We’re heading swiftly towards the last quarter of the year and it’s time now to start to assess the year thus far. Thinking back to January when you set you business goals and objectives, it’s now time to make sure you’re on track to achievement. You’ve heard us harp on all year about measurables and this is why. When you set goals for your business there has to be an accompanying action plan – without it you surely won’t succeed in reaching your targets – and more importantly a way to measure whether or not you are on track. Using revenue as an example, if you set a goal of grossing $200 000.00 in sales this year then you will know:

Quarterly Target – $50, 000

Monthly Target – $16, 666

Weekly Target – $3, 846

Daily Target – $769

Hourly Target (based on 8 hours) – $96.15

By breaking down your goal into these measurable chunks it’s easy to keep you finger on the pulse everyday as to whether or not your on track. Take a look through your 2009 goals and measure your progress against your goals. How are you doing? If you’re off target, think about your strategy for the last quarter. What can you do differently? What can you kick in to high gear to finish strong?

Everything you do in business has to be measurable. It’s the only way you can stay on track to reaping what you sow.

All the best,

Heather White, CEO 2020 Communications Inc.

Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” Vince Lombardi

I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to be too concerned about the recession on a sunny day. I was sitting out on the deck this morning reading the New York Times magazine and it was talking about all these places in the US where housing projects and developments just stalled. It was the wierdest thing (said in a mocking tone). These developers thought that if they built these massive complexes without pre-selling them, that people would line up to buy. Nobody lined up and now the developers are bankrupt. Even more shocking, people bought homes they knew they couldn’t afford and those houses got taken away when they lost their jobs. On top of that, they were leveraged out to the max and so no savings in place = hard times. These people are losers my friends. People who were trying to be something they aren’t and now are suffering public humiliation. The worst part, in all sincerity, is that their families suffer along side them.

What is the matter with people today? Have we, as a collective group, lost all forms of common sense? A friend of mine says, “I wish common sense was more common”, and she’s right.

I watch crowds flock to Suzy Orman shows to hear her say, “sorry girlfriend, you can’t afford that.” Really Suzy? I make 20K a year, spend 75% of it on housing and food, and I shouldn’t buy those $500 Jimmy Choo shoes on my Visa? Awwwww, come on Suzy, Just one pair?

Some of the stupider things I’ve heard people say on television about the recession in the last week:

• I knew I couldn’t afford the house payments, but I thought the bank would help me out.
• I knew that my whole division at work was being laid of three months ago, but I thought they would spare me.
• I can’t believe that working at Bear Sterns isn’t getting me a job.
• I can barely stand having to put up with my parents while I live with them. I know they are helping me get back on my feet, but I have the smallest bedroom in the house.
• I refuse to work for less that $75,000 a year. I’d rather be on unemployment.
• I know there are jobs, but I refuse to move.
  
• They will have to kick me out of my house. I’m not leaving until they put my stuff out on the street.
• I can’t believe how much my business is down. I’m going to start marketing when things get better.

Business is not immune to natural selection. The weakest and dumbest to get the biggest hits when things go south. I had a woman come to one of my events in Detroit three years ago. She came up to me after the show and said, “We can’t keep building cars they way we have been. It just doesn’t make sense. I think I need to plan my exit strategy.” She was a manager of a plant for one of the big 3 automakers in the US. She spent the next six months making her shift and has transfered her management skills from automotive to retirment homes. I got a note from her a few months ago saying that she was now getting heavily invested in Real Estate and couldn’t believe the deals she was getting. This is a smart woman. She saw the writing on the wall and left when it suited her. She didn’t wait to see herself and her cowokers get locked out of their jobs and put on the unemployment line.

