Paving the Path for Tomorrow, Today
By Jayson Cardwell
There is a saying that goes something like this, “Before you know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve been.” Very wise words, and very truthful, but I’d like to add to that statement, “Before you know where you’re going, you better plan ahead.” The last time I took a vacation, I planned out the path, and I made alternate routes incase the main route was blocked. Goal setting is nothing different from planning a vacation, or planning anything really. It takes time, focus, vision, execution, and S.M.A.R.T.S.
Time is money, this is a true statement most if not all business owners and managers will agree upon. So if this is true, why waste it to being a quarter into a new fiscal year and still not having a plan put in place. Let my dispel some a myth, an operating budget is NOT a plan, nor are they goals. To properly formulate an operating budget you need to first set the goals you wan to attain. How can you properly allocate capital if you have direction? When you plan for a vacation you save and allot the money to be sure you have everything covered. Goal planning should begin in July/August, or 4-5 months prior to the beginning of a new fiscal year. This will reserve time for brainstorming, formulating, Board approval (if necessary), and implementation through the budget.
For goal setting to be effective you need to devote energy and focus on the task. Haphazard goal setting will lead to haphazard results. Do whatever it takes to gain focus. Many entrepreneurs fail to understand the concept of retreat. Even if you are a one-man shop, you need time away to gather your thoughts, recoup your body, and open the doors of your mind. That is where innovation and imagination are given free reign is in retreat.
Try this exercise, get away for 5 days, and leave behind the work phone, laptop, and anything else tying you to your company. Find someplace that relaxes you. Take the first day to detoxify your mind, and then take the next 3 days to become a free thinker. Grab a pen and paper and write down every idea that comes into your mind. No matter how ridiculous. Be sure this is done on un-lined paper no rules, no guidelines, and no restrictions. On the last day, prepare yourself to come back fresh, meditate. When you get back to your company take a look at the paper and begin to eliminate the ideas, until you reach those that are S.M.A.R.T.S (later in the article).
Vision is important in goal setting. For without vision we’re lost. You have to be looking out into the horizon, beyond the sight of employees and competitors. To find your goals you have to look forward and not behind.
Finally we reach execution. Execution is a fairly simple process; many people make it too hard. With each goal there should be a set of action plans. These are simply steps needed to attain the goal. For example if your goal is to increase sales by 3% in a certain market, then the action steps would be to increase the effectiveness of sales reps in that area through training. Step two could be to increase marketing by adding another advertising channel, and attaining better brand recognition and exposure. Executions then leads to you walk out the steps necessary to attain the goal(s) you have set.
A brief word on S.M.A.R.T.S this is an acronym that many people recognize but, I have added another letter. The first S stands for Specific. Your goals need to be specific, general goals do not push you to achieve success. The M is Measurable, without a way to quantify your goal(s), you have no idea if you are making progress. The A is for Attainable, goals that can not be achieved are goals you don’t want to set. R is for Realistic, this means your goals should line up with your company and be within the realm of possibility. T is for Time Orientated, not putting a limited time frame (6 mo. 1 yr, 3 yrs, 5 yrs, 10 yrs) means you can reach that goal whenever and it leads to laziness. The final S is my own addition, it stands for Stretch. Goals should stretch your thinking and ability. Making goals that are too easy to achieve will lead you no where. Yet setting a goal that is just at the tips of your fingers while you’re standing on your toes will cause you to achieve greater then that you thought you could. It pushes you, your company, your employees, and it is the stretch that leads you into greatness.
