Still making goals and resolutions? Why?

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Holy frijoles, 2013 is over! How did you do? How did those resolutions and goals you made at the end of last year work out?

Think about the word resolution – the root word is resolve. What was your 2013 resolve? What got in the way of achievement?

Personally, I am against traditional resolutions and goals.

And if my thinking bugs you, don’t be too concerned, you’ll soon be receiving a barrage of offers from various ‘experts’ encouraging you to achieve goals this year and have your ‘best year ever’ – the very same goals you didn’t achieve last year.

Most resolutions and goals set for the New Year are never achieved. Reason? They’re set emotionally and they’re set without an understanding of the circumstances around the goal. Better stated: Your circumstances.

For your 2014 (and all years to come) I have created an easy-to-understand, ‘achievement opportunity’ formula. Once you read it, and a few of the details, you will at once see where your achievement opportunities are, how they may fit into your life, and how you can use this formula to make this coming year a raging success.

Here’s my formula: Situation + Opportunity + Objective + Why + Plan + Intentions + Responsibility = Favorable Outcome.

STOP BEFORE YOU START: Don’t make any resolutions for the future until you have defined your present situation.

IDENTIFY YOUR BIG PICTURE: What’s going on in your life and your career right now? What’s going on with your family, your money, your health, and your happiness? Will your present situation help you achieve and encourage you to achieve? Or will it be a barrier to achievement? What are you seeking to accomplish in 2014 and what is your real resolve to make it happen?

WHAT CAN BE? Identify, in writing, your opportunities. Think about the opportunities that might change or enhance your present situation. What triggers are you hoping to pull this year? What mountains are you hoping to climb? What hurdles are you looking to leap over (without knocking them down)?

Look for opportunities in places you may not be thinking about:

  • Key relationships
  • New social media strategies
  • Trends in your business
  • Technology shifts
  • Apps
  • Blogging

I think it’s also important to separate family opportunities from business and career opportunities. Make sure you have a list for both.

Once you know where you are (situation), and you have identified how you can get from here to there (opportunity), then I recommend you make a 90-day game plan to achieve at least ONE of your opportunities. Not a goal, an opportunity. January, February, March. Document why you want it, what you have to do to make it happen, and what you’re hoping the outcome of that plan will be.

Here are some details of the achievement plan and process:

  • Describe WHAT the opportunity is, the OBJECTIVE that the opportunity creates, and WHY you want to take advantage of it and/or achieve it.
     
    A NOTE ABOUT YOUR ‘WHY’: All too often ‘why’ you want something is left at a superficial level. ‘To make more money’ or ‘to support my family’ or ‘to grow my career’ – those are ‘surface whys’ and may not provide enough incentive to achieve. Once you identify the surface why, ask yourself why again and again until the real why appears. “Why do I want to make more money?” “Why do I want to support my family?” “Why do I want to grow my career?” Second and third levels of ‘why’ will provide the real incentive to achieve. Try it. You’ll be amazed at your own answers.
  • Write a brief, 90-day plan of action. It can be a few short paragraphs or even bullet points. Writing the plan helps clarify your thinking, and solidify your determination to take action.
  • List and describe your DAILY INTENTIONS. What do you plan to do every day to make this opportunity to achieve a reality? Beyond resolution, it’s your resolve combined with your hard work.
  • Figure out the DAILY DOSE. What do you have to do each day to keep the momentum rolling?
  • Come to the realization that in order to achieve, you must take total RESPONSIBILITY for the actions, the results, and the outcome.
  • Describe the OUTCOME in more detail than you described your 90-day plan. Make sure the ‘after achievement’ is clear.

And then the hard part – do it!

Here’s my formula again – try it, it works: Situation + Opportunity + Objective + Why + Plan + Intentions + Responsibility = Favorable Outcome.

Follow my formula and my concepts, and you’ll take your achievement to a new level – a success level you’ve never attained before. I hope you do.

Happy, healthy, wealthy, fun filled-family holiday season and New Year!

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

The Big Picture of Business – Doing Your Best Work on Deadlines: Mobilizing the Energy for Best Business Success

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We just had the first live TV musical play extravaganza on television after a 50-year hiatus. The production was The Sound of Music, starring Carrie Underwood. This TV special got a lot of attention because it was unique live, just like opening night of the Broadway show on which it was based.

Truth is that throughout the 1950’s (the Golden Age of Television), there were comparable live TV extravaganzas on the air every night of the decade.

Many of them were consistently great. They were live, in real time. They had top talent behind them. They were well rehearsed. They had the adrenaline of “going live,” and they shined with luster.

