Beliefs & Goals

Beliefs. They can be funny things.We all have them. Whether we know it or not.

Some beliefs work in our favour. Others get in the way of achieving all that we can. Beliefs can get in the way of achieving all that we want.

Most people are not conscious of the vast majority of things they believe. But what they believe is present in opinions they form about things, in decisions they make about what they buy or what they do. They are present in the choices not made and decisions not taken.

When it comes to setting goals, it is useful to understand our underlying beliefs.  Setting goals that allow us to achieve those results that are most meaningful and of high value to us should be an easy choice. But we know that isn't the case, since so many goals are never carried out.

Every time we make a decision we make a choice based at some level on a belief.  When there is a decision to be made, doing nothing is a decision. And there's a good chance that there is a belief behind that too.

Let's look at an example.

Sandy wants to "stop procrastinating and become more productive".

But when Sandy sets goals, they don't happen. Instead of taking the actions that will mean that the goal can be reached, Sandy is off being distracted by anything and everything instead of applying the time and attention to those activities that will lead to their goal being completed.

It would be easy to blame procrastination as the culprit.  In reality, procrastination is an activity. We do it.  We do it. Procrastination isn't some being that jumps on us and drags us away.  It is a choice that we make to not do those things that we have to do.

In this case I'd be inclined to think that Sandy has set goals that are not meaningful and it could be that the goals are not really goals, but actions on a to-do list that are not getting done.

An item on a to-do list is not a goal.
It is an item.

It may be an item that needs an action and a good way to approach items that need action is to have  a good strategy for writing these down in specific language with time frames. You can find more on time management on my blog here

A goal, if it is to be useful, should be something important. Not just some vague thing you want to do. It should have some purpose that is worthwhile to you and lead you to a better place than you are now. You can find more on setting goals you can achieve here 

When we set half-assed goals and don't achieve them, we prime ourselves to believe things like:

"Goals don't work."
"I can't do it."
"I'm not as good as others who can make their goals happen"
"Other people get what they want because they are lucky"
"I'm not lucky"
or even
"I don't deserve it"

We can then retreat and find other things to blame for why our life is not the way we would prefer. Blaming other factors is always easier than the uncomfortable feeling that may happen when we consider what our own part in not achieving our goals might be.

When we set goals that we don't do any work to achieve, we may have a secondary payoff. We don't have to do anything different. We don't challenge ourselves, therefor we don't risk trying and then not make it.

Trying and failing, is just trying and failing. It is not failure.

For some, "not trying", means "not failing".

Of course, this is a fallacy.

The truth is, not trying ensures automatic failure. That which we don't even attempt, we cannot complete.

A more healthy and useful approach might be, to do this instead... If it doesn't work exactly the way you want the first time, then you try again. You build on your capacity and you keep trying until you get to where you want to be.  Every attempt brings you closer.  Every bit you learn along the way, brings you a better understanding and a knowledge that you didn't have when you started.

This is the nature of building good habits.

This is also how you build better beliefs. Beliefs that support you and allow you to grow as a person and increase your resilience and your life skills.

Getting to the bottom of our beliefs can be tricky.  Getting help to identify these deeply-held yet invisible beliefs can really expedite matters.

Action

Grab some paper and spend some time considering your beliefs in these areas. Write them down. Don't censor them, just write down the things that come to mind when you think about these topics.

This is what I believe about goals:____________________________

This is what I believe about eating::___________________________

This is what I believe about health:___________________________

This is what I believe about money:___________________________

This is what I believe about family:____________________________

This is what I believe about relationships:_______________________

This is what I believe about me:______________________________


If you'd like to talk to me about what you learn, I'm interested in your feedback.

Related articles on Goals

Goal Checker - A Tool To Use

Beliefs and Goals

How To Set Goals You Can Reach

Focus Before Goals 

Steps To Creating An Achievable Outcome

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Passion Alone Is Not Enough

"Follow your passion"  "Make your passion your business"

Is common to see this suggested as a good thing to do.
But is it really good advice?

Some people like baking muffins so they think opening a restaurant might be a good move.
In reality, it could just be a good way to start to not like making muffins.

