Grow revenues, increase profits, develop more products,
improve customer service, reduce costs, increase
prices...and you must work on all these items in your
business at the same time. Do any of these items bear
resemblance to your 2008 goals?
The first quarter of the year is ending, and now is a good
time to reflect on the progress you have made toward
reaching your business (or personal) goals.
Right now, do they seem impossible to reach; are you losing
your grasp on them? How about considering a new approach
to your goal planning?
I have found over the years that many people don't like
planning. They don't even like mention of the word!
Planning means work; hard work. People mean well, but it's
so easy to get distracted by the daily challenges of our
work and home lives.
Maybe there's something deeper at work if you haven't made
satisfactory progress toward reaching your goals. Could it
be that your goals aren't exciting to you? Maybe they're
too abstract, or perhaps you're not the type of person
that's passionate about "profits", etc. You might even
harbor self-beliefs that it's impossible to achieve your
goals.
Most goal planning programs suggest you set a probable goal
with interim milestones to keep track of your performance
(think monthly or quarterly). Even though I emphatically
condone this method of achieving outcomes, I want you to
stretch yourself and think about accomplishing something
that you currently think is impossible. Is that exciting
to you? Does it make your heart race? Good!
Now, I'm not talking about doing something humanly
impossible, like flying off a building with mechanical
wings. What I am asking you to do is look at areas in your
life where you've become resigned that your ideal desired
outcome or "way of being" is impossible. These places
could be your business, your job, or even personal issues.
You might think the task is physically or mentally
impossible for you to achieve, you've made up your mind
this just can't be done (by me)! Examples of such things
are:
1. Double your sales or income this year.
2. Lose 20 pounds
3. Go on a 4-week vacation
Before you can achieve the seemingly impossible, you must
break through the barriers of resistance that tell you
can't achieve something. This powerful "shadow belief" is
sabotaging your ability to successfully achieve your goals.
So, let's eradicate them!
To break through the barriers of resistance you are
feeling, you first have to do some simple research about
what you want in your life, in a business or personal
sense. Ask yourself the following questions:
1. "If I had more time, I'd..."
2. "If I could I'd..."
Finishing those statements gives some substance to things
you want to accomplish, but may seem impossible because of
current circumstances in your life. The actual activity on
the surface may not seem impossible, but, if I asked you
about making plans to do them, you'd stammer something
like, "There's no way I could do that!" But, other people
do these things, right? Somehow, they accomplished the
same things you desire, and I bet you'll agree with me it
probably wasn't simple or easy for them. Undoubtedly, they
first had to have a vision of what they wanted their life
to look like, and they had to overcome the internal
barriers holding them back.
ACTION POINT
Describe your ideal vision about what you want your
business or personal life to look like in the next year,
how you want to "be". Describe it in as many ways as you
can see it. What changes will you see in your life when
you accomplish your vision?
This is a great first step to take, because it helps you
become aware of what you want. It's almost impossible to
achieve your dreams and visions if you haven't articulated
them clearly in your mind. By creating a clear vision of
what you want, even if you think it is impossible right
now, helps to set you on a path toward accomplishment.
Why? Because half the battle is breaking through the
resistance, you may currently feel about the impossibility
of your goal and vision.
Even if you don't achieve your goals exactly as you defined
them in the next year, by playing the game with passion,
and a desire to win, you'll certainly make progress toward
achieving your dreams. After all, a championship tennis
player doesn't know if he will win every major tournament.
But, like any champion, when they lose a game, they
continue to play and reap the rewards.
What do you think is impossible? Go for that in 2008.
Copyright 2008 Bonita L. Richter. All rights reserved.
----------------------------------------------------
Bonita L. Richter, MBA, founder of Profit Strategies,
teaches entrepreneurs and business owners how to start and
grow businesses, attract more clients, and market their
businesses to increase sales, business success, and
generate wealth. Find out more about how to market your
business and boost sales with her popular FREE eBooks at
===> http://www.Profit-Strategies.biz
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