So I have written my goals for 2010........What now?

Tweak Your Biz » Management » So I have written my goals for 2010……..What now?

So I have written my goals for 2010……..What now?

by Greg Fry on January 8th, 2010
40 Comments

You are not alone....Goals are easier to achieve with support.

“Dear Greg,

Thank you for your previous post “New Year’s Revolution” on Bloggertone.

I have now written my goals and used your guidelines including writing my goals in the positive and will read them every week.

As I wrote my goals down on paper I felt very excited and inspired about the New Year, however I must confess that my excitement has evaporated somewhat and I have started to doubt my ability to achieve the goals I have set myself.

You mentioned” strategies needed to achieve these goals”. What exactly do you mean by “Strategy” and how can it help me achieve my goals?

I look forward to your Response.

Regards,

Oliver”

Dear Oliver,

Well done on committing your goals to paper you have taken a big step towards a very successful 2010.

There are some important factors to consider as you strive to achieve your goals:

Many people achieve their goals with the help of support and encouragement. It may be a good idea to team up with a friend or even a business acquaintance that have a series of goals they want achieve. By encouraging and helping each other you may find achieving your goals easier and less daunting. Claire Boyles left a comment on my last post highlighting a site where people can share their goals and it may be worth a look- http://www.43things.com.
When reviewing your goals. Ask yourself is my goal realistic? Many people spend a lot of time getting frustrated trying to achieve the impossible. Very often by amending the goal or even the approach to achieve it, ones frustration can change to the joy of success.
In the words of Henry Ford – “Whether you think you can or think you can’t – You are Right.” In order to believe in anything we have to believe it is possible. If you do not believe you will achieve your goal- Change your belief or amend your goal to something you do believe you will achieve.
Do you really want to achieve your goals? Have you thought about the implications of achieving your goal? How will you feel when you have achieved your goal? What will you do next? Some people love the idea of achieving a goal and even see their goal as some kind of dreamlike fantasy. The very thought of actually achieving their goal scares them and there is a genuine fear that their dreams will disappear. So it is important to strive for new goals as you reach your existing ones.

Oliver, you also asked what I mean by the word Strategy. I like to think of my strategy as a “Map” - a route with instructions of how to get me from where I am now to where I want to be. There is no point having a goal in place unless we know what steps or actions we need to take to achieve success. Very often I look at other people who have achieved similar goals and see how they managed to achieve success and even learn from where they went wrong. I have found great advice from books, friends, family, business blogs, business contacts and mentors. Where possible you should try to implement your strategy right away and build it into your daily routine.

Your Strategy is your Map to success

Oliver, I hope that answers your question regarding what I mean by the word “Strategy” and I have highlighted how a strategy can help you achieve your goals.

If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me and let me know how you get on.

Kind Regards,

Greg Fry
Careers Coach – fast track your career to success
Tel. +353 872039855
Email. greg.fry@careerscoach.eu
Web. www.careerscoach.ie

Since writing the above I have thought it may be a good idea to have Bloggertone readers share their goals. Maybe we can all spur each other on by giving each other practical advice and encouragement. We could follow this up with a monthly blog post addressing goals, providing advice and cheering individual successes. What do you think?

Category: HR and recruitment

Tags: achievement, Achieving your goals, ambition, career advice, Careers Coach, goals, high achiever, Job seeking, motivation, new year's resolution, new year's resolutions, new year's revolution, personal development, Strategies, success

The Author: Greg Fry

Greg qualified from the Marketing Institute of Ireland and is passionate about helping organisations achieve more from their social media efforts. Greg is a Social Media trainer and workshop facilitator with the Digital Marketing Institute. He has also delivered lectures and short courses for leading organisations including SureSkills, Socialmedia.ie and The Michael Smurfit Business School. Greg also works with the Ahain Group as a Social Business Consultant. He believes that in order to make social media work for your business you must have a clear business goal, a clearly defined strategy and make sure that everything you do is measureable. Specialities include: Social Media Training | Personal Branding |Social Business Consultancy | Social Strategy Workshops | Interview Techniques | Psychometric Profiling | LinkedIn Training | Facebook Training | Twitter Training | Blogging | Online Video and You Tube Training | Emerging Social Media (Pinterest, Foursquare, Instagram, Google+ etc.) More information at: www.ahaingroup.com and www.careerscoach.ie http://www.careerscoach.ie

