Money? Health? Fitness?

Sex? Happiness? Security?

 Sales? Contacts? Religion? 

 Profits? Fame? Or What?

People don’t set goals because they’re afraid of failing. You set a goal to achieve something important for yourself by a certain date, and you don’t make it, so you’re a failure, yes? No!

Why”No”? Because having a deadline or due date is only one of the factors necessary for a legitimate goal.

 __________________________

If a goal you set doesn’t include all five of the following criteria, you don’t have a goal. You have a “wish!” And if you think Tinkerbell is going to deliver your wish to you on a silver platter, you’re living in fantasyland! 

1)  A goal must first be SPECIFIC. To say you want to increase sales is not specific; unit sales or sales dollars? How much of an increase? Vs. what? Use exact numbers.  

2)  A goal must be REALISTIC. Sure, anything is possible, but it’s probably not realistic to have a goal of being President of the U.S, or of climbing Mount Everest if you’re 85 years old [That’s not to say that someday . . .] any more than it would be to open a business today and expect to be a “Fortune 500” company in a year or two [Again, maybe some day . . .] or—unfortunately—to write a poem that will create world peace by breakfast time tomorrow. Be sure that your goal is something that really is possible to achieve.

3)  Then, guess what? Your goal has to be FLEXIBLE. This is where most people fall short in their goal-setting. “If I don’t make the date or the numbers I’ve set, I’m a failure.” But not if you keep your goal flexible. If you miss the target date or level of accomplishment, move the target! It’s okay! It’s allowed! It’s YOUR target. You can do anything you want with it. Setting a new deadline or changing the dimensions of what you’re aiming for is part of what being flexible is all about. A goal shouldn’t control you!    

4)  You most assuredly need a DUE DATE or DEADLINE so that you know what you’re aiming for.

5)  Put it IN WRITING . . .  NOT into a keyboard, and carry it in your wallet next to your cash. Every time you change it to keep it flexible and on target, RE-write it and replace the prior version.

In other words, “To increase fourth quarter sales by 10% over last year’s total ” is better than “To increase sales.” And if the fourth quarter looms on the horizon and it doesn’t look like 10% will be possible, adjust the goal to 9% or 8% and perhaps add the difference to next year’s first quarter goal.

SPECIFIC, REALISTIC, FLEXIBLE, DUE-DATED and IN WRITING works for personal, family, and life goals as well as for business and social change. Oh, and unless you happen on to someone else doing the exact same thing and want to share goals and goal-thinking, DO NOT SHARE YOUR GOALS. You’d be amazed how many people would try to discourage you and undermine your thinking!                  

Remember: It works if you do!

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Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

“The difference between 

the almost right word

and the right word is 

really a large matter— 

’tis the difference

between

the lightning-bug

and the lightning.”

     Whether for business or pleasure, for commercial reward or literary accolades . . . when you’re writing an advertisement, commercial, website, direct mail piece, news release, brochure, billboard, matchbook cover, a poem or short story, a fiction or nonfiction book chapter, a technical report, business plan, magazine or newspaper item or feature, a speech, photo caption, letter to the editor or a letter to your lover . . . remember Mark Twain’s words above.

     He was right, indeed! 

     Ah, you may say, but he’s ancient, and that was in the days of yore!  The truth?  He might just as well have said it this morning! 

     Writers will do themselves (and their readers) the greatest justice, achieve maximum impact, and most effectively march their persuasion skills to the beat of a different drum when they follow one simple rule of thumb (or pen, or keyboard). 

     It is the single most dramatically productive guideline that directly addresses the sentiments of Mark Twain’s quote, and where oh where does it originate? 

     Why from surgeons of course!  Where else?  And where did those super skilled, robotic, ice-water-veined ER and OR scalpel-slicers learn the trick? 

     Why, where else but from the friendly neighborhood carpenter. And guess what?  If you, dear communicator friend, will follow their lead (the surgeons and carpenters — not the hammering, drilling, screwing and scalpeling), you too will discover that getting through skin, wood, paper, airwaves, and cyberspace all have one thing in common! 

     You will (I personally guarantee it) end up putting your message across more clearly, more effectively, and more persuasively than ever before if you’ll simply remember to:

Measure twice and cut once! 

And so, the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning is not far from the difference between the Conscious and the UNconscious.

They are not extreme opposites.

In the case of the bug and the lightning, one begets the other (grammatically). Consciousness also often prompts UNconsciousness, and vice versa.

In business decision making, FLEXIBILITY is king! And when there’s no time to measure, gut instinct has to kick in!

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302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!”   [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!