A better indicator for opening a restaurant might be if you can say –

• I love serving people and
• I’m good at finding ways to produce good quality food customers love
• and that makes me good profit.
• And - I am passionate about following budgets and know how to plan meals without waste.
• And - I like working long hours, 7 days a week and
• I don’t mind not making a lot of money.

If  you want your passion for muffins to be your business then you might test that out by working out...

• How many muffins you need to make to cover the rent and the expenses and your wages and start making profit. And you know  
• How  you can sell that number of muffins to make enough money to pay those expenses and make you lots of profit.  
• And that you are content to make muffins, market muffins, sell muffins and live and breathe muffins and little else.

Even the things we like to do, can get old when we have to do them every day all day.

Sometimes if you like making muffins, it is a good idea to just make muffins when you feel like it.

Jim Collins, in his business book Good to Great suggests what he called his:

Hedgehog Principle

The question that we need to ask when we are considering turning our passion into a business, are our Hedgehog questions. There are three.

What are you passionate about?
What can you be the best at?
What can actually make you a living?

And the answer must meet all three criteria.

This exercise can also be used by young people trying to sort their way in life, their personal hedgehog, as much as a business trying to figure out what purpose they serve.

So if the answer to all  3 questions is Yes – following your Passion might be  a good idea.

If:

1. ·        You’re passionate about it
2. ·        You can be the best in the world at it
3. ·        You can make money doing it.  – And you know how.

Remember - And the answer must meet all three criteria. When you refine your thinking in this way – that clarity helps you to focus.

But be clear that this is the beginning  and in business your time will be spent on many things that  need to be done that don’t involve that element about which you are passionate. 

It’s said that:

“Successful people do those things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do.”

Some people are unwilling to be uncomfortable. Learn to be uncomfortable and see it as a sign of potential personal growth.  That's a marker as a Good Thing.

A lot of things that the business needs doing, is stuff that we really won’t want to do. But must.


But what if I have a business that is not my passion?

Here’s what nobody tells you.

You can become passionate about anything.  

Your attitude will dictate how well that passion lasts.

Passion is the start point. Alone it won’t do anything.
Passion needs to be supported with good habits that get you the results that you need.

If you have a business that is not your passion you may still have good habits that let you make it successful.

Now … time to get passionate about it.

And it is not just the thing the business does – get passionate about how well you do what you do and how well you serve your customers and how valuable your business is – or will be – to the clients you serve.  Notice that you can do the same thing to enhance passion in all your relationships. 

If you are not already valuable to them – then that’s a sign that there are improvements to be made to bring your value up higher for them – and make your business one that you can truly be proud to own and to represent and to promote.

More important perhaps is to consider how well your habits are helping you to achieve the outcomes you want.

It's not discipline you need. 

We sometimes think we have a discipline problem. When in truth we have no problem with discipline. We can do habits that are not supporting our interests, easily and on cue every time! We just have the wrong habits for the results we want.  When you swap those for habits that go with the results you want – then you really have something.


Check your passion levels.

Are you feeling passionate about what you do?

If not –

• What element of what you do can you ramp up feeling good about? 
• Where can you push yourself to be the best at what you do now?
• How much more of yourself can you bring to whatever it is that you do?

When we bring more attention to what we do – we change the way that we feel about it. We can focus on feeling proud of getting even better at what we do, and we can learn to love the strangest things, just because we can do it well and it has value for someone.  That’s a good start on passion.

If you are not passionate about what you are doing – you have two choices. You can do something you are passionate about – but that might not work.

Or you can get passionate about what it is that you are doing successfully now. 


And you can make those muffins in your time off... any time it pleases you.


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Related Posts

How To Set Goals - And Reach Them

The Dirty Secrets Business Needs To Know About Social Media

Why You Need To Build Your Mailing List And How To Do It

How To Get Your Local Business Found Online

Are you lousy at self promotion too? 



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Get Your Online Business Presence Reviewed.

 

You’ve heard all the chatter about the internet and how it is the place to be for business to grow and develop new business using websites and social media marketing. 

 Have you ever wondered how you can get new business using online tools to promote your business?

It can seem daunting. Websites, SEO, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, on and on it goes.  Maybe you have a website that doesn’t seem to do anything ... and you don’t know how to tell if it is doing anything useful or not. 

