Tag Archives: success

Are Your Goals Too Short?

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I have written recently about persistence and it’s importance in being successful. However, persistence is difficult and “un-fun”. Many of us can only force ourselves so far and then “self-sabotage” kicks in.

One of the things that can short-circuit our efforts to succeed is how our brain is wired to achieve a goal.

You see, when our brain perceives that we have almost reached our goal, it starts slowing down the efforts to finish. It starts “coasting” if you will. (I don’t have space here to go into why it does this but it is a by-product of our long-ago survival mechanisms.)

You can see this “coasting effect” at work in many aspects of our lives. When psychologists did a study of fatigue, they were surprised to discover that fatigue starts to set in about 2 hours before whatever the endpoint is. In other words, if you have a 12 hour shift, about 10 hours into it, you get tired (fatigue starts setting in.) But, it you have a 10 hour shift, it starts setting in at about 8 hours. And an 8 hour shift results in fatigue beginning at about hour 6. You have probably seen this at work in your own worklife.

In the study, the work did not change. The effort expended in any given hour did not change. Only the expectation of the amount of hours changed. The fatigue set-point was purely psychological.

Knowing the above, would you care to guess why the last 10 pounds are the hardest to lose? That’s right. The brain starts into the “coast” cycle.

The same thing happens in our business goals, as well. It is well-known in business that a project will remain 95% complete indefinitely unless special measures are taken to force it to the 100% mark. (Those extra measures are the usually some kind of negative incentive.)

However, the more effective solution, is to extend the “short” goal. Yes, make the goal “longer”. (You may have heard that saying, “No job is complete until the paperwork is done.” It is an effort to extend the goal to encompass the last 5%.)

If you have an 8 hour work shift, but have plans for after work where you need to be energetic and at the top of your form for several hours later, you will likely find that you have the energy you need… right up until the last hour of your secondary event. Of course, if your goal is to also complete some work at home after the event, you will probably hang right in there until you start making good progress on the work at home.

Are you starting to see how this works?

In one sense, it is a psychological trick. But you have to be careful. If you set out simply to trick your mind, it won’t work. The mind is too smart for that. You have to *really* set the goal out further, even if the last part is not crucial to the overall success of the goal.

In other words, you have to really believe that the endpoint you set for your goal is the *real* endpoint.


Once you have extended your goal to a believable end-point, you will find that it is easier to persist and persevere, achieving more than before… right up until you get close to the end. But, by then, all the significant and important parts will be done… and if you stay at 95% of your goal indefinitely, it won’t make any difference (practically speaking.)

So, take a look at your goals and see if you have been “shorting” yourself. Then find a way to extend the goal. Finally, watch as your brain finds a way to make it happen.


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A Business Plan for Success

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I was sitting around a table with other faculty from a business development center recently and they began to talk about the TV show “Shark Tank”. They asked if I had seen it. Since I don’t have cable (and all the shows they had been talking about prior to that were cable shows, I assumed this was another one.) I explained that I didn’t have cable TV. Then they enlightened me that this show was on broadcast television… on ABC, in fact, on Friday nights.

Based on what they were saying I decided that I had to catch it, even if for only one time. So, I looked it up on the schedule and made sure to watch it.

Only one time and I was hooked.

If you haven’t seen the show, here is the explanation of it from Wikipedia:

Shark Tank is a reality television series that premiered on ABC on August 9, 2009. The show is based on Dragons’ Den, which has been licensed in numerous countries and was derived from a Japanese show, Manê no Tora (Money Tigers). The series stars five “Sharks”–multi-millionaire business tycoons–who hear investment proposals from entrepreneurs and consider whether to invest in the businesses.


What amazed me about the entrepreneurs was how clueless about business they were.

They had a great idea. (At least in their minds it was a great idea.) They had enthusiasm for their idea (a product or a service). They had primed themselves to sell these investors on the potential of their idea.