Among those crown jewel TV moments were:

  • Our Town, starring Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint.
  • Requiem for a Heavyweight, the premiere of Playhouse 90. It was written by Rod Sterling and starred Jack Palance and Ed Wynn.
  • The Petrified Forest, starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and Henry Fonda. In it, Bogey reprised the 1930’s Broadway hit and movie that launched his career.
  • The Ford 50th Anniversary, a two-hour musical starring Ethel Merman and Mary Martin. This was the first TV special and set the tone for thousands of others since.
  • The first Beatles appearance on the “Ed Sullivan Show,” where the whole world was watching. The Beatles topped that by composing All You Need is Love while they performed it on a global telecast.

I have those any other live TV gems on DVD. I watch them to experience the magical energy of live performances. Many of us remember writing the college theme paper the night before it was due. We recall compiling the case notes or sales projections just before the presentation meeting.

The truth is that we do some of our best work under pressure. We might think that the chaos and delays of life are always with us, but we handle them better when on tight time frames.

Before you know it, you’re on deadline again. Even though the tasks mount up, you have a knack for performing magnificently under deadline, stress and high expectations.

This is not meant to suggest putting off sequential steps and daily tasks. Learn when deadline crunch time is best to accomplish the optimum business objectives. I’m a big advocate of Strategic Planning and Visioning. Every company needs it but rarely conducts the process because they’re knee-deep in daily minutia.

I know from experience that planning while going through the “alligators” is the most effective way to conduct the process. By seeing the daily changes resulting from the planning, companies are poised to rise above the current daily crises. I recommend that diversity audits, quality control reviews, ethics programs and other important regimen be conducted as part of Strategic Planning, rather than as stand-alone, distracting and energy diverting activities.

Those of us who grew up working on typewriters know how to master the medium. You had to get your ideas on paper correctly the first time, without typographical errors and with great clarity. The first time that I worked on a computer was when I was 40 years old. I took that typewriter mentality with me when I had to compose a brochure and do the desktop publishing graphics in the same two-hour window where I was learning how to work on a computer.

There were years where I kept the typewriter on the work station next to the computer. When I had five minutes to write a cohesive memo and fax it off to the client, I wrote it on the typewriter. Though I wrote all my books on computers, I wrote the modern technology chapters on the typewriter, to make points to myself that the readers could never have grasped.

In mounting your next strategic Planning process for your company, go back and analyze what elements from the past can be rejuvenated as your future. That’s a trademarked concept that I call Yesterdayism.

With planning and organizing, you can meet and beat most deadlines without working in a pressure cooker. Don’t work and worry yourself into exhaustion over every detail. Sometimes it makes sense to move the deadline to the 11th hour. Having too much time to get projects accomplished tends to breed procrastination.

Here are my final take-aways on the subject of doing your best work when on last-minute deadlines:

  • Learn what working style goes best with you.
  • Care about deadlines.
  • Prioritize the real deadlines, apart from the artificial or self-imposed ones.
  • Review the work that you’ve done on tight deadlines. Analyze what makes it different.
  • Know your own strengths and limitations.
  • Work on your own timetable.
  • When working with teams, determine the best compromise working tempo.
  • Get Your ‘to do lists’ in order.
  • Evaluate your progress.
  • Remove the distractions to doing your best-focused work.
  • Ready… Set… Be productive.

This article was written in one hour, just before the impending deadline.

About the Author

Power Stars to Light the Business Flame, by Hank Moore, encompasses a full-scope business perspective, invaluable for the corporate and small business markets. It is a compendium book, containing quotes and extrapolations into business culture, arranged in 76 business categories.

Hank’s latest book functions as a ‘PDR of business,’ a view of Big Picture strategies, methodologies and recommendations. This is a creative way of re-treading old knowledge to enable executives to master change rather than feel as they’re victims of it.

Power Stars to Light the Business Flameis now out in all three e-book formats: iTunes, Kindle, and Nook.

Recommended New Year’s Resolutions for Entrepreneurs

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With 2013 winding down, it’s time to start thinking of ways to change, or improve, for the New Year. As the New Year approaches, here are a few New Year’s resolutions and recommendations for the entrepreneur:

As an entrepreneur:

  1. Hire Great People: Continue to try to hire great people so I can focus on my primary roles.
  2. Reduce Email Lists: Reduce the number of email lists I’m on for both business and personal.
  3. Less Stress: Stress less over the minor problems and remember that perfection is impossible.