Price Comparison Chart for Online Payment Gateways
If you’re interested in accepting payment online (from your clients or customers), you may find this useful. It is a price comparison chart for common payment gateways for accepting money online.
| Cost & Fees | |
| PayPal | 2.2% ~ 2.9% + $0.30 |
| PayPal Website Pro | 2.2% ~ 2.9% + $0.30 |
| PayPal Palyflow Pro | $249 setup, $59.95/month, $0.10/tran. |
| Authorize.net | $99 setup, $17.95/month, $0.10/tran. |
| PSiGate | $199 setup, $29.95/month, $0.25/tran. |
| BluePayGo | |
| iTransact | $49, $99 setup, $10, $24.95 /month |
| 2Checkout | $49 setup, 5.5% + $0.45/tran. |
| Google Checkout | 2.2% ~ 2.9% + $0.30/tran. |
To find out how to choose which one is best for you, please check FreshBooks’ blog post “Which Payment Gateway Should I Choose?“
Keeping Yourself Motivated
Author: Ryan Cash (Marketing and PR Coordinator for Marketcircle)
Staying motivated isn’t easy – we often convince ourselves not to be. We often give ourselves excuses, allow other people to put us down, or look at the success of others and think, “That’ll never be me.”
There are two basic types of motivation: intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation comes from the feeling of self-achievement inherent in the task or project achieved, i.e. solving a puzzle, completing a school assignment, or finally publishing that website you were working on for a client.
Extrinsic motivation is the reward you get from others – or outside “forces”. This includes money and other financial or tangible rewards, such as a free vacation for achieving your sales targets, a trophy for winning first place at the Olympics, or even the crowd cheering as you overtake car #2 in the last stretch of the race. This explains the “home team advantage” methodology.
Extrinsic motivation (namely money) is often the primary basis for our motivation. Everyone needs money, and wants as much of it as possible. That’s no secret. However, I believe the feeling of self achievement is equally important when it comes to staying motivated.
When you’ve finished the design work for a client, what feels better? Getting paid or seeing your client smile, succeed, and receive brand recognition partly due to your efforts? If you picked getting paid, try thinking about it this way:
A small, startup company seeks your help in setting up their identity (logo, business card, website, etc.). The company is completely unknown but happens to take off. All of a sudden the company is everywhere – the NY Times, TechCrunch, CNN, a trending topic on Twitter, you name it.
Do you still feel the same? Okay, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but hopefully my point was made.
But what about the money?
There are many ways that you can use money and your personal financial status to keep yourself motivated. Here are a few ideas:
- Reward yourself: decide on an amount (that doesn’t cut into your bill paying or savings) and reward yourself after a job well done. Of course you don’t want to spend every hard penny you’ve earned on your favourite hobby, but if it’s all work and no play you’ll get burnt out. Reward yourself as a reminder of what you’re working towards.
- Financial status: do you want to put a down payment on your own place in 2 years? Pay off the house in 7? Have children and send them to private school? Remind yourself how much money you need to earn each month in order to support your desired lifestyle. If you’re not quite there yet figure out the steps needed to get there and write them down.
- It takes money to make money: do you have any business plans that require startup capital you don’t currently have? Do you plan to buy and rent properties? Invest? These are other good ways to remind yourself to keep at it.
What else?
Networking. It’s easy to meet other people in your industry on the internet these days (especially if you’re a designer). If you don’t already have a blog, consider starting one. Sign up for Twitter and get out there! Meeting other people in your line of work helps you to learn the language and communication styles that are effective in your industry.
If you know a lot of designers, for instance, they can refer clients to you when they’re overbooked, or when a client requires something beyond their expertise.
It’s also a good idea to try to network in person. It’s refreshing to get out of your home or office and meet people face to face. People will often share more in person than they will on their blog or via Twitter. Escaping your workstation every once in a while will give you that added fuel you need to move forward when you return from your mid-day vacation.
When all else fails, I tend to go on a “success story” binge. Take an hour to watch a few TED Talks, read a few articles about people on the Forbes 400 list, or poke around the Small Business Success Stories page on BusinessWeek.
Stay motivated – and if you can’t, try something new.
How to Live in Present while Achieving Your Goals
If you are fan of Eckhart Tolle, or have ready his book “The Power of Now”, you may wonder if what he preaches in his book or teachings can be helpful in achieving goals. I’ve been having the similar question as the one people asked him about in this video below.
