Focus -vs- Distractions

Setting goals is similar to making commitments to clients, you promise them what you do and then you work hard to make it happen. A goal is a commitment to yourself. Why should a commitment to yourself be less important? It should not be. Your family depends on you. A commitment to yourself can be more important than a commitment to a client. If your business is not successful then you will not be able to support your family and your clients the way you want to.

You are your most important commitment you can make to yourself.

Thad, you are indeed a true marketing genius. The ability the illustrate your point with the use of metaphors is brilliant.

First, we all need to eliminate distractions. Your mentor calls one the biggest distractions “time vampires” in one of his books. I run Delaware Insurance Advisors (Delaware, OH) and as the owner, everyone thinks he or she is “entitled” to my time. Well, I’ve got news…my (or anyone else’s time) is not an entitlement. It must be earned by those who seek.

Here’s an interesting sidebar (and then I promise I will get back to my other points)…I am very open to sales people who approach my properly and create interest or curiosity. The art of researching the customer (ie, learning their name in advance) and sending a well crafted pre-approach piece seems to have vanished. One of my other benefits of welcoming this intrusion is the ability to connect and possibly network with a like-minded marketer.

(Wow, that was more than a sidebar, it’s another marketing lesson all itself.)

Anyway, I have no tolerance to someone who calls and asks “to speak with the person who handles the toner for the copier.” What a lazy, ineffecient and ineffective way to market.

Goals…as I review last year and look toward next year, my first goal (as basic as it sounds) is to be living one more year! This relates back to trying to eat right, avoid the bad things and exercise physically and perhaps more important, mentally.

The second goal is remain in business and be on the lookout for threats. In my area of expertise-offering auto, home and business insurance to people who value relationships and working with experienced, credentialed professionals, there are constant outside threats. I must recognize these in advance and be prepared to alter my business model.

Finally, I have an accoutability partner in the insurance industry. He is in another state and we talk weekly. Part of the talk is to review goals. In advance of each talk, we send out weekly and monthly goals (for the quarter) to each other.

One of the worst things you can do is write down goals and not modify them through the year. The second worst is to not review them at all! The very worst is not comitting to anything at all!!

One final comment…both my lovely wife Joyce and I have taken a firm stand to do business with people who appreciate us and show some form of thanks and recognition. (As a sidebar, my insurance business rewards clients for referrals, sends them thank you letters and communicates with a monthly newlsetter.)What’s amazing is how few businesses even show appreciation. It is real tough to hand over money in these situations! Very few seem to adopt the minor tweaks that create relationships. They just don’t seem to “get it.” (Do not even get me started on resaurants that have “no substitutions” printed boldly on their menus!)

Thad constantly shares his mantra of “Think Big…Dream Bigger.” I will end with mine…”Be good, get better and never, ever give up.”

Cheers to 2008…my best year ever!

You hit the focus nail squarely on the head.

At Meng’s Martial Arts of Centerville we teach our students that ‘Focus is where I put my attention and involves focusing the mind, focusing the eyes, focusing the ears, and focusing the body.’

It’s one of the five character skills we teach – when added to the first mental skill (Willpower, which is the ability to stay focused or hold a mental image for a long period of time) you have the potential for an unbeatable combination.

I write ‘potential’ because change comes from action. Preparing to get ready isn’t enough. You need action and accountability – which is why written goals are so vital to creating success.

I jumped into taking my school from a small club to a full-blown school with both feet… and with construction, teaching, motivating my students and myself… well, sales and marketing took a back seat. I inadvertently put Operations ahead of Sales and Marketing, which is a recipe for disaster. So Goal #1 is getting back in black ASAP. I’m also looking for an accountability partner who’s not personally involved in my situation to keep me focused on reality. Goal #2a is putting together my marketing for the year (ala ‘the Ultimate Marketing Plan’). Goal #2b is getting my personal time more disciplined (balancing between teaching/business things, my own training and conditioning, personal time, cooking/cleaning, reading, time outside and recreation). Goal #3 is to get more recognition in my industry and in my city by completing two books (one for self-help, one for children) and two DVDs (falling safely and another TBD). Goal #4 is to start a coaching program in a niche market of martial arts instructors in Q2.

Here’s to 2008 – the year I break out! w00+!

Thad,

Truer words were never spoken
about setting goals, staying
focused, etc, etc. And,
I’ve NEVER heard that before!
(just kidding).

Seriously though, we hear all
the time about setting goals,
writing them down, etc,
and especially at THIS TIME OF YEAR….
we call them “New Year’s Resolutions”.

