Reach Your Goals by Keeping Score
Ed Koch, the former Mayor of New York City, would often begin his
press
conferences with, "So, how am I doing?" He was known for his
willingness
to consistently seek feedback from his constituency.
Constant feedback is critical to your long-term success. It helps you
make
minor adjustments today that will have a major impact tomorrow. Most
of us
don't enjoy feedback because we take it too personally. The first
rule to
making all feedback constructive is, "Always be gentle with
yourself."
It's your internal representation of your present circumstances that
impairs you from learning the lesson and keeps you dwelling on the
mistake. Make it a habit of moving from frustration to fascination
and
replace thoughts of failure with feedback.
So, how are YOU doing? How are you doing in the areas of health,
finance
and relationships?
As a business coach, I devote the first Thursday of the month to
helping
my clients take a critical look at what's working and what's not
working
in their lives. I now offer you the opportunity to participate in
this
exercise.
The beginning of each month is an excellent time to survey your
activities
over the previous 30 days and determine if you moved closer to or
further
away from your goals. Remember, the definition of insanity is "doing
the
same thing over and over again but expecting different results." Use
this
time to explore new strategies and don't be afraid to change your
goals.
Are you trying your best but it appears as if you are making the same
mistakes again and again? If so, then you have developed a pattern of
thinking and acting. This pattern is what's really holding you back.
Much
like the grooves on a record, you keep producing the same old sad
song.
Turning up the volume and purchasing a better stereo will not change
the
song. Only you can change the record.
Forget what others will say about you. Just focus on what is right
for
you, your business and your family. I help my coaching clients to do
this
by applying an analytical benchmark to their business progress.
In each of the following categories, give yourself a score from 0 to
10.
"0" indicates that no or very poor results were achieved and "10"
indicates that you are doing better than Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey
in
that category.
Rank each category on a scale of zero to ten. In the last 30 days,
- Customer Service - How well did you deliver on your business
promise?
- Training - Did you or a staff member learn a new skill or read a
book?
- Health - Did you exercise on a regular basis and eat healthier
meals?
- Relationships - Were you able to spend quality time with friends
and
family members?
- Spiritual - Do you feel a closer level of connection with your
Creator?
- Finance - How close did you come to reaching your monthly income
goals?
- Marketing/PR - How effectively did you use the internet, public
relations, seminars or any other marketing tools to improve your
business?
- Team Building - What did you do to recruit, retain or motivate
team
members?
- Sales - Were you able to effectively utilize your sales focus
days? How
will did you handle objections? Are you using a contact management
system
to reach and close prospects on a regular basis?
- Joy - Do you feel alive? Are you really happy?
Add up your scores. You are no longer in high school. A score of less
than
65 does not mean that you are failing. Being deliberate about
increasing
your score each month is far more valuable than your present score.
Next, take a look at the categories that received the two lowest
scores.
What will you do differently next month to raise your score in those
areas?
Let me repeat that again, what will you do differently next month to
raise
your scores in the two lowest areas? Your response to this question
is
critical. Take the time to really explore new strategies.
If you don't, you will always keep getting the same results. Life is
truly
that simple.
Have fun with this. Partner with a buddy and give yourself a prize if
you
can significantly increase your overall score.
Feel free to use my message board at www.SmallBusinessCamp.com to
post
your scores each month. You can get feedback from the Small Business
Camp
community and be held accountable to your action items.
Keeping monthly score and being held accountable is the best way to
reach
your long-term goals.
Andrew Morrison is the founder of Small Business Camp - an
entrepreneurial
training, coaching and marketing services firm. Previously he built a
multi-million dollar direct marketing company. He was featured in the
Wall
Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine and appeared on the Oprah
Winfrey
Show. Visit www.SmallBusinessCamp.com to register for his FREE
business
building tele-seminar.
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