At first, it can be very confusing. But after giving it much thought, I seem to understand that what’s important is perhaps not in how Echkhart Tolle’s teachings can help you achieve goals, but rather about how it can help with the reason or purpose behind the goals you want to achieve.
Anyway, it’s always a great pleasure to watch Echkhart Tolle speaks. Check out this video and let me know what you think.
Paper based Goal Setting Tool
Are you more a paper and pencil type of person when it comes to goal setting?
If you are, you may want to check out this neat little tool called “5×5p5 Goals Booklet“. It’s a free PDF download that you can print it out on a nice sheet of paper, and fold it up into a neat little booklet. You can keep it in your wallet and keep track of your goals anywhere you go. What a nice idea!
Goal Setting Booklet
The Magic Lamp: Goal Setting for People Who Hate Setting Goals
Do you hate setting goals? Many people do. If you happen to be one of them, you may want to check out this book called “The Magic Lamp: Goal Setting for People Who Hate Setting Goals”.
It describes a simple yet unforgettable process for how to obtain what you want from both your personal life and your career. You can read it as a goal-setting guide for people who hate setting goals.
This book tries to convert the process of setting goals from a dull routine into an exciting adventure by combining the methods of goal setting with the magic of making your wishes come true.
It offers a 4-step process:
- Step 1: Lock On
- Step 2: Act
- Step 3: Manage Your Progress
- Step 4: Persist
For more detaied reviews of the book, you can check it out at Amazon.com.
Time Management Advice from Last Lecture Professor Randy Pausch
I came across this great video on YouTube on time management. It was a talk given by Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch, the professor who gave that famous “Last Lecture”. He did this talk about only one year before he died of cancer. Who else could have given us better advice on time management than he?
The speech offers a lot of great advice on how to make plans for goals, how to better manage your time, and be more productive with your life. It’s full of very practical techniques and tricks that anyone can take advantage easily, such as:
- Use quadrant method for your TODO list
- Have 3 monitors
- Have a speaker phone
- Stand up when you are on the phone
- Write thank-you notes
- … …
It’s a great talk.
How to Do Your New Year Goals?
Perhaps you have been wondering what’s the best way to set and achieve your new year goals for 2010.
There are certainly many different goal setting strategies and theories that people can use , but I think what Khuram Malik suggested in this new blog post “How to have your best year ever” shed some great light on how to make goal setting really work for you.
Also Khuram went on to create a video reviewing how GoalsOnTrack.com can help you keep track on your goals. If you have never used GoalsOnTrack before, this could be a great tutorial tour of how it works and how it can help you achieve goals.
Top 10 New Year Resolutions of All Time
Have you wondered what New Year resolutions most of people create all these years?
According to polls from Quicken, nutrition centers and others, the top ten New Year’s resolutions are (remarkably consistent year after year):
- Spend more quality time with family and friends,
- Get in shape and/or lose weight
- Quit smoking and/or drinking
- Enjoy life more
- Get into a good relationship
- Find a better job
- Get out of debt
- Volunteer more and/or help others
- Learn something new
- Get Organized
I guess this list only applies to people in the U.S. or western world. In many other countries, with different cultures and traditions than here, I would seriously doubt “Spend more quality time with family and friends” could be the number 1 goal for most people. 
Of course, that doesn’t mean people in those countries wouldn’t want to spend time with family and friends, but just that it wouldn’t be their first priority, amongst all things. What do you think?
Be Better Organized With A Mind Map Template
Have you ever tried mind mapping tools? I find it sometimes useful and effective for organizing things related to goals, projects, schedules etc. I guess the reason that it’s very good organizer tool is because the mind map is very easy for the brain to hold these things we try to remember as a picture in mind.
If you have never tried it, you may want to start with a free Personal Organizer Template mind map. It’s built with BiggerPlate.com.
Personal Organiser Template Mind Map
There is another very good mind mapping tool I’ve used before is called Mindjet.
