Take time to think where you want to go, and then the only thingthat remains is the journey that you are going to take to accomplish what you think you want. But let us take it a step further and plan backwards—that’s right; work backwards. Ask yourself some simple questions; let’s look at just a few of the questions:

Just how much money do you need tohave to make your idea succeed?

Start by thinking about your budget; if you don’t have one, then it’s time to make one. Someone out there might be saying, “I have never used a budget; I work from how I feel.” Here’s my question: Is that working for you? The budget will allow you to arrive at a figure that will tell you the actual amount of money it will take for you to live the kind of life you want to live. We are not all the same, and this answer will be different for each of us. Some want to live in a modest style while others have different desires. It really is up to each of us and our desire, but we must have thought as to what we want our lifeto be like.

If you feel as if you are behind, you will remain there if you don’t work twice as hard as you are, but even more important is to work in the right direction. We have all heard that we need to work smarter not harder—what do you think about that statement? It is time to get our lives on the right track, and we can do it one step at a time. Tomorrow will never be like today; the world is changing, and we must keep up or we will not survive. This is a principle of the society in which we live.

How much money do you want and why?

You might start out by thinking about how much you made last year; was that enough, or do you need a little more in order to live the lifestyle you desire? Take that number last year and divide it by 2080; that is 52 weeks times 40 hours. Then think if you multiply that by an increased amount of time you work; let us say the increase is 10 hours a week, then we are on our way to an increase of 520 hours times that number.

Of course, we all know this is making things sound just too simple; real success in life is difficult, but the principles are basic. We are just getting started with setting forth our principles and goals—establishing the starting point is a vital key, but remember that all movement is not success; we must make these extra hours account for something special, because weare on a mission to accomplish our goal.

How many good clients do you have—I mean really good; these are the ones that come back year after year, and they pay, and pay on time. These are not the time takers, but clients you like to hear from; they are special. Take the amount of the increase you want for this year and divide it by the number of good clients you have. That is how much we will need to make in additional sales profits off each client in order to accomplish our goals for our family. But start thinking just how youare going to be of greater service to each client so they are completely satisfied. It cannot just be about us; it has to take into consideration the other half, which is the client. The client must be satisfied and feel as if they received the best part of the deal always.

Next how much time are you willing to give of yourself?

Do you want to accomplish this goal in four years or ten years or longer? Start with a schedule, set short-term goals thatyou know you can accomplish, and also measure your accomplishments. This is important in order to retain your focus and keep your eye upon the ultimate goal. If we fail with short-term goals, we will lose our focus, and we may never regain that special edge we have; it is important to see accomplishment, even if it is baby steps.

Will your product line be enough to satisfy the wants and needs of your clients, maintain your interest and keep you from getting bored?

Are your offerings fresh? Have you reworked them, or are you going in there with the same thing you have had for years. Don’t go to sleep; this is serious, and the ball is in your court; take advantage of the opportunities. This one point is one of the most important factors in your quest to accomplish your goal. We must service our clientele with what they are seeking, and you have heard me often say that service and sales are the life lines of maintaining our business.

But we must also have an interest in what we are selling in order to keep our focus and not get bored over time. Good salespeople get bored, and we need to keep it interesting for ourselves; life is short, so let’s have fun with it, every day. Whatever it is that you have in your product or service mix, it must appeal to you over time or you will lose interest, and it will become a chore for you.

We want to make sure when we are selecting our vocation that we enter one that really appeals to our needs, too. I was exxtremely fortunate to have entered a business, the recognition business, at such an early age that has served my interest so many years. However, if we start with the premise of serving people, then what we offer to them may not be as important as our attitude. The product line is just the vehicle to get us to the point of sustaining our goals.

What is your plan of attack?

Just how are you planning on honing in on locating a precise niche market that can be different, yet serve your needs; after all, there isn’t a hole punch for life. Or is there? When we start in our businesses, we are like a shotgun, and we seem to just point in any direction in order to sell anything to anybody. And that isn’t a bad approach, at least to begin with, but as we decide to settle our business, we will become more successful with certain accounts, and those just might be the ones to direct our focus. If you will mark the spot and concentrate with emphasis specializing on one or two markets, this will become your hole punch!

Start planning for 2012; it might take that long to finalize everything and select the market or markets you want to concentrate on to locate your niche market(s).

So often in our business lives, we have a difficult time focusing on what we really see our business doing with our directionand purpose. We are truly the captain of our ship—it may be time to take charge.