Add Your Comment

http://www.channelship.ie/blog/ fred

Good post Greg. Thanks for sharing “43 things”. Just had a look at it, it’s cool.
When it comes to goals, I always found that after the brainstorming session, when having the goals clear, it’s of great help being “visual” about it: You can draw the process to success, imagine what exactly success looks like, looking for pictures on the internet that reflect our goals and print them so we can see them everyday… I’m a big fan of “The Secret”. I did put in practice things I learnt by watching the film and really worked. The biggest one was “visualising”.
At Channelship, a big goal this year is to increase our US and UK readership and client base…
Anonymous

Thanks for your comments Fred.

Great advice re “Visualising” your goals. Many people use vision boards to make their goals seem tangible and real. I read a good article on this very subject by Lindsay Browning that may be worth reading – http://lindsaybrowning.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/commencement-of-the-2010-vision/.
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http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Hi Greg,

One of my goals this year is help build the success of Bloggertone. Another is to do less hands on consulting work and another is to start one new “completely different project” by the end of the year. There! I’ve said it out loud:)
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Anonymous

Nice post Greg – just expanding a little of what you refer to ‘writing them in the positive’ there are actually underlying psychological reasons for this i.e. negative emotional attractors tend to increase tension and stress and therefore reduce our ability to complete these tasks, whereas positive emotional attractors encourage feelings of calm, optimism, happiness and hope, obviously a far better mindset to be in if you hope to achieve anything.

A good example of this is to replace the perennial ‘lose weight’ goal / resolution with something you can get excited about and should achieve the same end i.e. raise money for a good cause by running a half marathon or completing cross border cycle etc..
Anonymous

Thanks for your comments and expanding on the reasons behind writing your goals in the positive. Loved your example too.

Have a good weekend.
Anonymous

Follwing up on what Kelvin said, if you can emotionalise your goals you’re far more likely to see them fullfilled. Ask yourself, how will I feel what I reach goal X? Really examine your thoughts on this, imagine you’ve achieved your goal, feel the happiness, rush of excitement, feelings of acomplishment…etc

btw, best book I ever came across for this type of stuff is, ‘What Self-Made Millionaires Really Think, Know and Do’. Author is Richard Dobbins and Barrie O. Pettman – highly recommended!

While we’re on the subject I’m looking at putting together a mastermind alliance, a group of 4-5 people, meeting maybe every month to assist/critique each other in the pursuit of their goals.
Anyone interested let me know.
http://www.btbtraining.com/blog Niall Devitt

Greg, I just wanted to compliment you on your blogging style. It’s very interesting to see the many way in which you convey your message. I’m learning quite a bit from you so Thanks.
Anonymous

Thanks Niall. Coming from someone I have a lot of respect for, your comment meas a lot.
Anonymous

Thanks for your comments Peter. The book recommendation is a great one.

I like your idea of putting together a group of 4-5 people to help each other with business and I am in the process of forming a similar group. Do not hesitate to contact me if you would like any thoughts or advice on this. (contact details are in the article)

Have a great week.

Greg
http://twitter.com/IrishSmiley Frederique Murphy

Thanks Sian, it’s a very useful post, whether you are new in business or to double check you are a-OK! I also think, it should be an ongoing education, and it always amazes me that very few cashier agents know how to handle such a query; I’ve got so many blank look when asking, could I please get a VAT invoice for this purchase? PS, depending on where the readers who are reading this live, they should check as the legal letterhead requirements are not the same, from country to country.
http://www.sianphillips.ie Sian Phillips

Thank for the comment Frederique and for pointing out it’s different letterhead requirement in other countries. I hope it makes people more aware of what to look out for.
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

