Have you ever run a
marathon? About ten years ago, I decided
I was going to do it to raise money for a charity. At the time, everyone I knew thought I’d lost
my mind. Now, I am not an athletic person;
in fact, I am rather clumsy and tend to bump into things – a lot. So taking on 26.2 miles was definitely going
to be a major challenge, and one that required considerable training and
planning. And so I began – running with
a team each week in increasingly longer distances towards our mutual goal. Running a marathon not only requires a goal
and physical and mental conditioning, but tactical planning too: choosing the
right shoes, maintaining a safe pace, packing items to stay hydrated and
maintain your sodium and glycogen levels so you can finish safely. (Legend says that Pheidippides, whose famous
run is the foundation for today’s distance, collapsed and died at the end – and
who wants that?) It also involves
checking in with yourself on a regular basis to make sure your plan is working,
and making adjustments as needed.
Your work life is no
different. You’ve decided to run the Career
Marathon. Now, let’s plan how you’ll
make it to the finish line. There are
four steps to creating your plan.
1. Create your purpose statement. Your Company helps here. If you don’t know what the Company’s Mission,
Philosophy and Goals are, find out. If
you don’t know the goal, you don’t know where you are going.
2. Envision your future. You need to be specific and descriptive. For example, say you’re in sales, delivering
10 widgets a month, and you want to boost your results. Picture yourself delivering 20 widgets a
month, every month. Your accounts are
excited when you come in to visit. You
get referrals from every client. They
write great reviews about you on Google / Facebook / Yelp. You make $XXX dollars this year, and take a
vacation to Hawaii with your family, etc. Write it up and post it on your
mirror. Post it everywhere. If it is always in front of you, it helps
keep you focused.
3. Describe your current reality. Now’s the time to be brutally honest with
yourself. You should be so honest that
you may not want to show this to anyone but yourself. Where are you today? Maybe you write something like: “I haven’t
been out marketing for over a month. I
didn’t call 3 clients back. I’m uncomfortable
asking for referrals.” Whatever it is,
if you are honest with yourself about what you do today, it will help you plan
for success.
4. Make specific commitments. Bullet point the action steps you are going
to take to get to the future you want. “I
will go marketing every Tuesday. I will
touch bases with every lead before the end of the day. I will ask for a testimonial.” Whatever you commit to, you’ve just made a
promise to yourself, so you can achieve what you want.
Plans and goals are excellent, but they are also
worthless unless you review them on a regular basis. You have to check in to make sure
you are staying on task. One of the best
ways you can do this is to set up a “Weekly Review.” Let’s be honest. When you’re as busy as you are today, it’s
easy to lose your way and become reactive instead of proactive. You may forget to follow up with a member
when the phones are ringing off the hook or don’t review your notes from your
last marketing visit. When that happens,
important things fall through the cracks.
You end up embarrassed, or worse, you may let your members, your credit
union, the Company and yourself down.
When you set up your “Weekly Review,” you give yourself a chance to get
ahead of the game and see how well you are progressing towards your Marathon
Goal. You stay on top of things, instead
of running to catch up. I like to
schedule 1-2 hours for my weekly review.
Now, it never takes that long, but if you book it you’re your calendar,
you’ll get it done. So what is your
agenda for your meeting with yourself?
1. Review your referrals. Have you checked in with everyone? Is there someone you need to call today? Stay on top of this, and you won’t have any
“heat” issues.
2. Review all of the notes you’ve kept over the week. I’m low tech, and use a notebook as
e-mail reminders get lost in the Inbox.
Quickly read back through your notes to see if there are any action
items or things that you needed to do.
3. Review your calendar from last week. Were there any things you promised your
credit unions on your marketing visits?
Notes from your sales meeting?
This will jog your memory and help you catch up as well. Did you miss an appointment? Better reschedule it.
4. Review this week’s calendar. This is one of the most important steps. It allows you to plan in advance, stay ahead
of the curve and keep your sales momentum on track.
5. Review your Action Lists. What do you really need to accomplish this week? Book it.
6. Review your Marathon Goal. Remind yourself that you’re headed to the
Finish Line. If you stay focused, you’ll
be a winner.
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