This is Isaac after he reached the top of the mountain on our family hike. Success feels so good!
Everybody knows how to set goals. I think the problem comes when you have set a goal and then it doesn’t happen right away or you run into a snag and you give up, telling yourself you can’t accomplish it so why try? And then you stop setting goals.
I come from a very goal oriented family and every year growing up we would make New Year’s Resolutions. Several years ago I was discussing my New Year’s Resolutions with my dad and he was asking me how they were coming. I told him I was discouraged because I had set so many goals and only a few of them I had accomplished. He said something profound to me that I never forgot – “But look at the 3 goals you accomplished!” Of the many goals I had set, 3 had been accomplished. I was different, I had changed and I had been successful at 3 things! What if I had never set the goals in the first place? Changing my perspective changed everything. Instead of concentrating on what didn’t happen, I focused on what I did do. Now I always have several goals I am working on at a time and even if I only accomplish a little bit; or even if I am only successful for a short while; I am better than I was – and that is exciting!
Can I say a few words about starting over? Changing anything about your life is hard work regardless of if it’s eating healthy or to stop yelling at your family. The secret to success is starting over. Every day. If you have a slip up beating yourself up over it doesn’t make you better, but starting over does. I used to feel so guilty when I didn’t accomplish what I set out to do until I changed my mind set. We will always make mistakes. Success is a back and forth dance; two steps forward, one step back. When you take the step back, you don’t give up, you move forward! There is a Japanese proverb that states “Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
My dear friend Jolene painted this picture and it hangs in my office.
So how does this all apply to Alison’s Pantry? Do you have a goal for your AP business or are you so busy and stressed out you just do the next thing on your list? Set goals! You would never get in the car and just randomly drive for days. If you were going somewhere, wouldn’t you want to know where you are going? Set big goals like how much you want to sell by the end of the year. And set small goals to get there like how many new customers you need to get this month.
There are so many things to know about setting goals, but here are 3 important ones:
- Reward yourself – each goal needs a reward for when it’s reached.
- Set long –term goals, but break it down into manageable parts; today, tomorrow, this week, this month.
- Schedule it on your calendar. When is it going to happen?
So if my goal is to get 5 new customers this month this is what I would do:
- Make a list of people I have not yet given a catalog to and set a time to give it to them and tell them about how awesome AP is.
- Choose 5 of my best customers, set a time to give them an extra catalog and ask them for referrals, offering an incentive.
- FOLLOW UP with those new people who got a catalog and those customers I asked for referrals.
Simple. Easy. Straight forward. Putting it on the calendar takes the stress out of it because I know when it’s going to happen and I don’t need to worry about it. And the reward at the end of the month is the incentive I need to make it happen.
Good luck with your goal setting!
Julie