worst fears to come true. 

Others respond to fear by using it as motivation to take action. While many have the “ready, aim, fire” philosophy, some realize that the best way to hit a target is to fire first, see where the bullet lands, and then adjust your aim and fire again (ready, fire, aim). Very quickly, you’re hitting the target. 

A great way to think of fear is to use the acronym, False Expectations Appearing Real. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? 

Here’s an idea…

Set a goal to do one courageous thing every week. 

  • Call that prospect you’ve been afraid to call
  • Confront that co-worker you’ve been afraid to confront
  • Take a stand on an important issue
  • Start that new business you’ve been afraid to start
  • Start writing that book you’ve been meaning to write

Turn your fear into action by doing one courageous thing every week. You’ll be amazed at what your business and your life looks like at the end of the year.

What’s holding you back? What have you done to get through the fear? I’d love your comments.

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Sometimes You’ve Got to Look Down

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Now that we’re more than half way through the year, how are you doing with the goals you set back in January?
 
For many of you, I know some of those goals now seem out of reach. But it’s not too late.
 
 I’ve just made a short video that will change your perpective and change your results.
In this video, you’ll learn:
  • Why we sometimes give up on our most important goals
  • How to keep you motivation high through the hard times
  • Where to place your focus while your working on your goals
Be sure to watch the video right now. Just click here (or on the image below). It’ll only take you about 2 minutes and it will dramatically improve your business and your life.
 
After you watch the video, be sure to check out the tools (coaching and products) I have available to help you take the next step.
 
Break through and make it happen!
Mike
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A Little Trick With Big Results

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Spring is almost here. How are you doing with your goals for 2010. By the way, if you meet those goals, will it really make you happy?
 
Have you ever met a goal and said, “is that all there is?” Does achieving goals makes us truly happy.
 
I’ve just made a short video with a little trick that will give you big results.
In this video, you’ll learn:
  • How you can have feeling of fulfillment much more consistently
  • How you can take meaning from the hardships in life
  • What life is REALLY about
Be sure to watch the video right now. Just click here or on the image below). It’ll only take you about 3 minutes and it will absolutely change your outlook on (and the results of) the rest of your day.
 
After you watch the video, be sure to check out the tools (coaching and products) I have available to help you take the next step.
 
By the way, check out our new recommended book list.
 
Live with purpose!
Mike
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Scarey Accountability Results

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Back on November 16th I made a committment to myself, and all of you.

I committed to losing 20lbs by January 30, 2010 (my 45th birthday). I weighed 177  at the time and hadn’t weighed below 160 since college. Many thought I was nuts…doing it right before the “pig out” holidays.

My objective was twofold…

Obviously, the first objective was to improve my health. This is important to me. I wanted a higher level of energy. I also wanted to look better, live longer and be an positive example for others.

My second objective was to prove out  something I call “scarey accountability”. Here’s how scarey accountability works:

  1. Identify an important goal that you haven’t been able to achieve (make sure the goal is specific, measurable, achievable, realistically high and time targeted). This can be a business or personal goal.
  2. Do something that holds you accountable to achieving the goal, in a risky (or scarey) way. For example, me announcing to thousands of people that I intented to lose 20lbs.
  3. Do it!!

Well, I’m proud to announce that I achieved my goal! In fact, I achieved it two weeks ago and have maintained my goal weight of 157 since then. Here’s the interesting part…it was easy. Once I made the committment to all of you (scarey accountability), failure was no longer an option. With that option gone, my only choice was success.

My next committment is that I will continue to weigh under 160 for the next 6 months (July 31, 2010). Some people have asked me why I don’t set a goal of maintaining this weight for the rest of my life. Sounds logical, however, I never like to create goals I can only reach when I die. 

What goal are you having trouble achieving? How can you use scarey accountability to help you succeed? Remember, annoucing the goal to thousands of people is only one option. There are many ways to commit yourself…to make success your only option.

I’d like to hear from you. Please reply to this post with the answers to these two questions:

  1. What’s your goal?
  2. What’s your scarey accountability strategy?

Thanks for holding me accountable!!

Mike

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What are your big rocks?

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It’s January. Everyone is excited about their goals for 2010. The health club parking lots are all crowded…for now. But we all know what happens in February. The motivation dies down and resolutions are put on the shelf…until next year.
 
I’ve just made a short video to hep you ensure this doesn’t happen to you.
In this video, you’ll learn:
  • The difference between efficiency and effectiveness
  • What “big rocks” have to do with having a fulfilling life
  • A simple exercise to help you focus on the right goals
Be sure to watch the video right now. Just click here or on the image below). It’ll only take you about 3 minutes and it will absolutely change your outlook on (and the results of) the rest of your day.
 
After you watch the video, be sure to check out the tools (coaching and products) I have available to help you take the next step.

Also, for those of you keeping track…

I’m now down 18lbs. 2 more to go by January 30th!!
 
Keep holding me accountable!
Mike