Secret to Success – Shhhh!

Hey – I want to tell you a secret.  Shhhhh!  Really.  It’s something that I stumbled on and is the NUMBER ONE thing that motivates me and pushes me towards continued growth…

So what’s this big secret???  GOAL SETTING!

I know what you’re saying… ‘What???  That’s IT?!?!?!!?’  Sorry.  If you were looking for something super juicy or super sexy… Goal Setting!  That’s all I’ve got.  But stick with me…it’s so simple yet it will revolutionize your life and your business.

I know that it’s sounds a little melodramatic but it’s the truth.  Seriously, all jokes and giggles aside, my rediscovery of SMART – focused goal setting is drastically changing my vision and my business.  For the better.

Have you ever noticed how many things circle around 30 days?  Things like 30-day guarantees or 30-day trial periods.  I’d guess it’s because statistics illustrate that’s about how long it takes to form a new habit or to break an old one.

For me, the key is this (bonus little secret number 2):  Taking my goals, and my year, no more than 30 days at a time.

Sure I have five-year goals, one year goals, etc…but I consider them the forest and sometimes I need to focus on one tree at a time.  So, I write all of them down then I break them down.  First I break my five-year goals into one year chunks… then my one year goals into quarters or 90 day chunks then my 90 day goals into 30 day chunks.  Once I’m down to 30 days…I write them on my whiteboard (where I can see them every day)… and break down my 30 days into tasks and actually put them on my to-do list.

So why are thirty days so powerful?  I’m not really sure but I know, a  funny thing happened when I derived this little exercise in minutia.  I gained clarity.  I gained extreme focus.  It was easier to identify the things that would take me off track and the things that would keep me on track … and help me get to where I wanted to go that much faster.

Here are a few of my 30-day trials that lead to changes for me and my business (not all change has to be business related…remember to sustain and grow a business, you have to sustain and grow too):

• 2009:  Twitter experiment – when I started tweeting, I didn’t get it (and I admit, some days I still don’t).  Result – it’s been a great tool to meet new people, in and out of my field…people that I don’t think I would have ever met without getting my tweet on!
• Summer 2011:  Give up coffee/tea/sugary drinks.  I made it a little over 90 days or so with this one.  Result – my taste buds seem to have shifted.  Everything tastes better.
• September 2011:  30 mins/30 days – I vowed to myself to workout at least 30 mins everyday for 30 days.  Result – I’m still going strong.  I’m on about day 70 now and I have no idea when my streak will break but I’m not planning on it just yet.
• October 2011:  The Return Of the Dreaded To Do List – As a mentioned above, I broke down my 90 day goals into 30 day goal chunks and actually gave myself action items.  In total there were 20 items.  Result – I gain clarity, I was able to say yes to the things I should say yes to and no to the things that I should say no to… although I did not check off all 20 goals I set for the month… I did complete 14 of the 20!  And that killer, rockstar status if I must say so myself!

————————————————————-

Article Inspiration: 30 Days to Success