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By Merit Gest
In working with companies to create business plans, I always
start with a conversation about goal setting. How could you
possibly create a business plan without a goal to achieve by
working the plan? Clients are taught to create milestones to
measure success along the way and they are held accountable
for
doing tasks to achieve each milestone. Tracking activities to
reach the goals is critical. But before any of that can occur
they have to dream.
Step One: Dream
When given the task of “goal setting” people typically start
with an amount of money they’d like to earn. Sometimes they’ll
have a clear idea of what they will do with that money,
sometimes they just choose a dollar amount because they think
they are supposed to do that.
In business there is an old story that’s been recycled for
years about a graduating class from Harvard. On graduation day
when the class was asked “do you have clearly written goals?”
only 3% responded “yes”. Ten years later, the same group of
people were assessed. The 3% that had clearly written goals
were worth more than the other 97% of the class combined.
Humm…
I can’t think of any reasons not to set goals, just in case
that
story is accurate!
The key to goal setting is to be as specific as possible and
create milestones to measure along the way to make sure you
are
on the right path working toward a longer term achievement.
For
example, if your goal is to earn more money, you first have to
be more specific. How much money will you earn, by when will
you earn it? What do you have to do to get there? Look for a
new job? Ask for a raise? Sell a new account? Go back to
school
and finish your degree? What steps do you need to take to get
to
the earnings goal? Create a plan to move through each step
with
a timeline attached.
Step Two: Set Goals Together
Two things are important regarding goal setting as a couple.
Number one, it’s fine to set individual goals, but you must
share them with your spouse and make sure they fit with their
goals. You both might want to earn a lot of money, but if one
of you is working to earn money to send kids to college and
the
other is working to earn money to travel first class all over
the world without kids, you both have nice dreams, but you may
be out of whack as a couple.
My recommendation is to dream on your own first. It’s
important
that you discover what is important to you and share that with
your partner. If you skip that part and go directly to step
two, the more vocal or determined of the partnership will
dominate the conversation and the other will go along with
their goals, simply because they don’t have any other dreams
to
include in the master plan.
Setting goals together is an on-going activity. Check in with
your partner on a consistent basis to see if their ideal dream
today is the same as the plan they shared years (or months)
ago.
Step Three: Create Your Dream in Pictures
It’s important to dream together in pictures. Most people on
the planet are highly “visual” meaning, they think in
pictures.
When you are dreaming, dream big and allow your subconscious
mind the opportunity to play along by creating a visual
display
of pictures of your dreams. The mind thinks and processes
information in pictures. If you want to train your mind to
deliver what you want, do it in pictures.
Why this isn’t a “no brainer” in a marital partnership I will
never know. Why people are surprised to learn after years of
marriage that one spouse wants to travel the world and the
other dreams of spending free time visiting with family
doesn’t
make any sense. Dream together. Dream in pictures. Discuss
your
goals and plans together. If you are not on the same page,
decide if it’s worth fighting for or if you want it because
you
think you should based on what we’ve been taught by society
and
the media.
Save some old magazines for an evening of cutting & pasting to
create your dream in pictures. As you cut out a photo,
describe
to your partner why you chose that for your visual display.
When
you agree together on all the photos for your joint picture
board you are ready to paste them onto a piece of cardboard to
make a collage of dreams.
The most important part of creating the picture board of your
dreams together is taping it to your refrigerator to remind
each other everyday that you are working together toward a
common dream. Keeping your dreams present makes it easier to
stay connected to what’s important to you as a couple.
Companies create business plans and hang mission statements in
their lobby area to keep them focused, couples create picture
boards for the fridge.
About The Author: Merit Gest, founder of “Marriage Means
Business” married successful business strategies with personal
relationships to create a unique approach to making
relationships work. As a member of National Speakers
Association, Merit has been invited to speak all across
America. She has trained hundreds of salespeople to
collectively increase sales by millions of dollars across a
wide variety of industries, though her most treasured “sale”
was on her wedding day. Not a licensed therapist, people
relate
to Merit because she’s a real woman making her marriage work
every day. Merit can be reached at 877-663-2672 or
Merit@MarriageMeansBusiness.com. For more information about
Merit or Marriage Means Business please visit
www.MarriageMeansBuisness.com
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