Yeah I know, you're thinking, not another goal setting program.
Though I assure you this will be something completely UNIQUE to what you've experienced in the past.
And if you're committed to becoming a sales success, there will be an amount of writing you MUST do in order to achieve what it is you desire from your sales abilities.
Remember the statement I made in the first lesson, my main intention will be to focus on the psychology of selling and not so much techniques and methodology.
There already is SO MUCH information available to you about that, and yes, I will be giving you some techniques though the majority will be having you focus your attention upon what's going on INSIDE of you and HOW you do what you do to produce sales results! So let's dive right into designing a road map for your success.
Goal setting, what is it? Well basically its plotting a destination of WHERE you want to end up.
Let me give you a metaphor I use with my clients; imagine I'm YOUR travel agent, what's the first question I'm going to ask you? Right, WHERE do you want to go? Why do I need to know that? Because without it the 'HOW we get there' is irrelevant.
It's unfortunate but the majority of people (as well as some large companies) I've worked with have no clue what or where they want to go.
They believe as long as I'm paying my expenses or making sales I'm OK.
The reality of this is that it's only looking out for moment, and ultimately just 'gets you through the day' with no security for the future.
Studies have shown us that less than 20% of the population even have clearly defined goals, and less than 3% actually have them written down.
Let me ask you this question - "Can YOU imagine what it would be like to be among one of the wealthiest people you know?" Well, that's what it begins with; a clear image of yourself having already achieved what you desire.
Because without a clear destination...
anywhere will do! Here's are a couple reasons why people don't set goals.
#1 is, they don't know WHAT they want.
#2, they don't know HOW, and #3, they have a real FEAR of failure.
If you haven't set goals IN THE PAST, where do you lie within 3 key areas? Be honest with yourself.
That is the first step in making great decisions...
What I've discovered from coaching thousands of individuals over the course of a decade or so, is most people are just simply afraid to commit.
There's a real fear that they either will have to actually work for it, or they might achieve it; a fear that their life will change in some unusual way.
Did you know that statistically speaking, somewhere around 85% of all lotto winners that receive in excess of a 7 million dollar jackpot are flat broke or more in debt BEFORE they received the monetary injection? You're probably asking; HOW could that be? If that were ME I'd know exactly what to do with it.
Well the real truth is that they were never really money poor from the start.
They just MIS-manage what they have.
You see, having a lot money does not make you rich, it simply makes you more or less responsible with what you already have.
The real challenge is most people focus on what they DON'T want rather than what they DO want.
And this kind of thinking activates the law of attraction.
As the saying goes; where attention goes, energy flows, results show.
So be mindful of the thoughts you choose to put up on your mental screen, because If you knew how powerful your thoughts are, you'd choose them more wisely.
OK, now that we've briefly touched on why people don't set goals, lets discuss how and why goals do work! What I truly want for you to learn from ALL the lessons at a deeper understanding is HOW your brain functions and operates so you can begin to utilize the strategies that do work best for you.
Since the ripe old age of 14, after reading Think and Grow Rich; Napoleon Hill, I started asking myself this question; How do the really successful individuals achieve what it is they want? I became obsessed with it, I went on a feeding frenzy to read hundreds of books and thousands of hours of audio programs as I'm sure many of you have.
And the ONE main over-arching concept which kept showing up was; you must know EXACTLY what you want and have a game plan towards its fulfillment, AND commit yourself to achieving it! The TRULY successful, I mean the big time earners, I'm sure wasn't because they were just luckier than anyone else.
I've had a plaque on my desk that reminds of this every day, it reads; "there is no such thing as luck, only opportunity meeting preparedness.
So does this give you a glimpse of WHY you must set your goals and plot a course destination? OK, the HOW.
At the base of the brain where it connects to the spinal chord is a region known as the Reticular Activating System or (RAS).
It's a collection of several thousand neurons dispersed throughout a large portion of the midbrain, pons, and medulla that seems to act like a light switch - when the switch is on the "light" (consciousness) is on, off is "dark" (un-consciousness.
) The RAS "turns on" areas of the brain in the cerebrum that think (cognition) and feel (emotion).
Without the RAS "switch" an intact normally functioning cerebrum will be of no use - hence the common metaphor for coma: "the lights are on, but no one's home.
Everything you see, hear, smell, feel and touch is a message entering your brain.
