Your process for goal achievement is key, because you're doing a lot behind the scenes before anyone even knows that you're alive. And so we're essentially moving from that -- being invisible and working hard behind the scenes -- to ideally, at some point, bursting on the scene and being recognized as a force in your marketplace. But none of that happens by accident and it doesn't just come from setting goals. It requires having those processes in place.



David: Hi, and welcome to the podcast. In today's episode, co host Jay McFarland and I will be discussing your process for goal achievement. Welcome back, Jay.



Jay: Hey, David. Thank you. It's always a pleasure to be with you. I'm going to be brutally honest here. I'm really good at setting goals, but I'm not very good at mapping out how I'm going to accomplish those goals.

I think it's good that I've taken that first step, and I kind of have a mental idea, but I never really go back and say, "yeah, I accomplished that thing."

So I think I'm missing some of the motivation to set more goals because I think that's one of the key things about goals is once you've checked 'em off, you should feel good about yourself and then do more goals. And I don't know if I ever reached that point.

David: Interesting. And I think a lot of people feel the same way. I know I've certainly had that situation over the years and still do to some extent. And we had actually talked about goals several weeks ago, but what I really wanted to get into this time around is the idea that it's great to have the goal, but it's like looking at the top of a ladder and you say, okay, that's where I want to go.

Or it's like looking at the sky, that's where I want to go. But ultimately, the goal isn't what's going to get you there. The goal may motivate you, but the goal is not going to get you there. Ultimately, it's the process that's going to get you there. Assuming you have a process.

So if the goal is to generate a certain amount of revenue in your business, or have a certain amount of money in your personal bank account, or start a business, whatever your goal is, the next step is to say, okay, what are the specific steps?

What are the combinations of tasks and projects that are going to be necessary to help me achieve that goal? Because the tasks, the individual things I have to do, and the projects, essentially the things that are composed of a bunch of tasks, are what's going to get us there. And the combination of these things is essentially the process.

If my goal is to generate a certain amount of sales revenue, and I'm not there yet. A process that I generally want to start with is to say, Okay, let's take a look at exactly how much your existing clients are worth to you. What did they spend with you last year? Okay? And then, do I think they're going to spend more than that, less than that, or about the same this year?

And generally, you'll have a reasonable idea of that. Whether it's going to be about the same, maybe a little more, maybe a little less. You won't know for sure, but it's a great place to start. So then you say, "Okay, if I figure I can count on my existing Customers for this level of revenue, and I'm looking to get to this level of revenue. Then how do I fill that gap?

Because if this is the goal and this is where I am now, then we have to look at the process that's going to get us there. What's the combination of tasks and projects that will allow us to reach that revenue goal?

And when we focus on that, everything we do, during any given day is now leading toward the goal, as opposed to just having scattered focus, just doing a bunch of different things, kind of thinking about our goal, but not exactly sure how we're going to get there.