Set Realistic Goals

Not everyone aspires to earn a million dollars a year, to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or even to be the top seller in their company. To some, success is not measured in dollars, titles, or promotions. To them, success is measured in time with their families, health, happiness, or even in making a difference in the lives of others.

What does “success” mean to you? Does it mean making lots of money? Living in a big, beautiful home? Driving a fancy car? Wearing designer clothes? Or is success, to you, setting and reaching a goal that you never before thought possible? Staying at home with your kids? Or simply receiving recognition for a job well done? Before you can ever achieve success in your life, you must first know what it is that you want!

When I ask people what they consider “success,” the question is generally met with a blank stare. It’s because most people truly have not defined for themselves what success is. Many consultants equate success with being one of the top ten salespeople or the number one recruiter in their company. In reality, success is an achievement of something you have predetermined. Success is meeting thegoals we set, so it is crucial to your success that you set goals.

It's commonly said that only about 20 percent of people set goals, which accounts for the 80/20 rule (20 percent of the people do 80 percent of the work). It’s a fact that goal-setters are more effective, more accomplished, and, frankly, more satisfied with the results of their efforts. Because setting goals makes it quite likely you’ll achieve them, it's important to set goals that are important to you, not goals designed to please someone else.

The beauty of this business is that it can be adapted to anyone, no matter what stage of their lives or their reasons for being involved. Take the time to sit down and define what success means to you. Your vision of success and the resulting goals may meanholding 4-6 shows per month; while someone else's idea of success may be to do that many shows every week. This business meets so many different needs and can expand to accomplish almost any goal.

Once you create your own definition of success, you will need a plan to help you achieve it. The “4-D” approach provides a roadmap to achieving our goals. When we focus on these simple principles, we can achieve success in every area of our lives: business, finance, health and wellbeing, and personal relationships.

DECISION

First, you must make the decision or set the goal. Ask yourself: What do I want? Where do I want to go or be, and in what timeframe? Where do I want to be in the next 30 days? In the next six months? These are decisions you must make before you can proceed.

Once you have made the decision, you begin to feel empowered and energized! Commit to your decision by writing it down and keeping it visible daily. These visual reminders can be put on the refrigerator or your office or workspace wall. When you see it, you stay focused on it. When you stay focused, you accomplish it.

DESIRE

Once you’ve made the decision, things will begin to fall into place. The desire begins to build, and you become more excited, motivated and focused on your goal. The value of the goal determines its effect, so set a goal that you intensely desire. Then believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can achieve it. Paint yourself a picture. Visualize your goal as already accomplished. Replay that image over and over in your mind. Where will you be? What will you have? What will it feel like when you've achieved it? Goals are like magnets. The better defined the goal, the stronger the pull.

DETAILS

While making the decision provides the roadmap, the details become the vehicles to get you to your destination. The details are the little things, your daily list of things to do.

Make healthy lists, comprised of no more than five tasks that can realistically be accomplished during your day. Don’t set yourself up for failure by creating a list that's impossible to complete. Making healthy lists reinforces a positive sense of accomplishment. You can always add tasks to tomorrow's fresh list!

Group your tasks. Whether you have calls to make, letters to write, emails to send, errands to run, children to car pool or a home to clean – do similar things together. You will save time and be more productive. Before you leave your home, pause and ask yourself, “Where am I going? What am I going to do? What do I need to do it?”

Begin thinking in minutes, not in hours. It’s surprising what can be accomplished in 60 seconds. It’s ridiculous to put things off because you “don’t have the time.” Put a pen and notepad in your pocket for a day. Tally the minutes you find yourself between tasks, i.e., waiting in line, sitting at the doctor’s office, etc. Discover how much time seems to go down the drain. Like pennies, minutes add up and it’s up to you to decide how to invest them.

DESIRED RESULT/DESTINATION

When you reach your goal, enjoy the desired result or destination. Have you ever heard someone proclaim, “My business is just snowballing. I’m really on a roll!” That’s what happens when the “4-D Approach” is followed.

Once the decision is made, the desire builds within you. You then follow through with the details, which gives you the desired result and gets you to your destination.

You get more excited. More desire then builds within you, which causes you to take care of more details, which causes what? More desired results! This is the snowball effect. You're “on a roll.”

The only way to stop “the roll” is to stop taking care of the details. It’s only when you get tired, lose your desire, cease making lists of things to do, lose your focus on the job or goal at hand, that you begin to lose the momentum it takes to achieve your goals.

It’s important to remember that as you attain each short-term goal, you must have another to replace it. You need to stoke your desire again and revisit what is important to you. Goals are like tree roots. They need to be nourished to grow and flourish.

Success is a journey and the road is marked with many tempting parking spaces. Understand that no matter how perfect your plan may be, everyone who has tried to achieve great things has had failures. Give yourself a break. It won't happen overnight.

It takes many small steps to reach a worthy goal. Small steps, over time with consistency, equal big results. Keep your eye on the goal, not the obstacle, and it will pull you through the trying times.