It’s not just the sales goal, it’s the personal goal.

by Jen Gluckow

Look! Up there! Its your sales falling in from the sky. Its your quota making itself.

BACK TO REALITY: Making sales starts way beyond your plan to be the best salesperson on the planet. Sales dont just fall from the sky its your personal goals and efforts that make it rain.

It amazes me every time I work with salespeople that they dont have deep personal goals. Oh, they have a number they need to hit almost every company gives/holds salespeople accountable to a number. But thats the companys goal. Not yours. Whats your goal?

In The Strangest Secret, Earl Nightingale said, Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal if a man is working towards a predetermined goal and knows where hes going, that man is a success. If hes not doing that, hes a failure. Okay ladies, dont get caught up with the lingo here. Man goes for woman too.

Everybody wants to succeed. Many fall into the trap of doing things just because theyre status quo going to school because they’re supposed to, going to college because its expected of them, getting a job for the money. My challenge to you is to think beyond ordinary. Think higher and deeper. Your real reason why, your personal goals, and your intention for life.

Earl Nightingale also said, A success is anyone who is doing a predetermined job because thats what he decided to do deliberately, but only one out of twenty does that. I guess that means 19/20 people are doing what theyre doing simply because they fell into that path. You think Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Lebron James, Mark Cuban, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey just fell into their paths, or do you think they had a goal of who they wanted to become?

You achieve anything or become anyone you decide you have the ability to shape your own future but in order to create your own future, you first have to decide who and what you want to become. NOTE: If youre reading this and thinking youre too old to begin creating your future, throw away your pity violin, and check out this inspiring list of people who created their future later in the game. What a way better tune to play.

Who do you want to become? What do you want to become? What do you need to achieve to get there? THOSE ARE THE REAL GOALS. Answer those questions, and then make your personal goals. The reason people with personal goals succeed is because they know where they are today, and have a focus on where they want to be tomorrow. Its not your sales plan, its your life plan. If you know where youre going, you can create a (Google) map to get there.

REALITY: Without the map, the best you can be is where you are.

Earl Nightingales legendary quote, We become what we think about. Tells you that a person thinking about his or her long-term goal is likely to reach it, while someone thinking short term will reach nothing yes, its that simple.

Ask yourself:
How much daily time do you spend on your most important goals?
What are you doing right now?
What should you be doing right now?
What are you avoiding?
If you continue doing what you’re doing right now every day, where will you be at the end of 6 months? At the end of a year? At the end of 5 years?
Is that the potential outcome youre hoping for?
If the answers are not goal achievement oriented, then you need my 30-day challenge NOW.

Heres my goal challenge to you
Over the next 30 days, beginning today (dont tell me youll start tomorrow, or give me some lame-ass excuse for why you cant start today) do this:
Think about who you want to become, then define it. Write it down, clarify it, and make it visible in a place you can see it every day. Do this today.
Summarize who you want to become in 3-4 words this is your goal. Set a reminder on your phone to show up three times a day morning (when you wake up), night time (before you go to bed) and sometime around lunch, to pop up and remind you of your goal. Seeing your goals numerous times a day will help keep you on path. Especially if you begin to steer off-route.
Make it visible. Post your goal in your office, or put a sign in your car, or make it the backdrop of your computer. Put your goal in a place you can see them easily every day.
Within the first week, identify 3-5 accomplishments youve made so far (they dont have to be accomplishments towards your goal. Just things youve done that youre proud of.) Review them, and instill self-pride.
Document your new accomplishments towards your goal. Write them down in a word doc and keep a running list. Record achievements even if theyre small. On difficult days, review your positive list.
Use your new accomplishments to inspire next accomplishments. Build on your past and where you have been. Your former accomplishments create building blocks and inspiration that serve as a bridge to your future.
Direct your thoughts toward achievement. Stop thinking negative – why or how youre not where you want to be – and start thinking about what you have achieved and how you can achieve more.
GOAL SECRETS:
Who set the goal? Did you set your sales goals or did someone set them for you? You may have had a self-defeating attitude before you started.
The Daily Dose. Work on achieving your goal, and making small steps towards your goal every day. If you dont work at it every day, it will never get done.