Friday, August 3, 2012

Roadmap to Success



If you were taking a complicated route out of town you would write down the directions. 
        But if you are considering the future path of your life, your goals, and what you needed to do to achieve them you probably wouldn't write any of it down.  Think of it - the most significant journey of your life, and you probably won't put a word of the directions on paper.
        Writing your plans, goals, and ideas makes them more real for you.  Every step you take to define what you want and what you need to do to get it increases the chances that you will actually pursue these goals and someday achieve them.

      Creating goals is a powerful way to focus your personal vision and manage the roles that place so many demands on your physical, mental, and emotional resources.  When you define your goals, you take the first, most critical step on the path to producing exceptional results.  As you track and measure your progress, you will find yourself far more likely to spend valuable time and energy on what is most important to you.  With each new goal you achieve, you experience greater self confidence, challenge yourself to stretch and achieve new things, and build success upon success. 

WRITTEN GOALS ENHANCE COMMITMENT
            Attaining your goals requires total commitment.  Most high achievers strongly believe that a goal is concrete and effective only when it is established in writing.  The process of writing goals formalizes your commitment, almost like signing a contract with yourself.  It also helps you set priorities, develop action plans, and decide how much time, energy, and effort you want to invest in achieving success.  As an added benefit, you can refer to written goals over and over again, which reinforces your resolve to attain them. 
      Follow the steps below to formulate your own personal goal .

1. Identify your Aspirations.      
            *Identify you aspirations in each area of your life. 
            *Don't be afraid to "dream big."  Ask yourself: What would I do if I knew I would succeed at it?  What would I like to accomplish in one year, three years, five years or beyond? 
            *Record your answers and ask yourself:  Which aspirations are most important at this point in my life?

2. Turn your Aspirations into SMART Goals
            *To begin creating a SMART goal, decide which aspiration is most important to you.  Ask yourself: Why is it important for me to focus on this aspiration right now?   How will it benefit me? 
            *Using the SMART method, turn your aspiration into a SMART goal.  Ask yourself: How will I make this aspiration Specific? Measurable? Actionable? Realistic? Time-based?
            *Now, combine your answers into a clearly written goal - one or two sentences that include your overall framework for achieving this goal. 
            *Ask yourself: Have I applied all the elements of the SMART method?  Is my goal concise and easy to understand?  If I show this goal to someone, will she immediately know exactly what I want to do, when I plan to achieve it, and how I'll know that I've reached my goal?

3. Identify Your Incentives
            *Consider some of your past successes in different areas of your life and identify your incentives.  What short-term rewards kept you focused on your goals, even if you didn't see immediate results?  Which rewards seemed to occur naturally as a by-product of your hard work (for example, receiving a new customer referral as a result of your outstanding service)?  Which incentives did you build into your goal?
            *When you've identified several short-term and long-term incentives that work for you, record them and keep them with your written goals. 
            *Refer to your incentives list frequently and make sure you're rewarding yourself often enough.

4. Visualize Your Goal
           *Choose what type(s) of visualization works best for you, then do it. 
            
5. Share Your Goal
           *No matter who you share you goals with, share them with someone.  Other representatives, especially your Leadership upline, are often the best "goal buddies" to have because not only do they tend to understand the ups and downs of being an Avon Representative, they may also have ideas to share that could be the key to you reaching your goal.  Family members are also good choices to recruit for your cheering section.  For many representatives, support from their families and other representatives have been essential to their continued success.

Chris Arnold
Avon Gold Leader
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