Every one of these people had started a business around their idea. Some had been trying to move forward for a couple of years. Others had not even gotten to the product manufacturing stage, yet.

Apparently, none of them had a business plan. How do I know? Because these potential investors asked questions that a business plan answers. And when the questions were asked, the entrepreneurs were surprised and didn’t have the answers.

Let’s take a brief look at business plans and why your business should have one. (Bear with me, it won’t be painful. I promise.)

Why should you care about a business plan? Isn’t that just another one of those big, long, boring documents that you have to create if you are trying to get a loan from the bank or if you are a big company and are trying to go public?

It can be a big, long, boring document. But it doesn’t have to be. In fact, for some businesses, it can be a one-page document (albeit with very small type.)

The business plan can be complicated if you have a complicated business. If you have a simple business, it can be quite simple. Additionally, you can start out with a simple business plan and add to it as you go. If you do that, you might end up with a complicated business plan — but it won’t be as painful if you do it that way.

If you are not familiar with a business plan, at it’s core and purpose it is really very simple . The purpose is to get you to answer a series of questions (usually unspoken) about

What your business is
Why you are in business
Why you are qualified to be in that business
Who your customers are (or will be)
How you expect to get customers
Who your competition is
How much you will charge
How much you expect to sell
How much you expect to net
The long term goal for the business (a lifetime of income, build it up and sell it, franchise it, etc.)


The plan can be a sentence (or a short paragraph) that answers each of these questions. Or might take pages to answer each one, depending on your business and how detailed you are willing to be.

Take a look at that list again. Do you know the answers to the questions they ask? If you do, then it is a simple matter to create your business plan. If you don’t, the task will be more challenging. But imagine the challenge you have for your business not knowing those things.

There is more that you could put in a business plan (and you would need to if you have a complicated business.) However, this is more than enough to get started.

If you don’t have a business plan, I strongly encourage you to create one. If you do have one, make sure you review it periodically because things change. (Hint: you are never really through with a business plan… only through for the moment.)

What’s your experience with a business plan been?

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3 Keys to Success

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While there are lots of factors in being successful, you can boil them down to 3 essential things.  This 8 minute video will give you those 3 keys you need to succeed in business or in life.

Watch and learn how you need a plan, action, and persistence in order to succeed.

What about you?  Do you agree?  Did I leave something out?  Tell me about it in the comments.

Want More Success? Do Something Different

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We have all heard that saying “The definition of crazy is to keep doing the same thing but expecting different results.”

If you want different results in your business and/or your personal economy (your success), you have to do something different.

But often, we get bogged down in the routine, develop tunnel vision, and don’t know what to do differently or how to do it if we did know.

Here’s a quick tip to help you break loose so that you can more easily see and do different things in your life and in your business.

Find seven things you can do differently for seven days.

They don’t have to be large things. Even very small things will work. Things like putting on your left shoe first, instead of your right… or vice versa. Or taking an alternate way to the office/work/shop. Or using your left hand instead of your right to hold your coffee mug.

The idea is that you will have to use different parts of your brain to do those tasks. It will break you out of your mental rut and rewire (even if slightly) your brain.

Some of the things I did recently were to start my shaving routine on the left side of my face instead of the right. I put my left sock on first and, later, my left shoe first. I work from a home office, so I didn’t try to go an alternate route.

However, I learned to juggle many years ago but I don’t do it very often, now. So, I decided to attempt juggling every day for the seven days. There were lots of dropped juggling cubes. But, it still had its effect.

I didn’t do the coffee cup thing because I had already done that several weeks before (I had strained my right wrist so I was sort of forced to use my left hand for holding the coffee cup for a while.)

The size of the change isn’t as important as the actual doing.

Will it feel uncomfortable? Yes, at first. Will you mess up and start performing the action on autopilot? Probably… especially at first. But it gets better.

By the time you have done these alternate actions for seven days, they will start to feel more natural. In fact, you may find it feeling just a bit uncomfortable to revert to the old way of doing things. That’s okay. It indicates that your brain is starting to rewire to the new pathway.