What’s this whole rant about? Life is good. Life is short.  Don’t wait for tomorrow to do what you NEED to do today. If you think you might lose a big client, don’t close your eyes and brace for it. GO GET A NEW CLIENT! It’s not rocket science, or maybe it is. Maybe the reason why so many people are suffering right now is that they didn’t see it coming? Does anyone really believe this?Natural selection is at work eating up the people with the greatest concentration of ‘dumb ass’ in them. It started back in the cave man days. One cave man says, “I think I’m going to stay away from that tiger that wants me for dinner.” The other one said, “Pretty kitty and walked out and got eaten.”

A sunny day is a good day to do some planning. Plan for yourself, plan for your future. Plan to enjoy sunny days because you know you have control over how things turn out. You can take action before, during, or after you get hit with something and learn from it. The woman in Detroit didn’t have to get hit in order to learn about the importance of planning. Now she really gets it and is getting rich in the process. Don’t buy fire insurance when you smell smoke. Buy it when you learn what a fire is. Here are the questions to get your primed to protect your back, stay on course, and enjoy many sunny days to come:

1. What is the greatest threat to my way of life at this moment?
2. If this threat became a reality, what would my course of action be?
3. What can I do today to minimize the risk of the threat happening or mitigate its effects if it does happen?
4. Who do I know who has gone through this and come out the other side? What can I learn from them?
5. Are any of my actions contributing to a big fall for me personally? (i.e. Living outside your means/buying things you can’t afford)
6. Do I have resources at my disposal that I can access in a time of need? If not, how can I get started?
7. What am I doing that I know is wrong or conflicts with common sense? How can I get back on track.

These might be really tough questions for you to go through, but they will be tougher if you are under the gun to find solutions. Forewarned is forearmed. If you don’t like where you are, shift. If you like where you are, set up systems to keep yourself there. Your business life will model your personal life and vice versa. Be wise, look ahead, and plan for the worst, while hoping for the best. Many a visionary has been struck down because they spent too much time looking out and not enough time looking in. Much of business development and life development is to seize opportunities and mitigate risks. Today is your day to do just that.

Enjoy the sun.

C/

www.GhostCEO.com

With the theme of New Beginnings and the spirit of the New Year in the air there’s no question that this is a time of change. The local gym that I go to is always a total gong show in January as everyone who’s ever thought about working out is there trying to start fresh and give themselves the healthy body they desire. What so many people miss however is that whenever you make change in your life, it’s not like flicking a light switch. You will not wake up, having not exercised for the past 5, 10, 15 years and begin a five day a week work-out regime from now to forever. You will be enthused and energetic in the short term, and then something will inevitably happen and you’ll miss a day, then you’ll miss two, then three, then you’ll think – ahh, screw this work out thing – I’m too busy to keep this up.

What I see happening too often when women try to make healthy change in their life is they take the ‘all or nothing approach’. You’re either leading the aerobics class, or, you never go to the gym. You have great intentions of a healthy diet, have two oreo cookies, beat yourself up, figure you’ve lost the battle and eat the whole box. This ‘all or nothing” b.s. doesn’t work. Here’s some tips on ensuring success for whatever changes you want to make this year.

1. Be gentle and kind to yourself as you attempt to change. You are going to fall off the wagon – it’s a given – and when you do, don’t beat yourself up, see it for what it is, a slip up, and get right back on the wagon. Don’t use a blip on the radar to give up all together.

2. Keep a record of your progress. It’s too easy for your ego to get you all wrapped up in keeping you dissatisfied with your progress. By keeping a record you can silence your ego and it’s ridiculous banter by looking back to how far you’ve come.

3. Get an accountability partner. If you can’t afford to hire a personal coach, business coach, personal trainer, wellness facilitator (depending on what changes you are making this year) get yourself an accountability partner.- click here to read an extended post on how to get a great partner.

4. Set a goal. It’s important for your sub-conscious mind, your ego and your motivation to ensure you know exactly what you’re working towards. Click here to read more about how to set effective goals.

Wishing you a successful, healthy 2009!

Heather White, CEO, 2020 Communications Inc.