The RAS filters through all these messages and decides which ones will get priority focus, that is, arouse the brain.
Writing down your dreams and goals is like hanging up a road sign that says, "Look Here.
" The RAS acts as flashlight, a single beam of light to light THE WAY! So what you chose to focus upon brings it into the light.
For example; have you ever bought a new or used car? And then began to see YOUR car everywhere you go.
Is that because all those people decided to purchase the same car on the same day as you did, or were they already there? This is an example of the RAS triggered into action.
You set a goal and the RAS sets up a filter that helps you become aware of those specific things in your surroundings.
Writing also triggers the RAS, which in turn sends a signal to the cerebral cortex: "Hey, Turn on! Pay attention to THIS! Once you write down a goal, your brain begins to work overtime to attract it and then directs your attention to the opportunities like that of the new car.
Setting well defined and clear goals will be one of the most crucial pieces in your success, because this will allow your brain to begin to notice all those newfound opportunities around you.
In 1956 in a paper entitled "Seven Plus or Minus Two" by George Miller, an American psychologist, revealed that our "conscious minds" can only handles seven +/- 2 bits of information at any one time, and that we delete the rest.
That means on a good day we can deal with 9, and on a bad day only 5.
Miller demonstrated that the human mind (through our five senses) takes in over 2 million bits of information per second into the neurology, or our nervous system.
But we can only process 7 pieces...
plus or minus 2 at any given moment.
So this means that what you continually focus upon (any one thing or two or three) you end up directing your attention towards or attracting into your frame of reference.
If you're familiar with the book and movie "The Secret" let's call it the law of attraction, you may understand this concept of what you continually focus on shows up, or what I like to say; "What You Continually, Focus Upon Inside...
Shows Up Outside!" Here are some basic questions you should be asking of yourself and setting these goals.
1.
What is your annual income, how much do you want to earn this year? 2.
How much are you going to have to sell, what will be your annual sales volume that will be required to earn that kind of money? What the total product value you're going to have to sell? 3.
What is your monthly income goal; you'll have to earn each month to achieve your annual goal? 4.
How many calls will you have to make each day to achieve your outcome? Can you define these by activities or more importantly behaviors you'll have to do to get this? Write these down so you program these into your subconscious mind every day.
We'll be talking about 'attitude' in a later chapter, and successful salespeople are OBSSESSIVE goal setters! They EXPECT great things to happen...
and they do! Learn to review what we've talked about so far.
Remember the unconscious mind only does one thing all day long and that's move you in the direction of your dominant thoughts.
We have something around 50,000 thoughts a day, and roughly 98% of them are the same as yesterday.
So what do you think you create today? Yes, more of yesterday, and then what about the week before, last year, last decade? We end up re-producing the same representations over and over again, kinda like in the movie - Ground Hog Day.
Our days become an endless loop of internal RE-presentations.
So what we ultimately end up doing is re-creating some sort of the same day over and over again, UNLESS you change what you focus upon daily, be mindful and re-direct your thoughts.
Let me ask you this; what do you fill your daily thoughts with, what works in your life or what doesn't? Because again, what you put up on the screen of your mind shows up in your world.
Have I said that enough??? Successful individuals know how to put this energy to work for them.
The exact thinking process for producing results is simply this - Focus, Meaning and Action.
1 - What do you focus upon daily? 2 - What meaning do you give it? And...
3 - What are you doing, or not doing, about it? OK, your homePLAY for this lesson is to write out the following answers for yourself; 1.
Decide Now: What 10 goals do you really desire from your career? 2.
For each one, write out 25 different reasons WHY you're so committed to make these happen! 3.
Then re-write them out in "AS IF" language like you've already achieved them! Ex; I NOW have...
I AM top salesman of the month...
I currently drive, own, purchased...
etc.
4.
How will you know when you've received them? What's your evidence procedure? A.
What will allow you to KNOW you've got it? HOW will you know? B.
What will you see, hear, and feel with each one? 5.
Study & review your goals daily.
Keeping the ones most important to you at the top.
6.
And last, after you've written down your 10 top goals, run them through the SMART goal-setting process; SMART meaning, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timed.
7.
What actions will you take DAILY to make them happen? Write out 3 actions for each goal.
I review of this lesson; What 10 things do you WANT, Focus on it daily in an AS IF frame already accomplished and BELIEVE you are deserving and can have ANYTHING you focus upon!