Keynote Speaker
Practice Management &
Business Success Consultant
"Building First Class Financial Advisors"
Going
For More by Max Bolka
MAIN POINT:
What you put your attention on grows stronger in your business and in
your life.
So what are you putting your attention on these days?
MAXIMS:
Despite your strongest intentions back on January 1st to make this your
best year ever,
have things unraveled a little? Do you find yourself distracted from
that breakout year
you planned? Congratulations!…You just discovered the #1 reason
why successful
entrepreneurs have well defined and clearly written
goals, and a plan to achieve them.
If you had all the time, money,
contacts, energy and resources in the world, what would
you choose to
do with your business,
your relationships and your life?
To set truly great goals, you must start by thinking big, and I mean
big…Dream a little.
No one's going to see your goals but you. You can always go back and
refine them later,
but a healthy self image demands that you start by thinking big! Create
the vision of what you would like to accomplish. Below are some
guidelines to show you how:
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH?
The "What" portion of your goal refers to the RESULTS you want to
achieve.
Write them down. Everyone wants to work less, make more, lose weight
and be
spiritually fulfilled, right? The problem is that these goals is that
they are ambiguous.
The most common mistake entrepreneurs make in goal setting is not being
specific.
BE SPECIFIC - Specific means measurable. If you can’t measure it,
how can you track it?
How will you know when you get there? Perhaps
you're already there and don't know it?
If you want to work less, how many hours are you working now, and how
many would you like
to work? Which days of the week? For how long each
day? What would an ideal day look like
to you? How about the goal of
increasing your income?
How much do you earn now, and how much do you want to earn? Don't
forget to set goals
for who you want to BE, as well as what you want to
HAVE and to DO.
WHY DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOAL?
Once you have a specific, measurable "What," for each goal, you need to
elaborate on "Why." List all the reasons why you MUST accomplish this
goal, and what your business and life will look like if you
don’t. Ultimately, all motivation is internal motivation, and you
must come up with enough compelling reasons why your goals are
important to you, or you won’t be fully committed and you won't
emotionally buy into it. You’ll be tempted bail out at the first
sign of trouble…Look at your reasons regularly and
you’ll never lack motivation.
Many times, this process will uncover
other goals. For example, say you are currently earning $100,000, and
your goal is to earn $200,000. You are committed to this idea of
creating more income, because it will buy you more time. What will you
do with this extra time? Take your kids to school every morning before
work? Go on more vacations next year? If so, describe those activities
in detail. Where will you go? What will you do? When?...etc. They now
become your true goals. You must allow for the possibility that you can
achieve these goals independent of how much money you earn.
SHOW ME THE MONEY - For your revenue
goal, list all the reasons why you MUST earn this figure. What will you
do with all that revenue? "Show me the money" and why you want it.
Include on this list your desired living expenses, vacations,
retirement contributions, charitable inclinations, estimated business
overhead, insurance, etc. Lastly, add in taxes. Your total equals your
true target revenue goal.
HOW DO YOU INTEND TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOAL?
The third step after defining "What" and "Why" is to fill in the "How."
The "How" consists of specific ACTION STEPS necessary to achieve this
greatness, consisting of two parts:
BREAK IT DOWN - Once again, be specific. I can tell you that most
advisors try to slide by, and this is why they fail at
accomplishing
their goals. If you want to lose weight, don’t just say
you're going to exercise more (wishful thinking), be specific. IE: Go
to the gym three times a week, from 7:00 to 8:00am and run 3 miles,
lift weights according to your xyz plan, etc.
Similarly, you’ll need a business plan to accomplish your
business goals. Most entrepreneurs do not have any plan. They just work
as hard as they can, pick their head up at the end of the day, the
week, the month and the year, and ask, "How much money did I make?"
Then they compare this to some arbitrary figure they picked out of thin
air (no reasons why), and wonder why they fell short, leading to
overwork, underpay, discouragement, and worst of all, no more goal
setting.
These advisors reason that they’re
already working as hard as they can, so what good is a plan? Of course,
the answer lies in the analogy of taking a vacation. What you are
saying is that you are already putting as much gas in the car as you
can afford, so why have a plan? But we all know that you might be
driving in circles, never reaching your destination. For a vacation to
be truly successful, you need a specific destination and clearly marked
roadmap of how to get there.
Always work backwards from your
goals, breaking your plan down into the smallest possible, manageable
action steps. You should end up with a massive "to do" list.
Then, the next time you find yourself with 20 minutes free, you
won’t use all 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do next.
Instead, you’ll be a focused, goal achieving genius, with a list
right there in front of you of what to work on.
MAKE THE TIME - Finally, you must allow time in your Ideal Daily
Schedule to accomplish your most important goals. In the real world,
everything takes time, and we're all allotted only
24 hours a day, so plan for it. If you don't manage your time, others
will gladly do so for you.
MAX’S MANTRA:
What are you putting your attention on these days? Where are you
focusing your time and energy? Is it in the direction of accomplishing
your goals?
Goals keep you focused on what you want, not on what you don’t
want, screening all your sensory input and channeling all your
activities. Review your goals weekly, during quiet time. About 10
minutes is all you need to keep them lively in your awareness.
Go for more this year...You’ll be amazed at the results next
December 31st !
Max
Bolka is a 25-year veteran of the financial services
industry who developed and served a nationwide financial
planning and
investment clientele. Today he builds first-class financial advisors
through his professional speaking, writing and business
success coaching programs. You can visit his web site at
www.maxbolka.com or contact him directly at (800)
472-3288.
Comprehensive
Business Consulting P.O. Box 15765, Asheville, North Carolina 28813
Toll Free:
800-472-3288 Local: 828-299-7038 E-mail Max at max@maxbolka.com
