Whats your new year MK resolution?

GOAL SETTING TRAINING

By Senior Sales Director Sarah Hjelle - Evansville, MN

Are you just pumped that we are all at the starting gate of a new year?  It's time to wipe the slate clean and begin a new!  Forget about what hasn't happened, or what you haven't done, because that's just 'shoulding' all over yourself!  TODAY you are going to think about your BIG GIRLS dreams, your goals, your visions, your aspirations!    It's time to get BUSY and MAKE IT HAPPEN!  WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?  Below you will find a few steps that I believe are the most important in today's tasks, these are lessons I have learned during my 30+ years of experience in Mary Kay! 

1. ANALYZE - now that doesn't mean analyze what you haven't done, but analyze what hasn't served you well over the past 6 months!  What types of business practices are you putting into action that aren't producing the results that you want?  You know Mary Kay has said, that the definition of insanity is... continuing to do what you are doing, but expecting different results!  Ladies, things don't change unless you do!!  "If things must change, I must change"!

2. VISUALIZE - It's time to really think about where you want to be in 6 months if there were no obstacles in your life!  This goal has to make you sick!  It's got to make your stomach turn when you think about pressing on!  You've got to learn how to STRETCH your mind, and think big!  If you have no team members today you could easily debut on the Seminar stage as a brand new Sales Director!  What is it that would make your emotions run wild, that would make you proud, and better yet what would make your family excited about your business?  Do you see it yet?  FORGET about what you haven't done!  It doesn't matter!  If Walt Disney thought about how he filed bankruptcy twice in the past, while he was developing the famous Walt Disney World/Land he would have never become a multi-millionaire and the success his legend still is today!  The same story applies to the famous Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart!

3. VERBALIZE - Now that you have visualized your goal, you need to pick your mentors.  Women who you admire, respect, and would trade places with!  Tell them your goals!  They will support you when the goin' gets tough!  They'll be there to pick you up when you are down.  They'll be the ones that believe in you more than you believe in yourself.  They will be the ones that won't let you quit on you!  CAUTION:  Be careful not to tell your dreams to the dream robbers!  Dream Robbers can be anyone that you surround yourself with including family!  Only tell your goals to those who are in your 'amen' corner!  **Just remember it's important that you do tell someone - because that someone will hold you accountable!

4. INTERNALIZE - Now that you thought about what you did over the past 6 months, had a vision for where you want to go in the NEXT 6 months, told your mentors, now it's time to put it into ACTION!  You have got to OWN this goal!  You have got to make it yours!  You have got to know, even though doubt and fear creep in, that this goal is going to happen!  YOU are going to make it a reality!  I have always told my Consultants since day one of becoming a Sales Director that if you can't see yourself achieving the goal, if you can't FEEL how youre going to feel the very moment it happens - IT WON'T!  So again, decide on the goal, put the physical effort in, and let your brain go to work!  Every morning and every night, AND every time you feel doubt or fear, close your eyes and internalize the feeling of what it's going to be like when the goal is accomplished!  Then the day it happens it will be no surprise to you - you will have done it over and over and over again in your mind.  You will stand on that stage with confidence, with pride, with self-respect, and with a feeling of appreciation for the goal that has just become your living reality!

These are the four most important steps of goal setting that I have observed in my business over the past 30 years!  In the bible it says "Without a Vision the People Will Parish".  I think that says it all!  There will be no doubt that for as big of a goal as you set, you will experience an equal or larger sized obstacle.  ...how bad do you want that goal!  Remember, if it were easy...everyone would be where you want to go!  In closing, remember that FAITH and fear cannot physically live in the body at the same time.  Faith comes from God and fear comes from below, CHOOSE TO LIVE AND WORK WITH FAITH EVERYDAY - AND I KNOW I'LL BE SEEING YOU ON STAGE IN 6 MONTHS!! 

An extra step

Whenever you're tempted to give a little less to a task than necessary, do yourself a favor and give a little more than necessary. If you're going to miss the mark, overshoot it rather than undershooting it.

Go a little beyond instead of falling a little short. Take the extra step. Make one more phone call. Write one more page.  Greet one more customer. Work a few more minutes. Run a little bit faster. Add a few more details. Do a great job and then add a little bit to it. That little extra bit at the end will add value to the entire effort. It provides enormous leverage and a great return for the small amount of time involved. The extra effort is tiny. The additional rewards are great. Bring value to your work and to your life by giving just a little bit extra to every effort. Over time, those extra efforts will add up and pay off. Rather than focusing on how little you can get away with, direct your attention to how much you can accomplish. Take an extra step. Go the extra distance. Build on top of what you've already created and the results will be magnificent.

Ralph Marston