Hi Sian,nI have invested in headed paper specifically for this purpose. Although, some accounting packages offer specific paper also.nI have a question/clarification: I have been asked specifically if I would like to receive soft copies of invoices from service providers, and I have agreed to this. But the hard copy has stopped as a consequence. nSo, from what you’re saying above, are they not abiding by legal requirements? (one company continued to send hard copies, and I actually contacted them to say not to bother) If I print them out myself, do they qualify as legal invoices?nnGreat post
http://www.sianphillips.ie Sian Phillips

Hi Elaine, it’s not a legal requirement to post out an invoice if it has already been emailed it was just a suggestion to help as mentioned above. The points with ** against them are compulsory. Thanks for asking
http://profiles.google.com/broadviewinnovations broadview innovations

Pension Release is a flexible alternative to purchasing an annuity.nnhttp://www.capitalincomesolutions.com/pension_release.aspx
http://frugalentrepreneur.com/ Adam Gottlieb

Very interesting post, JohnnnMy non-marketing expert opinion on all of this:nnThere’s an information overload going on affecting not only buyers in large-scale corporations, but also small business owners and consumers. The only real way to handle the deluge of facts, figures, images, video, sounds, etc is to shut it allu00a0out. nnAside from the points you mentioned in your post, this is a bigu00a0part of the reason why sellers are struggling to command the attention of potential buyers- they have to keep figuring out ways to make their message stand out, to break through the natural apathy and numbness that quickly follows two steps behind the most successful, striking, and poignant marketing strategies.nnAs much as a seller may need to be in touch with the current, ever-changing state of the buy-sell relationship, don’t forget the sellingu00a0fundamentals! In a sea of those who are screaming to get their message heard,u00a0a seller’su00a0calm, sincere, and deliberate approach may actually stand out as a breath of fresh air.nnAdam
http://www.tweakyourbiz.com Niall Devitt

Great post John, sellers, salesu00a0departments and sales mangersu00a0can choose to fight oru00a0embrace what’su00a0happening.u00a0nnI agree with Adam below that many selling fundamentals remain but the sales/buying process has changed, with both now less obviously defined as before. For instance, a sales manager may read your blog above and the points willu00a0resonate because he or she is experiencing the difficulties mentioned.u00a0The comments feature of this blog or evenu00a0LinkedInu00a0or Twitter will allow them to start au00a0conversation (buying process) with you here oru00a0elsewhere.u00a0nnWhat sales people have got to remember is that the online and offline worlds are u00a0now merged andu00a0dependentu00a0on each other. Choose to only operate in one and you place a severeu00a0limitationu00a0on yourself. u00a0u00a0
Anonymous

nnHi Adam nnA great comment. nnnu00a0nnnI am sitting in Heathrow and have beennreflecting on your point about a calm, sincere and deliberate approach.nnnu00a0nnnMaybe I can add to that. A calm, sincere,nand deliberate approach accompanied by the ability to show how a solutionnimpacts the buyeru2019s key metrics may in fact be the secret sauce that really deliversnthat breath of fresh air. The buyers we have been speaking (as part of ournongoing research in modern buying) around the world have become obsessed withntheir business case and have tended to accuse us sales people of not demonstratingnthe performance impact that will deliver to their business case. nnnu00a0nnnFood for thought. nnnu00a0nnnAll the best Johnnu00a0nn
Anonymous

nnHi Niall, nnTotally agree, the more sophisticated buying teams out there are using thenonline world to feed early stages of their buying process. This has a knock on affect for when the buyer feels they need to call in a vendor/partner. nnCheersnJohn nu00a0nn
http://www.seefincoaching.com/blog Elaine Rogers

Hi John, interesting points, nI find the first point particularly true – and the complexity of the process is putting many off targeting larger organisations, as they do not understand how these processes and politics work within those organisations.nnI have experienced a huge gap between the well heeled sales person of old, and people just starting business or starting in a selling role. In a way the “newbies” are lucky, as they have nothing to compare against, so the selling doesn’t feel twice as long or twice as hard – it is what it is, and they adapt easily.nnI fear that recent years (last 5 as you suggest) have taken their toll on traditional sellers, and so much adaptation and mindset shifting is required to get with the new “program” that they are losing out meanwhile possibly to the “younger guns”.nnHave you experienced this? Would you agree?
Anonymous

