No More Roadblocks

Too busy? Disorganized? Don’t let these excuses keep you from reaching your goals.

By Robert A. Arzt, CLU, ChFC, LLIF

Perhaps the most frequent questions I hear in my sales-coaching practice are: “Can you help me get organized once and for all?” and “I don’t have enough time each day to accomplish everything that needs to get done. Can you help me?”

Are these people saying they don’t know how to get organized or manage their day? Probably not. The answer to these questions lies in a deeper, more fundamental problem: getting started and following through on goals and strategies. Disorganization and busyness are two obstacles that can keep us from focusing on the larger picture—our goals, such as growing our businesses, taking on partners, or finding ways to work less and earn more.

The best intentions
As human beings, we want to improve and achieve, and that’s a good thing. However, human nature also leads us down the path of least resistance, which interferes with our ability to follow through on our goals or the promises we make to ourselves. Each day, we are faced with many choices of what to do and how to do it. We move toward what gives us pleasure and away from painful or uncomfortable things.

Don’t be too discouraged, though. There are strategies you can use to overcome this natural tendency to do what feels good instead of what you need to do to accomplish your goals. Here are four you can apply to any goal you set for yourself.

1. Create bold, compelling reasons to follow through on your goal. Make it more painful to not move forward than to do so. For instance, consider how bad you will feel by not getting organized. The more you exaggerate this consequence, the more likely you’ll follow through on your plan. Strike while the iron is hot—don’t delay in getting started.

2. Start with small goals—such as clearing that stack of paper in your in-box—and get into the habit of getting started on those. Build upon this habit by aiming higher with the next goal—clearing the stacks of paper from your credenza, in this case. Tough it out: Do whatever it takes to stay on track and focused for the first few weeks, even if that means cutting back on how many projects you work on.

3. Don’t go it alone. Ask associates to partner with you. Keep each other on track and accountable to your respective goals. Alternatively, find people you would not want to disappoint and make a promise to them.

4. Believe in yourself. This may be the most important aspect of changing your behavior. Believing that you can attain a goal is a critical part of achieving it. Use whatever technique works best for you, whether it’s writing out affirmations, using visualizations or giving yourself rewards for incremental progress. It takes energy to create new habits. Be prepared to experience some mental soreness.

Once you get started
Now that we’ve looked at following through on any goal, let’s find ways to eliminate the roadblocks that keep you from reaching your goals, such as disorganization and unnecessary busyness.

• Discover your time wasters. Identify activities that interfere with your getting and staying organized and eliminate them. For example, don’t go straight to your email every time a new mail alert sounds unless you are expecting something urgent. Set times during the day for responding to correspondence.
• Define your workflow and create an ideal workweek. Determine all of your necessary activities each week and allocate the ideal amount of time it takes to accomplish each one. Block off that time in your calendar.
• Build fail-safe time into your schedule. For example, set aside every Friday afternoon as reserve time. You can use this time to catch up on excess work or uncompleted tasks. If you’re totally caught up, head home early, or reward yourself with something you enjoy.
• Use laser planning. Set aside time every day to review today and plan for tomorrow. Good luck on your journey to success.

Robert A. Arzt, CLU, ChFC, LLIF, CEO of Polaris One, coaches professionals who want to achieve more. Contact him at 301-610-5624 or through his website at www.PolarisOne.com. For a free copy of Sales Success Factors, email him at bob@bobarzt.com.