You’re not alone. Many businesses have thought about using the internet and have a basic website that may have cost a little money or a lot of money at the time, but it is still a bit of a mystery as to whether it serves any purpose or not. 

“You have to be online” they tell you, but don’t tell you why, or how to judge a good website performance from a bad one. 

“My website is on page 1 on Google ... for my business name!” Oh that’s a common one. The truth? You need to be on page 1 for what you do. Not for your name. Nice to have but it is a given. Your name doesn’t count, since anyone who knows your business name and what you do, already knows how to find you.  You want your business to be found by those looking for what you do, who don’t automatically think of you. 

“I have a Twitter account ... but I never use it.” 

“I am on Facebook but I don’t really know how to use it. I’ll have to get my teenager to look into it and fix it for my business.”

Social media marketing may be social... but it is still business. And as such it deserves to be taken seriously. As a business owner you need to understand the rules of how online marketing for local business works. Even if you decide it is not for you. 

·        How to guage if your website is working as well as it should.    Sometimes it just needs a few tweaks to make it work better.  Sometimes it needs a lot of work.  Know what to look for when you are hiring web designers and what to make sure is included on your site.

·        What you need to do to have any chance to get the website to page 1 on Google for the words and phrases people look for to find what you do.

·        How to set up a social media marketing strategy. It is not just opening an account.  You need to know the right kind of account. Know which platform is going to work for your business and have a purpose and a strategy that will allow you to know how and what content to add to keep it fresh. 

·        Understand that your reputation is at risk online – even if you don’t use the internet yourself.  Your duty to your business means you need to be able to know how to manage that risk – and exploit your business opportunity. If someone is talking about you online - good or bad - you need to know about it. And know how to deal with it.

·        Learn the difference between traditional marketing (broadcasting) and social media marketing. They are not the same! What works in old media, won’t work in new media and can work against you.

I hear many business owners say that they have been to a workshop on social media but they were dissatisfied because it didn’t really give them the skills they need to know how to go about setting their business online with a way to successfully use social media for their business and in their local area. You need one-on-one help to really get to know this new world.

Others say they can’t see why they need to be on the internet because their customers are local and they know who they are already.  In reality, it isn’t about what you want. It is about what customers expect.  Even if you never use the internet (“I don’t have time!”) your customers do. And if they are looking for your business at 2am then they need and want to be able to find the solution they need for their particular problem. If you can solve it for them, you want them to find you and know that you can help them. 

The world has opened wide for local business and social media marketing brings high tech opportunities for local business to widen the scope of their marketplace beyond their front door and being at the mercy of just selling to the people who happen to walk past their door during the hours they are open.  Even a cafe can bring people in who would not normally have chosen that place to visit were it not for finding them online first.

As customers we don’t know anything about your business unless you make it known. If we are visiting your street, we look for what’s there online before we make appointments and before we head out in the car to look for what we will buy. Whether you own a cafe or are an Accountant or Zookeeper, the same applies.  Your job is to make sure we find you first.

Unfortunately some business owners think they can do this without any training. While many ‘social media gurus’ have no online footprint of their own to speak of, might be doing workshops promoting social media marketing but are only telling part of the story. They are setting up Facebook pages and Twitter accounts as though that in itself is the important part. It is like buying a car and never having a licence to drive it, and not knowing it needs fuel in the tank if you want it to get you anywhere.

Special Offer

For this reason I’m making a very special offer available so you can get some idea of where you are now and where social media marketing and your online presence can help you grow your business. This Online Business Review will be available for a single payment of $199. 

If you want to proceed on your own then, you can do so with some understanding of where you are going and steps you can take to get there. If you want help going forward then that’s available too.

If you would like to get your business online working and would like a review of your online presence, a report on what could be fixed and a 2 hour consultation on where you can go from here then contact me today to arrange your Online Business Review.

Here’s to your success – Online and Offline!

Related Blogs
 How-To: Developing A Social Media Strategy For Marketing
Quick & Dirty Business Review
Test Your Website For Roadworthiness
What You Should Know About Social Media For Business
 How To Get Your Business Found Online

Lindy Asimus
Business Coach
Mobile: 61 + 403 365855
lindyasimus@gmail.com
www.designbusinessengineering.com

Australia's Marketing Mentor

Contact Me
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