Goals are fine but I gave up traditional goal setting awhile ago. Then I started surpassing some of my goals. Similarly, I realized sales forecasting is no more than a snapshot of last year with a wish list on top.

Maybe you’ve heard, “When setting your goals, aim for the stars, and if you miss, you’ll at least hit the moon.” Are you setting the stars as your goal this year, hoping for the moon? Maybe you should allow yourself another 9 – 10 years because that’s what it actually took an entire country following JFK’s lofty national goal in 1961 of landing a man on the moon.

If your sales were $200,000 last year and you make your goal $1,000,000 this year with the same apparatus, your’re probably just seeing pie in the sky.

My opinion about business goal setting is that it’s overrated. Time spent on calculating goals, also known as “guestimating,” could be better spent executing a disciplined work process day by day, week by week. Valuable (billable) work leads to business goal achievement.

Here’s the raw deal with goals: They are attempts at predicting the future and controlling outcomes. Those of you who practice the habits of predicting and controlling know well the feelings of restlessness and discontent. You cannot control the motives and actions of others and we all need others to assist us in accomplishing our goals. Therefore, no matter how well you conceptualize, strategize, plan and execute, you may be just as likely to fall short of your goals as to achieve them. The whims of the marketplace and dynamic nature of the future will largely determine where you will be in the next couple of years.

As the future is unpredictable, so is everything that happens between the time a goal is set and it’s future deadline. There is a way to take advantage of this reality. Let one of your major goals be to positively participate in your market’s dynamics every day.

Let’s say you spent the day setting the precise numbers you want to achieve, conceiving a detailed picture of the exact tangible results you desire, setting and scheduling time limits, developing strategies and creating detailed master plans to accomplish your goals by the specified dates. Oh yeah, you would also need to spend some time on forecasting, planning and devising your key metrics. Then each week or month you took time to analyze your progress and adjust your strategy. I could spend that same day and the subsequent time actually performing work that generates revenue. At least for that day and those follow up times, I’d be advancing toward my goals while you were just thinking about them (even if writing it all down). I’d be taking advantage of and learning from the dynamics of the market while you were trying to formulate the future according to your desires (or your boss’s).

As you learn new things each day from participating in your business, you can use this information to make nimble adjustments that help your customers or allow you to touch more prospects. This process is known as a feedback loop and it can be very powerful.

What is your system for success? More emphasis should be placed on your system according to a leading fitness coach and personal trainer in Denver. Click to read a superb article on the subject.

Systems versus goals. What is your system for producing successful results? James Clear makes my points clear. In a recent article he explains the difference between goals and systems:

“What’s the difference between goals and systems?

• If you’re a coach, your goal is to win a championship. Your system is what your team does at practice each day.
• If you’re a writer, your goal is to write a book. Your system is the writing schedule that you follow each week.
• If you’re a runner, your goal is to run a marathon. Your system is your training schedule for the month.
• If you’re an entrepreneur, your goal is to build a million dollar business. Your system is your sales and marketing process.

“Now for the really interesting question: If you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your system, would you still get results? 

“For example, if you were a basketball coach and you ignored your goal to win a championship and focused only on what your team does at practice each day, would you still get results?  I think you would.”

Mr. Clear goes on in the article to explain how too much focus on goals can have negative consequences on one’s outlook and mood. Mr. Clean clearly agrees.

The post Mr. Clean and Mr. Clear agree on goals! appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

I have a one-year business plan in place. It’s a blueprint for a successful year of growth. A reasonable goal has been set and an activity plan following a proven strategy will be implemented. It’s my plan and I’m sticking to it!

If we all have an intelligent, ethical strategic plan requiring focused and determined activity every day and then execute, we can renew the prosperity of the nation and change the direction of the culture. We can make 2013 the turnaround year if enough people work hard enough!

2012 proved to be a very disappointing year for countless millions of us. Ninety nine percent of my friends and associates could not rid their calendars of 2012 fast enough. I join them in welcoming 2013.

People who happen to be superstitious about numbers needn’t worry about the “13.”  I read somewhere that 13 is a very lucky number when preceded by the digits 2 and 0.  😉

What’s your plan to improve your business and community, thereby making the USA at large an industrious, vibrant and culturally rich country again?

Yes, you can!

You see, thousands upon thousands of solid business plans executed daily drive wealth creation, economic growth and higher performance standards among those businesses. Success breeds competition and more success – unless the culture rejects the notion of enterprise, dignity, ethics and the value of work. Frankly I’m worried about what I see going on in the culture and will leave that topic on the table for now.

I remain optimistic this year because I’m amazed by the fantastic people in my professional network and other circles. There is so much good stuff out there to which we can turn our attention while ignoring the negative garbage in the media echo chambers. We can also turn away from gossipy chatter in the workplace.

Throughout history it has been the determined efforts of a few that have managed to turn the many away from destructive paths toward revitalization, prosperity and cultural renaissance.

It’s now abundantly clear among business leaders everywhere. I feel it’s safe to say that most of us have reached consensus; Washington has become a putrid cesspool of corruption and incompetence and it may get worse. Too harsh? No way. The national dept heaped upon young people and future generations is unconscionable. The federal government has failed to enact and implement any effective policy direction to help build a strong economy again.  My opinion is we’ve completely blown it during the last decade.

So, it’s up to you and me. Let’s take some risks, work our butts off and fix the economy ourselves, regardless of this cliff or that crisis. Nobody else is going to make conditions right for your business. Step up to the plate ladies and gentlemen, seriously!

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