Goal Accomplishment
Goal Accomplishment
We all know that goal setting or writing out our goals is important but we must move to the next step and that is goal accomplishment.
You cannot simply write down a list of wants on New Year’s Day, stick it in a drawer for the rest of the year and wait around for your life to change. Sorry, but it’s time to grow up and get serious. Most people know how to write down their goals, but few know how to achieve them. I would like to help you move from goal-setting, rainbow-chasing, wishing upon a star and lamp-rubbing to achieving actual results in the areas of your life in which you dedicate yourself.
WARNING: Achievement requires work, discipline, commitment, maybe some heartache and a stiffened spine.
Lets talk about the cause of all your problems—and the solution.
When I ask people what they want out of the final expense business I hear things like, “I need to make more money” or “I want more time” or “I want to get out of debt”, “ I want your lifestyle.”
This always intrigues me because most of the people I’m talking to are not high school or college age. They are 30-50 year old people looking for a way to make a living, or more important, get a life. Making more money, or having more time, or getting out of debt, or having a better lifestyle are all great goals, but why don’t they already have any of these? Because these are simply symptoms, or outcomes, of the problem.
The cause of the problem is you—and this is probably one of the most sobering understandings you can reach as you work toward your stated goals. Whatever it is you want to change—your marriage, your financial situation, your weight—you’ll never achieve lasting change until you change. Once you improve, everything else around you will improve.
You don’t get in life what you want; you get in life what you are. You will only have the level of success in any area of your life that equals your level of self-worth. What is your personal opinion of what we do? Do you truly feel you are helping people or hurting people?
The human tendency is to engage in the study of effects, while giving little attention to the cause. Why can’t I get all my appointment slots filled? Why isn’t anyone ever home? Maybe we need to give ourselves more time to set good quality appointments. Maybe we need to stay in the field until we consistently hit our goal then work back our time in the field.
I see this travesty played out all the time. I talk with agents from all over the country. Many have been selling insurance for 10-15-20 years and very few have had any great success. Most are looking for a quick fix. I can promise them, if they are not willing to work our system they will be in the same situation 5 years from now, only now they are 5 years older.
Why? Because they didn’t address the real problem. The same set of circumstances and patterns of behavior will create the same outcome, be it good or bad. Some people go from marketing group to marketing group, from company to company, from one lead source to another lead source. Still having the same frustrations they had last year. Why? Because the marketing group, the company or the leads aren’t the issues or the solutions; you are, and the problems will ultimately meet you back where you are.
The first step to changing the trajectory of your life, as well as what you achieve and sustain, is to take complete responsibility for your circumstances today. Wherever you are in life right now is your own doing— good or bad, it’s your fault. Your parents aren’t responsible, the economy isn’t, your leads are not, the area you work is not, your clients are not responsible. You are! You are 100 percent responsible for everything—by what you did, what you didn’t do or how you responded to what was done to you. Once we get that straight, then we can get to the heart of how to fix or improve any outcome you desire.
So, how do we go about fixing this? Lets start with action. Yes, you have to actually work. Now, believe it or not those little cards you get every week, called leads, are not an invitation to go out and pick up checks. As we always talk about, you need to have a plan of action beginning with how many good, quality appointments you need, to get face to face with 20 people every week, to the exact amount of premium you are wanting out of every home you get into.
You have to act on your plans. You have to pick up the phone and use it. You have to get out of your car and knock on as many doors as it takes to find 20 people at home. Walk out your door and productively make something happen to get what you want in life. Doing something always has to follow planning.
So what do you do? Once you’ve decided who you need to be in order to accomplish your goals, you have to figure out how this elevated person operates. How does this person show up in the world? If you are unsure, if you lack a vision of your potential, find a model. Emulating the habits of someone you respect is one of the greatest keys to moving from where you are to where you could be.
Who has already achieved the income level you seek? How do they walk, talk, dress, shake hands and interact with others? What time do they get up, what do they talk about, what do they read, how do they prospect, how do they present, how do they manage their time, keep themselves accountable, etc.?
If you find the answers to those questions and act on them yourself, you, too, can have the business your model has created.
Whether you know it or not, you are a multimillion-dollar enterprise. That is how much you will actually earn over a lifetime, or how much you could earn. Any multimillion-dollar business needs a comprehensive business plan and a well-designed strategic plan of action. To do business without one is nearly certain disaster. So it is for your life, too.
One more point to remember about goals is, it is a stopping point. Do everything in your power to accomplish your goal then go home!!!
Spend time doing what you love. In the beginning that may only be for a short time while you learn to be a great goal accomplisher. Eventually you will create the life you want, if you will first learn the discipline of goal accomplishment in this business and in life.
I don’t want anyone destroying their family, or their health to accomplish success in life, you can have it all, but you must work toward success in all areas of your life through the same process of goal accomplishment.
Now is the time to write the script for the life you have always dreamed of having—the health, the relationships, the thriving business, the financial abundance and freedom, and the knowledge that you are making a significant difference in the world and with the people around you. You can have it all, but it will require you to get serious and relinquish the fantasies that debt fairies will leave a stack of cash under your pillow while you sleep. It will take rigorous planning, relentless commitment and steadfast dedication. That is why success is reserved for the willing few.
Our quote for the week from Bo Bennett,
“The discipline you learn and the character you build from setting and achieving a goal can be more valuable that the achievement of the goal itself.”
Good Luck & Great Selling
Jim
