Did you know that les than 5% of people have specific goals, less than 3% actively write down their goals, and less than 1% set a specific deadline to attain their goals?
It astounds me that more people do not think, let alone write down, their business and life goals. It has to be the cheapest and most effective way to move you much closer to where you want to be in life. That’s if you’ve taken the time to think about what you really want, and where you’d like to be.
Why do so few people think specifically about goals in their lives and fail to write them down? Perhaps it’s because we’re lazy? No, I don’t think so, not for most of us anyway. I think it’s because we are fearful of failure. Well, a business plan that states goals and timeframes is for us, it doesn’t all have to be shared. Who else needs to know? I’ll tell you one thing, others will know if we are not successful. If you plan to achieve your goals you are going to get closer than if you don’t have a clear plan at all. Obvious? As if we know this already. But if we do know this then why are so few of us following this simple, yet effective rule?
If you are not a goal setter already, I hope you will become one.
Perhaps we don’t realise how the brain actually works. Firstly, our brain works in incredibly complex and sophisticated ways and it is wonderfully equipped to keep us on track – once we set one (To follow)! Simplistically, we can think of our mind as comprising 2 parts – the conscious and the subconscious. Sort of like the CEO and the people on the shop floor. The CEO represents the conscious mind and the shop floor person consists of the subconscious.
The CEO (Conscious) watches the overall results and makes decisions based on the information they have. They send the decisions over to the shop floor (subconscious) who are in the trenches and may not be able to see the stacked courier boxes are affecting the sales of the line they are blocking. So, they follow the new inwards goods policy handed to them.
In essence, the shop floor people are literally running the shop with direction and guidance from the CEO (conscious mind). If the CEO fails to pass instruction, either nothing happens or the shop floor people (subconscious mind) make any decision they can at that time, based on the limited information they have, and rather reactively I might add. That’s just natural.
So, if you fail to think about your path in life and business, the direction you want to take, the place you’d like to end up, and how well you’d like to travel to get there, then the CEO isn’t doing their job. The shopfloor people and the business have no benefit from the information you have, and who knows where you’ll end up?
It is important to set goals so your subconscious mind has some purposeful direction and guidance.
Applying this to any type of business – if you know where you want to end up then this creates the brief for how your brand needs to present and the words and photos you need to use in your website. I know I said earlier that you don’t need to share your goals. But I also said, if you have goals you will get closer than if you don’t.
The process of thinking about your goals and putting them in action is empowering and can be a lot of fun. I enjoy helping people find this on a daily basis.
If you want to know more about how to grow your business don’t hesitate to get in touch chris@allbrand.co.nz or phone me on 021 743 762.
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Source: Parts have been adapted from ‘You can be happy’ written by Amanda Gore, Author and one of Australia’s most prolific public speakers and columnists. She is a trained physiotherapist and occupational health consultant who has moved away from her traditional career to speak on a full-time basis at corporate seminars in Australia and the USA. She also has regular spots on radio and TV and has literally hundreds of articles for newspapers, both as a freelance journalists and as a columnist.
Chris Norris – Truth Seeker Cert. MKTG | MCC | Cert. Typography
Former Chairman of Business Whangaparaoa and Board Member for Silverdale Business. He is also a mentor with the Business Mentors Programme at MBIE. Now running a locally focussed branding business. Allbrand.co.nz – Revealing the truth in businesses. If you are passionate about something you already have a true story. Get in touch to seek it: Chris@allbrand.co.nz
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