Establish Goals for Success

You have probably read or been told that establishing goals early will help you to create a strong business plan. However, as with most things, there are different aspects and steps to goal setting and each step is equally important to your success.

But, before you get started ask yourself,"Why did I get into this business?"

Examples of reasons people get involved in a network marketing business:

1. To help others improve or change their lifestyle

2. To build a home-based business

3. To be your own boss

4. To be able to purchase products at wholesale cost

5. To achieve financial freedom

6. To expand an existing business line, such as a real estate business, medical practice, spa or health club

7. To earn a few hundred extra dollars a month

8. Etc.

Once you define the reasons you got involved in network marketing, it is easier to begin goal setting. Next, ask yourself: "What steps do I need to take to achieve my goal(s)?"

This question automatically generates responses that lead to goal setting and establishing timelines. As a new distributor, be careful that you do not fall into the trap that many new distributors fall into - failure to establish goals that can easily be achieved. Without a sense of success, you will likely succumb to the negativity of believing that you can not succeed. As you begin to achieve success reaching your goals, you can establish goals that require you to reach further.

1. Define your first goal - don't try to do them all at once, concentrate on one until it is refined and you are comfortable with it

2. Write your goal down on paper

3. Define a timeline/deadline for reaching this goal - timelines are critical for achieving and measuring success

4. Break your first goal into mini-goals such as:

a. Complete all company training materials - then break this mini-goal down into other mini-goals like:

i. Begin recruiting efforts outlined in company training materials

ii. Attend training/business meetings

iii. Dial in to conference calls

iv. Write my personal testimonial

v. Talk to 3 people every day about the opportunity or product

vi. Etc.

4. Review goals daily to ensure you are on track - if you are falling behind, ask yourself why and make the necessary adjustments. If you are exceeding your goals, shorten the timeline

5. Check each goal off as it is completed

6. Replace each completed goal or mini goal with another

If building a large organization or supplementing your monthly income is the reason you became a distributor, then remember to include big dreams as well as small dreams, such as a new house, new car, paying off credit cards, vacations, college education, early retirement. It's also important that a deadline is included in your goal. Goals should easily convert into daily, weekly and/or monthly action business plans that will allow you to be duplicable and consistent. Likewise, your success should equate into a business model that you could share with others whom you recruit that allows them to duplicate your actions to achieve their own success.

Perhaps the most important factor that ensures or sabotages your success is establishing and following through on daily and weekly work goals. Weekly goals could be something as simple as developing a log that allows you to track the number of contacts you make each week as illustrated in the image. By breaking the methods you use to contact people down into different segments (as illustrated in the chart); you will be able to determine which method(s) delivers the highest success rate. Once you have established that, you will want to invest the larger amount of your time in the methods that generate the most success.

Remember that goals don't have to be complicated. Keep it simple. Start with one and as you begin to reach your goals, goal setting will become an instinctive part of your business practices.