Your Best Year Yet

I can see it now—let the eye-rolling begin! “Just what we need…another blog post on goal setting,” you might be saying to yourself. Bear with me for just a bit as we unpack this topic, though—you just might be surprised at how motivated you can become.

A Harvard Business study revealed some remarkable statistics related to goal setting and success:

• 83% of the people studied did not have goals
• 14% of these people had a plan in mind—but no goals were written down
• 3% of this group had goals written down

The study found that the 14% who had goals were 10 times more successful than those without goals. But the 3% with written goals were three times more successful than the 14% with unwritten goals.

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”

– Tony Robbins 

What would you be willing to do to realize that fantastic, pie-in-the-sky, slightly crazy dream you’ve had all your life?

A major key to success is having big, hairy, audacious goals (BHAGs) running as undercurrents for everything we do in the present and in the near future. A BHAG is the single purpose that underpins and drives everything a person is about and is striving for.

Author and business strategist Jim Collins says, “BHAGs are not just random goals … A good BHAG has to fit with what you’re passionate about, which includes your values. It has to fit with what best drives you.” We need to set our BHAGs and let them guide us every step of the way to reach our ideal destination.

“Success is steady progress toward one’s personal goals.”

– Jim Rohn 

I’ve been creating my list of goals for 2014 and thought I’d talk to you about your specific goals as well.

This time next year, at the end of 2014, we’ll face two possible outcomes:

1. We’ll have accomplished our goals for the year, and we’ll feel great about our achievements.

2. We’ll be in the exact same place we are today and will wonder where the time went and why we didn’t get what we wanted.

I’d like to challenge you to set a minimum of two professional goals and two personal goals—make these goals and then write them down.

“People with clear, written goals accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.”

– Brian Tracy

Let’s set big goals for 2014! The sky is the limit, and the year is stretched out ahead of us, full of possibilities.

Once you have your goals written down, work backward from there. Break each goal down into manageable, sustainable action steps. A broad goal might read like this: “I will make X amount of money this year as a salesperson.” An action step puts feet to that goal: “I need to sell this amount of product each week to hit my goal.” The challenge is to turn those big goals into action and do what we say we’re going to do. With tangible plan of action steps for each week, you’re on your way to hitting your goals—and even surpassing them.

Next, find one person or a group of people to keep you accountable. Choose someone who understands you, cares about you, and can hold your feet to the fire as you check off those action steps one by one.

If we tell others about our goals, we can bet that our overall commitment to each goal will be considerably higher. With that being said, I’m going to share my 2014 goals here with you!

My personal goals:

• Complete the Leadville 100-mile mountain bike “Race Across the Sky” (August 9, 2014)
• Complete a seven-day, 50-mile backpacking trip this September on the West Coast Trail along the Pacific Northwest coastline

My professional goals:

• Read 20 nonfiction books on personal development and business education
• CRUSH the numbers—exceed total revenue budget by 3% and Altrus quota by 5%

Join me over the next two weeks to hear about my two strategies for completing my 2014 goals!

Let’s all have a fantastic year by achieving all our professional and personal goals!! 2014, BRING IT!!!