Archive for August, 2010

Having a business takes time and effort, and its success if based mostly on how much time and effort you put into it. If your business is a lower priority for you, the end result will be a less successful business. It’s possible you’re okay with that; maybe you just need a little extra money each month and don’t want to do the extra work to bring in a lot of extra money each month.

But this is why it’s important to set clear priorities – including details from both your business life and your personal life – before setting your goals. Only by prioritizing and doing the most important things first will you be able to get everything to fit.

If your goal is to make $100,000 this year, then you have to bring in $48.08 per hour – assuming a 40-hour work week. This per-hour amount obviously gets higher the fewer hours you’re able to work each week, making it harder and harder for you to bring in that amount of money.

This is why it’s so crucial to determine your priorities before you set goals and expectations. If you take a look at your priorities and realize that you’ll only be able to spend 20 hours per week on your real estate or online business, you’ll be able to set more reasonable and attainable goals.

Once you determine how much additional time and money you’re willing to put into more training and education, you’ll be able to better determine how much growth you should expect for your website.

Once you decide how much you’re willing to invest in various marketing campaigns, you’ll be able to gauge how much potential revenue you can expect from those campaigns.

The point is, it’s easy to go into a new project with a goal in mind – quit my job, save for retirement, afford a vacation. But if we don’t take the time to prioritize, we’ll be disappointed – and perhaps confused – when we don’t meet those goals.

“The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but on significance – and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning”  – Oprah Winfrey
People who spend their time working at a job they love  not only have a better quality of life, they are more likely to be successful than those of us who toil at jobs that have no meaning apart from the paycheck we get.

Most of us focus on the end result – the ultimate goal – when choosing a career path to fit our lives.  This practice can result in frustration when our work isn’t met with the immediate success we desire.

If, instead, we chose careers that were fulfilling – careers that we would want to do even if we weren’t being paid for them, we might learn to enjoy the process and not only the end reward.  Then, like Oprah said, “even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.”  I would add that even the failures would be valuable if we pursued careers that we could love.  Failures provide valuable learning experiences that are hard to appreciate when all we care about is cash.

Does this mean that we all need to quit what we are doing and become artists and firefighters and schoolteachers in order to be happy and successful?  I don’t think so.  Sometimes a slight adjustment in attitude or position can make all the difference in the amount of enjoyment someone gets from their career.  Maybe a similar job at a different company or a similar job at a company of your own would give you the enthusiasm you need to start appreciating the little victories.

Life is too short to focus only on monetary success.  We need to be able to enjoy the ride as well.  What can you do to make your career more fulfilling?  Start thinking about your career as your own, and you might be able to appreciate each step along the way as a valuable lesson or victory.

Setting a goal is an important step to take. It means that you identified something you wanted and decided what you needed to do to obtain it. One technique that will help you clarify and understand your goals even more is to write them down. While it may seem like an archaic function in our digital world, writing your goals will always be a powerful way to internalize them. 

It’s important to be specific when you write your goals. Of course, this requires you to think carefully about how you intend to reach it. Diana Hunt once described goals as “dreams with deadlines.” Specificity dramatically decreases the ambiguous type of New Year resolutions that so many of us proudly proclaim and then promptly forget. It’s the perfect way to stimulate the creative force of your mind. You’ll discover new aspects to your goal and come up with realistic solutions. These solutions are a practical set of instructions for your subconscious mind to follow. 

Another important point is that you should write your goals with a confident and positive tone. By coming up with positive solutions, you’ll enjoy positive results. Speaking of the importance of this approach, Arnold Glasgow famously said, “Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.” The truth is, by confidently presenting yourself with a solid set of instructions for success, you have already set yourself apart from most of the world. And you’ll be amazed by what you can accomplish.

Knowledge is perhaps the most important skill in life. Knowledge can dictate so much of our success that it’s important to always be seeking more of it. As an entrepreneur, you should be learning something new each day; and while that “something” could relate to business or marketing or management, it doesn’t have to.

Take the example of Silly Putty. During World War II, U.S. scientists were given the task of finding a potential rubber substitute. In one of their experiments, they reacted boric acid with silicone oil and the silicone polymer we all know and love was created. With no apparent military use, it was eventually marketed as a toy. It has since found use in the medical field and in space.

There are three important points to take away from this story:

1. It’s okay if the result you come up with is not what you initially intended.
2. Just because your result isn’t what you intended, it doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.
3. Pursuing a result is going to bring more results (intended or otherwise) than not pursuing anything.

In business, we have to be looking for answers. Whether through online courses, traditional education, books, mentors, or other channels, we’re not going to find ways to improve our businesses without putting in the effort. Serendipity most often comes to those who are already looking and working; very rarely will a solution just drop out of the sky (a la Sir Isaac Newton).

There are plenty of ways for you to continue your education, and here are a few to consider:

• Learn On Your Own There are thousands of blogs online or books you can check out to learn about whatever you want to learn about. Podcasts, social media sites, and other avenues make it easy and inexpensive (or even free) to gain valuable insight.
• Learn In A Classroom There are plenty of colleges and universities that offer night classes or other part-time options. While this will cost some money, it will give you access to a structure and a system that may help your learning process.
• Learn At A Conference A weekend seminar or an annual conference are great ways to learn about what’s going on in the world today. It will cost you, but for a good conference, the payoff can be worth it. (Alternatively, start or sponsor your own conference or try to present at one. Nothing will incentivize your learning more than having to give a lecture.)

Continual learning will help you stay sharp and may give your business the edge it needs to succeed.