Setting Goals

Many leaders I’ve worked with set their goals for 2023 sometime in October and November.

What I’ve learned in my early days of selling t-shirts and perfumes, is that the minute you make your idea public — the more people aware of the idea — the more likely you are to reach it.

It’s public pressure, peer pressure, self-pressure. Sure, someone might snag the idea and move forward, but remember that no three people in the world had the same experience, same background, same schooling, same history as you, and would t do the same thing as you in the future. While others might take a run at it, your idea is your idea.

We all know ideas are worthless unless you implement them. Implementation is where (as we say in Detroit) the rubber meets the road. When reality hits, you still have to adjust or adapt to make sure the product or service is meeting the customer demand or desire.

If you are are thinking about setting goals, here’s your chance to take the time and spend an hour or whatever you want looking back at what you have done through the year.

Whether you sold 500 or 1,000 items this year, 2 services or 200, think about what you can sell next year. Be realistic! I’m not saying that scaling up couldn’t or shouldn’t happen, I’m saying be realistic about how you would go about it.

When I was starting out, I was selling three bottles of perfume a day. My goal was to consistently sell 3 bottles a day for 2–5 days. When that happened, I upped my goal to four bottles a day. When I did the same consistency for 3–4 days, I upped it again, to five.

What you can do with the data you’ve gathered from this year to help you set up goals for next year? If you are thinking of new products or services, what realistic goals can you set for them?

What capacity do you need to meet them? Do you need to make 100 calls, 200 calls? How many follow-up calls? All these parts of the equation will help you set realistic goals.

I encourage you set your 2023 goals NOW, and going after them day by day, week by week, month by month. Examine them on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. Did you meet the goal? What adjustments might be made?

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. What goals do you want for next year?

2. What goals for new products or services would you like to have?

3. What other goals do you have — from hiring to new markets, customers, or ideas?

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