nnHi Elaine,nnnnInteresting point re the “newbies”. nnnnThe Sellers we see succeeding have a broad range of expertise/years under theirnbelt. The mindset shift hasn’t taken its toll because their focus has in somenways always been on the buyers process and business case. nnnnu201cNewbiesu201d or more established sellers comfortable with the knowledge the buyingnprocess is a long one have adapted well. nnnnWhere we have seen u201cnewbiesu201d succeed is in places where buyers want to see/meetnexperts in a given field or category to drive out their requirements. The newbies are seen to add a lot ofnvalue to the buyer and they are keen to help the buyer at all times. They arenmore buying process centric than selling process focused which is interesting.nu00a0nn
http://twitter.com/emcg53 Eamon McGlade

Excellent article that is so applicable to today’s business environment. Having been on the receiving end of a few negotiations that could have been used to script this article, I think the pertinent point is that you must be prepared to walk away. As difficult as this is to even countenance when every sale counts, being prepared to walk away helps both buyer and seller focused on the cost of failure to each party if they cannot reach agreement. It can also minimise bullying from the buyers side if they are just playing hard-ball but ultimately intend to purchase. That said there are some Alpha male buyer types out there looking for some payback for the last few years and their ship has well and truly come in.
http://websitesgiveback.com/blog/ Elena Patrice

Very interesting thoughts here John. I’m in B2B sales and the way business is being done is definitely different. What I do is not a “high” ticket item and yet we still have to find ways to work with them and earn their business, especially since they’re bombarded constantly in my industry. For us, transparency, patience and empathy are key; all which work extremely well for us. This article intrigues me because I was wondering how the “big” boys and higher ticket market was fairing and dealing with things. Thank you for the information here, Iu2019m very appreciative!nu00a0nMuch kindness,nu00a0nElena
Johnogorman

Hi Eamon, thanks for your thoughts. As you say knowing when to walk and when the deal isn’t good for both sides is key.
http://www.localbusinesssearch.com.au B2B

Great comments. I like it….
Anonymous

The idea of u200bu200ban objective and even see your goal as a kind of dream fantasy. The thought of actually achieving its objective, that scares them and there is a real fear that their dreams will disappear.u00a0
http://www.sianphillips.ie Sian Phillips

Hi Kg29, I’m sorry to hear you have been caught like this. I suggest you get professional advice from a local accountant to you. Or maybe even the revenue can recommend what you can do. In future if paying over a lot of VAT always check the VAT number that your supplier is giving you and that it matches up with the address etc they are giving you. Good luck
Kg29

Thanks sian
http://www.sovereignfunding.com sellstructuredsettlement

I agree totally with we need stategies in order to reach our goals. We have a great need to set goals for ourselves . But without a strategy, or a set of steps to attaining that goal, it all becomes fruitless. Great blog!
cashformysettlement

Yes we all need to set goals……….we just need to stick with them!!
http://www.sovereignfunding.com structuredsettlementbuyer

I think it is great that you pointed out that we can change our beleifs to make things happen. I think all too often a person who sets goals for themselves condemn themselves because they keep the beleif in the back of their minds that the goal can not be acheived. Great article. We all should set goals for ourselves.
Jhonwotsan

Everyone needs goals…..and they need to stick with them………hard to do tho in this challenging world we live in.
Jhonwotsan

A career coach,really now can you afford one?
http://www.sovereignfunding.com Cashforstructuredsettlements

Great blog! I enjoyed it.
Jhonwotsan

You should have a short term goal in mind when you start.
Sellyourannuity

Make goals for yourself, make them challenging to keep them interesting and you will be more apt to stay with them.
http://www.sovereignfunding.com structuredsettlement

I agree with you. We set ourselves up for failure if we do not commit totally to the belief that we are going to acheive those goals.
http://www.sovereignfunding.com structuredsettlement

I love the idea of looking at your goals as though they are roadmaps. We all need something to follow and that makes our goals achievable.
http://www.appointmentsetting.com/ appointment setting

Could’t agree more. Really good post on B2B. Everyone try to increase there edge ow working and increase the sales.

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