Are you ready? Ready to make 2017 your best year ever? Here are seven steps to make it happen.
1. Identify a Big Goal for Your Business.
I recommend setting a big sales goal for three to five years out. Identify a specific sales goal and a specific deadline. Then, write it down and read it aloud every morning when you wake up and every night on your way to bed. Here’s an example, “I will create a $5 million company by Dec. 31, 2022.”
2. Identify Why You Want to Achieve this Goal.
Most of us know how to achieve our goals. So, if we already know how to achieve our goals, why don’t we? It’s because our reasons why we want to achieve our goals aren’t strong enough and top-of-mind.
Write down three to five specific achievements you want to accomplish for yourself, your family and your legacy. Write them on the same document as the big goal you identified above, and review them every morning and night.
3. Identify the Key Activities You Must Do to Achieve Your Goal.
As I have identified in prior blogs, there are only four key activities for distributor owners to achieve success:
- Earn more new customers.
- Sell more to your current customers.
- Hire and manage sales reps and/or account managers.
- Buy your competition.
If you are a sales rep in this industry, only the first two activities apply to you. There is one other activity I recommend, and that is to learn to delegate everything that’s not on the above list. The above activities will make you wealthy. Everything else will make you crazy and keep you from getting wealthy. Learn to delegate.
4. Sharpen the Saw.
In Stephen Covey’s great book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change,” one of the habits is “Sharpen the saw.” This simply means that you are the greatest asset you have to accomplish your goals, and you need to take care of yourself. You need to be sure you are staying energized, focused and continuously renewed.
Make your plans now to attend an industry trade show, participate in online webinars, read motivational books, etc. Create a list of these opportunities and resources to sharpen your saws, and chart how you will stay sharp throughout the year.
5. Create Accountability with Others.
We all know that it’s easy to make commitments and very difficult to follow through on them. That’s why most New Year’s resolutions don’t survive the first week of the New Year. We know having a workout partner is the best way to be sure we get to the gym. It’s the same in business. Identify a few other business colleagues that want to make 2017 their best year ever too and agree to meet at least twice a month.
In your accountability meetings, it’s all about activities and results. When you meet, share your activity commitments and results. Ask your group to hold you accountable and equally hold others to their commitments.
6. Create Accountability with Yourself.
Accountability is a daily thing. While having an accountability partner or group will help you, the truth is that you will only meet with them once or twice a month. Those meetings will be very helpful, but you need to find a way to be accountable to yourself daily.
I have recently discovered an amazing tool to help with daily goal setting and accountability. Check out the planner at www.Commit30.com. It offers the best planning and commitment calendar and journal I have ever seen. I ordered one for myself and look forward to using it in 2017. I know most of you already have a calendar of some sort, but let’s face it—if that was working, you wouldn’t be reading this blog. I am not saying you need to ditch your current planning system. I’m just highly recommending you add a great tool for daily accountability. (In the spirit of full disclosure, I have no interest in this company and receive no commissions from any orders.)
7. Celebrate
All work and no play … you know what they say. Identify some fun things you want to do or buy to reward yourself along the way. Set goals. Identify your rewards. And enjoy your best year ever.
