importance of goal setting…

Voice of Reason posted a comment recently which is worth discussing ….

He suggested that I explore in more detail “the importance of goal setting, both short term and long term goals.”

He reminded me that the FND started off as a short term goal in Tokyo… “if we do 50K in business in the week … we will celebrate by going out to dinner on Friday…” Needless to say, every week we ensured we achieved our goal and had a FND.

When we launched naseba nearly 6 years ago … I told Fabien that my goal was to develop the company into a multi-hundred million euro group within 10 years. Fabien admited a year ago, that he thought I was pitching him and he did not believe in my goal … but now he understands that I am serious.

We are well on our way, even if we still have a long way to go – we have put ourselves into a position where we can achieve this goal.

This long term goal is what guides as well as drives me …

When I used to interview people – my first question was “what are your goals?” …

Usually, I got the same answers “to be the best;” to make millions of dollars;” “to become the ceo.”

Many people have dreams of what they want to do or achieve, however, rarely do I meet people that have definitive short term and long term goals – and action plans on how to achieve them.

I am not pontificating … because I have slipped on my climb.

just to explain ….

When I was younger…especially my last years in unversity – I was very focused on my short term and long term goals. I wrote them down and focused entirely on achieving them.

Having these goals gave me focus, and guided my judgements and decisions I made — like a GPS.

If my goal was to run a marathon – then I had to ensure my actions were in line with this goal, i.e. my diet; my sleep schedule; my work outs, etc.

Even when my goal was just to go out to dinner on Friday night – I completely focused on ensuring nothing got in my way from achieving the sales I needed … i.e. I did not go out during the week; I researched over the weekend to have enough leads – I was consistent.

However….

as the years have gone by, unfortunately, I have failed to achieve some of my long term goals and many short term goals because I have not been focused enough … I have not been as consistent as I once was.

I often allow excuses to get in the way of my consistency.

it is so much easier talking about what we are going to do … than actually doing it.

My challenge to the readers of this blog – me included …. instead of being like most people who just sit around and talk about what they are going to do ….. set goals and do everything in your power to achieve them.

Let your goal give you focus – and make sure you are consistent in your actions so you can achieve the goals you set.

Surely, there is one reader out there that this entry will touch and they will set their goals … and will ensure their action is in accordance to achieving them.

I leave with a good story about someone who I have mentioned before, but it is worth reflecting on again.

Adam Fletcher told me about 6 years ago that his major personal goal was to race cars ….

I got an email from him last week telling me how he got 16th place at a big race at SPA in Belgium.

just f…ing sell.