I think calling our “goals”
New Year’s Resolutions is a
bad idea… because when we
fall off of the wagon and
pick up our old ways, we think
we’ve failed… and all of a
sudden we’ve given ourselves
an excuse to wait until
NEXT New Year’s Day to
start over again. So, THIS year
(my past is the worst, or best?
example for the point I’m
trying to make) instead of
making New Year’s Resolutions,
I am setting goals TODAY
and calling them GOALS… it
just so happens to be a
coincidence that they fall
close to New Year’s Day.

That way, if I slack off,
fall off of the wagon, etc,
I can more easily jump back
on and pick up where I left
off without the subconscious
feeling of having blown the
whole year’s worth
of “resolutions”….

That’s MY take on it, and how
I’m looking at it for ME.
Pick a system and work it.
Thanks, Thad, for giving us all
a system that is easy to pick
up and run with, without having
to reinvent the wheel.

2007… almost heaven!
2008… make it great!

I have huge plans for my websites
for this year. I will be unveiling
http://www.TheFunPlaceToShop.com in a new light.
I will be building a surprise at
http://www.AFunPlaceToLive.com and my new
real estate site at
http://www.MagnumAdvisors.com will have
some pretty cool stuff for everyone.

Thanks,
Mike Lane

Thad,
Thank you for the article. Trying to stay focused and not give in to distractions has always been a challenge for me…. including staying focused on the big picture as well as the small task at hand. Gee… could there be another name for this … like procrastination? They probably go hand at times with varying degrees of severity.

In Michael Gerber’s book the E:Myth Revisited (which I need to dust off and read again!)I seem to loose my focus by trying to do a all three positions/ functions as noted in his book: The visionary,the manager and the technical person.

I agree with you Thad:
Big Picture Goals…. gotta have ‘em…. gotta look at ‘em… to stay focused. Staying focused on the day to day tasks..stay organized.. push through them as you indicated or leverage your time and have someone else do them. ( I’ll have to keep a copy of these comments for me!)

Now for “ONE ROLL UP MY SLEVES ACTION” in 2008 on this “BUSINESS KILLER OF A PROBLEM” is to keep a detailed time sheet on a daily basis on ALL TIME spent on my business including non- billable time and review daily… that end of the day review of how my time was spent should tell a story (probably one that I won’t like) and keep me focused.

Happy New Year

The difference between sucess and failure is a combination of focus and formula. Focusing on doing something that doesn’t work very well just brings frustration. Sucess starts with a belief that something can be done and finding an optimal formula for packaging and delivering it. That’s where Kennedy’s systems are brilliant. They provide more effective delivery systems for your focus. Once you have the vision and the formula (and the formula is ineviatably a work in progress) focus does its magic. It’s that simple
Mike Brickey

Thad,

I would have to disagree with you that there are indeed secrets to success. These secrets are not held in a university or any book. The secret is simply this; business experience. It is one thing to set goals and remain focused on them. It is quite a different thing to know through experience which products/services/marketing will bring in the most revenue for your specific business.

It doesn’t matter if your horse has blinders. If you are leading him (your business) in the wrong direction you will not win the race. If a football player runs, dodges, and presses hard toward the in zone and it is the WRONG in zone, he doesn’t win; no matter how much focus he has.

For business owners with light experience, the key is to fail as fast and quickly as possible. That is how to gain marketing experience about which message, market, and media combination is the right one for your business. It is possible to bankrupt your business at this stage if your tests are too big.

For business owners with good experience, they have a long list of things that work and things that do not for their business. The good products/services/marketing can sustain the business while new goals are tried.

Greg Finzer
CEO, Kellerman Software

Greg,

Good insights. I think I understand where you are going with the ‘business experience’ comment….BUT – A word of caution about getting “painted into a corner” with this traditional line of thinking.

Here’s what I mean. The support of this thought process is summed up in the axiom: GOOD JUDGMENT COMES FROM EXPERIENCE AND EXPERIENCE COMES FROM BAD JUDGEMENT….and as an aside, I always found it humorous when I see the following definition of ‘Experience’: “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want”.

But having said that…the list is long and plentiful of smart business people who have played ‘leap frog’ and jumped past the rungs on the ladder that are called ‘experience’ and went straight to the top rung of the ladder called ‘success’.

In fact, this is a RENEGADE MILLIONAIRE thought trait. I will site 2 examples that I’ve been ‘involved’ with in the last 12 months.

First let’s look at Lloyd and Vicki Irvin who VERY quickly exploded onto the real estate investing guru scene. Their rapid ascension has generated a multi-million dollar enterprise and prior to this venture they had ZERO experience in coaching and masterminding of this type. And the truth of the matter is the idea was given to them by one of Lloyd’s mentors while having a dinner. Vicki was in human resources in the corporate world and was burned out in this capacity. So she just jumped into investing and had quick success and then started teaching others what she did.