Recommendations:

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About the Author

Michael Unetich is President of TIP Solutions, a Chicago-based software company building a patented set of software and firmware technologies around call handling and management. He started several successful entrepreneurial ventures, possesses experience in software design and marketing, and has extensive experience in angel investing. Michael is a named inventor on over 10 patents currently under USPTO and international filing.

The Best Jobs Go to the Best Educated People and Here is Why

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Quite a bit of debate exists about whether education is obtained in school or through life experience. Looking at homes and families, the latter may reign supreme. However, universities, and the job market, often argue that a college degree is necessary to succeed in life and obtain a high paying job. Assuming that people can be educated in more than one way, what are some of the reasons why the best jobs go to the best educated people?

Education Blended with Common Sense
To succeed in the work world, people need to have a strong background in their field, but they also must exercise skills in common sense. Knowing the discipline provides the appropriate background information and the technical skills that are needed to succeed. However, the application of that knowledge often comes in the form of common sense. Exercising a blend of these skills allows workers to be confident, determined and strong in their decisions.

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About the Author

From her 25 years in business, Elizabeth Hill aims to pass on knowledge and skills gained in that time through her writing. She loves walks in the countryside, spending time with family and friends, and is ever so ‘slightly’ addicted to coffee.

Santa Claus and Google. The same or just a coincidence?

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After nearly 60 years of a wavering belief in Santa Claus, I have come to a major AHA! Santa Claus is actually Google.

Think about it:

  • Google knows when you’re sleeping.
  • Google knows when you’re awake.
  • Google knows if you’re bad.
  • Google knows when your good.
  • Google has lists, and she checks them twice.
  • Google knows who’s naughty.
  • Google knows who’s nice.
  • And Google reads all your letters!

Holy cow! How can this be? It sure clears up a lot of mystery. I’ve always wondered how Santa Claus knew all this stuff. How did he find my house? How did he know what I wanted? It turns out Google knows everything about everyone. Especially you.

  • Google knows where you live.
  • Google knows where everyone lives.
  • Google knows what you want.
  • And Google can make it into your home and everyone else in the world’s home on Christmas Eve.

Pretty cool, huh?

Finally, the real of Santa Claus is exposed! The Clark Kent of our time has been revealed. THE QUESTION IS: How has Santa, er, I mean Google, rated you this year? Is she going to bring you everything on your wish list?

And maybe a bigger question is: how are you taking advantage of the Santa Claus elements Google presents to help you build your personal brand and reputation.

Actually, I wonder if your Christmas wish list contains a wish for you to have a better personal brand next year? Or a better reputation next year? Or a higher Google ranking next year? Or maybe to occupy the entire first page of Google next year? Probably not.

Your Christmas list probably contains material things like an iPad, or a smartphone, or an Xbox, or some clothing. Too bad.

Like Santa Claus, mother Google keeps track of you all year long. You can’t just all of a sudden become nicer at Christmastime! You have to be nice all the time. You have to be good all the time. You have to be ethical all the time. And you have to take reputation-building actions all the time in order for mother Google to look upon you favorably.

And just so we understand each other, mother Google doesn’t make a list and check it twice. She already has the list, you are already on the list, and that list gets checked every day.

If you’re trying to harvest the bounty that Google offers, the free bounty that Google offers, you have to take the appropriate actions that will move you up the list, and keep adding to the list on a consistent basis.

  • Write something and post it online.
  • Have an article published someplace.
  • Tweet something meaningful.
  • Speak someplace.
  • Join a business group.
  • Lead a civic group.
  • Participate in a charity.
  • Start a personal website.
  • Tweet something profound.
  • Create a blog and post an entry every day.
  • Post on your Facebook business page.
  • Put a video up on your YouTube channel.
  • Do something noteworthy in your community.
  • Tweet something that helps others.
  • Invite people to your LinkedIn page.

Do all of these things consistently. Some daily. Some weekly. But each of them at least monthly. The key to building your Google reputation is consistent action, consistent writing, and consistent posting.

The week between Christmas and the New Year presents an amazing opportunity to any person who is B2B, and many B2C. It’s the time to make your plan for next year. The time to make your Christmas list is not December 1st, it’s January 1st. That’s the day you begin to earn your gifts from mother Google for the next year. Or not.

Okay, so Google may not really be Santa Claus. But the similarities are remarkable, and the results are the same. If you’re good, you get toys. If you’re bad, you get coal.

The reality is you have to be on the good side of Santa Claus, and you must be on the good side of mother Google.

How important is your Google ranking? If you want material things, a great Google ranking, a great Google personal brand, and a great Google ranking, and a great Google reputation will ensure that you get all the things on your list, and a new house, and a new car.

Happy, healthy, wealthy, family holiday and New Year!

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].