Once you have done this exercise for the seven days, then look again at your life, at your business, at your efforts to succeed. I’ll bet this time things that can be changed will stand out for you. And when you change them, you are certain to get different results.

So go ahead. Pick 7 things that you will do differently for 7 days. Then do them. Then, notice the results.

What is your experience with this? Please share with us in the comments.

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Eagles, Turkeys, and Soaring to Success

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“It’s hard to soar with the eagles when you work with turkeys.”

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Do you remember that sign/poster/bumper sticker? It has been around for quite a few years. I was reminded of it recently, but not quite in the context you normally think of.

As you know, the sign is generally meant as a put-down for one’s co-workers (or boss or subordinates). I don’t know of anyone who views it in a complimentary fashion. And, of course, sometimes an office wit will add “Birds of a feather flock together” to the sign as a put-down for the original poster (sort of a “it takes one to know one” retort you hear from schoolyards.)

I could take this in a couple of different directions… such as “whose fault is it that you work with turkeys?”, or “you get more of what you focus on… so why are you focusing on that?”.

But this blog is about helping you soar to success, not placing blame or encouraging one-upmanship.

No, I would like to return to the original context that brought this sign to mind and offer a different perspective on it… a reminder that who we spend our time with is vitally important.

In “What’s Your Average?“, I wrote about the truism that you are the average of the five people you are around the most. In it, I also talk about why that may be and what you can do to increase your average.

So, in that light I would like us to return to that eagles/turkeys sign. With that understanding, the sign is true… not as a put-down, but as an observation of how life works.

If you really are an eagle, it will be hard to soar when you are spending your time with heavy-bodied turkeys who can hardly get off the ground. Soon, your own flight muscles will atrophy. When you do take flight, you will easily tire, your ability to navigate will be rusty, and your skills at reading the wind and soaring on them will diminish.

Additionally, your self-confidence will be shaken. You will start to identify more with turkeys than with eagles.

What if you really are a turkey? If so, you will feel right at home and wouldn’t think about flying. You are comfortable where you are and think your companions are fantastic. Life is good, work is good, your flock is good. No need to change.

So, if you begin to suspect that there is more to life, then you may be an eagle who is starting to yearn for the skies. In that case, you need to take the lesson of the sign… it is hard to soar with the eagles when you keep hanging out with turkeys.

But the answer is not to put them down for being turkeys. You need to change who you hang out with. The responsibility lies with you.

Will that mean a job change for you? Possibly. Will it mean changing your church, your club, or your fraternal affilitations? Maybe. Will it mean getting new friends? More than likely. Is that scary? It can be.

However, you don’t need to make an abrupt switch and go “cold-turkey”. (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.) Instead, begin to look for others who are already in the skies where you want to be. (They already have some of what you are wanting.) Then begin to find ways to spend time with them.

In other words, don’t break off contact with your current circle of friends or associates — simply adjust the amount of time you are spending with them. Instead, find someone you connect with who is also closer to where you want to be… and develop a relationship (friendship) with them.

The idea here is to surround yourself both with people you admire (those soaring eagles) and with your current friends and associates (I am sure they aren’t all turkeys). If you only surround yourself with people you admire, you will have esteem problems because you will always come up short in your internal comparisons.

If you only surround yourself with people you are currently associating with, you will never move ahead (because they are comfortable and don’t see a need to change.) If you have a mixture of both, you will have something to stretch your wings and strengthen your flying skills — and a comfort that you are not alone… and not so bad (better than the turkeys, anyway).

Over time, you will grow and will probably find that you gradually spend more time with those you admired (but they have now become your flock). And one day, you may find yourself looking at those who are flying even higher than you… and you begin to soar with them, too.

I hope that whenever you see that eagles/turkeys sign or bumper sticker that it will have new meaning to you and inspire you rather than deflate you.

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