The second case is Brett Kitchen and Ethan Kap. Two insurance guys who have now generated a seven figure business in the retail furniture industry.

Both examples had little to no ‘experience’ in what they pursued. YET, due to pursuit they ‘leap frogged’ in front of ‘the norm’ and now enjoy the best view because in spite of ‘experience’ or more specifically their lack of ‘experience’ they are now the lead dogs!

Here’s why.

They took the short cut and ‘borrowed’ the experience.

They watched, listened, and took action based on what a qualified coach/mentor told them to do and they also coninuously participated in mastermind groups.

So it is experience that helps…BUT it is NOT necessary that the experience be your own personal experience!

Success leaves foot prints…simply walk in those footprints and you can arrive at the same destination.

Thad Winston
http://www.TrueMarketingGenius.com

Very good article. Your points are well taken. FOCUS.

I am not a good writer and will not atempt to do so.
But your points are well received.

Hello Thad: Your incentive of promising money to get us to read your blog was effective for me, But after reading your blog, I conclude that the good advice that you gave in them, as well as the comments of the two men who contributed their own thoughts, are worth more to me than $59.00. Your wise advice is being acted on by me, and I thank you and understand why you are so successful I wish you continued success.

Reflecting on some of my biggest financial blunders in light of your secret-that-there-is-no-secret gives me pause.
On the one hand, it could easily be argued that I’ve wasted money on sheer “hope” that the thing I was paying for (information, service, advice) would be THE SECRET thing that would finally turn the key to my financial afterburners–and so, yes, there is no one secret that, BY ITSELF, will take care of everything. However, if the story stopped there, it would truly be a sad post (and a sad note to close the year on).
Luckily for me, being raised in a “no free lunch” household and believing that work is required to achieve success, it does not end there.
I would have to say that, in true Hillsian form (Napoleon Hill–Think & Grow Rich), each failure carried with it a seed of equal or greater value for me. The point I want to make is that, while magic bullets don’t exist, powerful ideas that tap into your deepest hopes are worth recognizing and acting on.
In my life, the biggest example is Real Estate–I am sure I am not alone in having spent thousands on books, tapes, dues, newsletters, and seminars. I wonder what the return on investment is for most poeople. For me, I have no ideas what that ROI is–but I know it’s positive. And I can attribute that chunk of my returns to taking action.

So, I am loath to totally discount the power of “SECRETS” — not because I like the aroma of a fine snake oil — but because when the secret-mongers tout their wares, they tap into something inside many of us that could use a little awakening and tending to.

What I do know is that Secrets won’t help you get healthy, strong, wealthy or wise—but they might be a stepping stone that, if acted upon appropriately over time, may get you where you want to be. The beauty of secrets that get my attention is that they are a window into avoiding pains or finding gains that I’m interested in–and when those things are consistent with my true goals, and not just a distraction, well, that’s when I should be considering taking action (and not just buying the product or service necessarily!).

Tying this all back to what we’re here for: this is part of what we want to do, isn’t it? I mean, it can border on hypocrisy to tell people there are no secrets and then to dangle certain things in our copy, right? On the other hand, I think many satisfied consumers like me are out there–they do not mind paying for “secrets-that-they-know-aren’t-the-be-all-and-end-all” for what they want–they just want a little help, a slight edge, an improvement, a new idea, something else to try. If you deliver after you dangle, that is just savvy marketing. If you dangle without delivering, well, shame on you!

The good news is that hope springs eternal out there and we all need to understand that (psychographics) in our proper prospects (demographics, getting the right list), craft the right offer in the right way (message-to-market matching) and choose the right medium or media (completing the trifecta of message-market-media). I think these steps are, as I’ve heard one guru say very aptly: “Simple, but they ain’t easy”.

If you want easy, buy a lottery ticket—just don’t expect anything.
Bottom line: it takes work–but that work is a lot easier to stomach when you’ve tapped into deep beliefs about what you’re doing and your WHY is big enough to overcome all brick walls, pot holes, failures and mistakes.
The secret really is this: too few are willing to pay the cost to be successful: Michelangelo said “If people knew how hard I work to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”

In 2008, I am vowing to at last pay the price to get what I truly want. I know I have an implementation and a focus problem and that is what holds me back from going higher and getting more.

Thad,

Always great as usual. In my expirence I see a huge distraction is “being content & comfortable!” Most folks are content with thier current circumstances and very comfortable- webster defines this as “Free from physical or mental distress; content, at ease & yet very far away from the truth.

I hope in 08 that very few of us will only remain “content” and I personally only strive for EXTRAordinary goals leaving me only to focus on them and nothing else.

Practice makes Perfect and 1 day, after a couple of YEARS I will be an “Overnight Success”