6-Steps Goal Achievers Take To Make Things Happen The other day a friend gave me a “Goal Achiever Planner” that has been used for many years as part of a business course at Yale University. He told me a similar “Planner” is used by Zig Ziglar and a number of high-achieving individuals in both business and education. I offer this “Planner” to you with examples taken from direct sales. I hope you find it useful. Step 1: Select a goal you really want. A goal needs to be realistic, attainable, and yet make you stretch. For example, a direct seller may decide to sponsor one new recruit a month during the next twelve months. That goal is very realistic, certainly attainable, and if you have not yet recruited someone into your team, a challenge that will make you stretch a bit. If you’re already a champion recruiter, increase your sponsoring average by twenty-five percent! Step 2: Set a deadline for achievement. In our example, the “deadline” comes in twelve months. Whatever goal you determine to pursue, always have a deadline. Without deadlines, we seldom achieve our goals. Step 3: Determine obstacles to overcome: The quest for any worthwhile goal will likely involve challenges and obstacles. In growing a team, a direct seller may lament, “I don’t know enough people.” Another may question, “How will I meet people interested in my business opportunity?” Regardless of the challenge you face, identifying the concern is the first step in overcoming it. Need to meet more people? Hold more parties. Wherever you go during a typical day, there are people. Talk to everyone you meet. Some are seeking the opportunity you offer. Step 4: Obtain the knowledge and skills you require. In direct sales, there’s help just about everywhere. Work with your upline manager, take advantage of meetings, seminars, and conferences offered by your company, read books, and listen to audio CDs. Study others to learn the “words” that can help you share your business opportunity with others. Step 5: Create a Plan of Action: Once you have a goal, a deadline, have an idea of what obstacles may need to be overcome, and are working to expand your knowledge and sharpen your skills, create a plan of action. In our sponsoring example, a direct seller’s plan of action could include booking three parties a week, following up with at least five recruit prospects each week, or calling at least five new contacts a day. Step 6: Grasp the Benefits. The final step is the “pot of gold” at the end of your business “rainbow.” Plant firmly in your mind the benefits of achieving your goal. It may be increased income for yourself and your family. It could be cash to send a child to college. Having a goal is good. Realizing the benefits of achieving a goal is great. That’s the sweet reward for a job well done. If you enjoyed this week’s Monday Motor-Vator®, ask for Ilene Meckley’s new book and audio CD, Anything’s Possible. Loaded with “how to” information for the direct seller on the road to success, Anything’s Possible is the MUST READ for anyone dreaming of taking their direct sales business to the highest levels. Read Anything’s Possible to: Master the language of “natural sharing” that leads to recruiting success; Gain confidence to share without being pushy; Understand the power of “big picture” thinking; Kindle the fire that comes from desire; Challenge boundaries that hold you back from your dreams; Visualize your goals and make them happen; Learn the words to use in a recruiting interview; Put into practice practical tips for making callbacks; Become motivated with thoughts of affirmation; Replace negative thinking with positive I CAN thinking; Discover that imagination has no limits; Learn to work from the heart in all you do; Gain the courage to realize your dreams; and Achieve the impossible in your direct selling business. Go to www.ilenemeckley.com/ap.html to place your order or click on the book below and order your books TODAY.

Early Failure Does Not Negate Later Success

A number of television shows I’ve seen over the years always end the same way – a man seated at an old-fashioned typewriter tosses a sheet of paper in the air on which is printed the name, Stephen J. Cannell. You have likely seen this as well, since the man at the typewriter has written more than 450 television episodes and either created or co-created nearly forty TV series, including The Rockford Files, Jump Street, and The Commish. You know these shows, but how much do you know about their creator? As a youngster, Stephen struggled to learn to ...

ABC’s of Recruiting Interviews

More times than not, those seeking a traditional job must prove their worth at formal job interviews. In direct selling, we don’t have job interviews. We have recruiting interviews. At a recruiting interview, you share the worth of your company’s business opportunity. The recruiting interview can be just about anywhere and at any time of day, but a Saturday morning over coffee often works best. In most instances, it’s a good idea to conduct the recruiting interview with both the prospective new member of your team and his or her spouse. Once husbands and wives study ...

Run Into a Wall? Work Around it!

To watch Michael Jordan drive to the hoop, defy gravity with a graceful, acrobatic leap, and pound home the ball for two points, was a portrait in perfection. Here was a star athlete who never let anyone keep him from his dreams. There’s a quotation attributed to the immortal Chicago Bulls standout that I really like: “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” Michal Jordan possessed the spirit of determination. Did you know ...

Luck Is Preparation Meeting Opportunity

We all have seen and enjoyed Oprah Winfrey.  She’s been called, “America’s Beloved Best Friend.”  She is the star of the number one television talk show, winner of an Emmy Award, an Oscar-nominated actress, publisher of her own magazine, a philanthropist, and the first African-American woman to become a billionaire. “I don’t know if anybody really skyrockets to success,” Oprah Winfrey said.  “I think that success is a process.  And I believe that my first Easter speech, at Kosciusko Baptist Church at the age of three and a half, was the beginning.  And that every other speech, every other book I ...

It Doesn’t Matter Where You Start

For years, when our family traveled to other cities, we stayed at Holiday Inns.  Known as family-friendly motels, Holiday Inns were recognized for their cleanliness and quality at a fair price.  Little did I realize at the time, but the founder of the Holiday Inn chain, Kemmons Wilson, represented a rags-to-riches story that’s worth repeating. Kemmons was a baby when his father died and so his teenage mother returned to her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, where she found work as a dental assistant.  Money was scarce.  There were some weeks the family ate dried butter beans and nothing else.  By the ...

Anything’s Possible - New Book and Audio CD from Ilene Meckley!

Be one of the first to own Ilene Meckley’s new book and audio CD, Anything’s Possible. Loaded ...

When Prospects Don’t Return Your Calls

A regular “Monday Motor-Vator® reader contacted me the other day to ask, “What can I do when prospects are not returning my phone calls?”  That’s a good question, and it inspired me to add a segment dealing with “call backs” in my new book, Anything’s Possible. I always say to people, “You should look at your business calls as leaving commercials.”  Voice mail offers a wonderful opportunity to have your prospect hear a brief commercial message from you. For example, you could say, “Hello, this is Ilene.  I’m sorry I missed you but I wanted you to know about something that’s ...

Yes! You Can Have It All!!!

Have you ever wished you could have a dream career? Do you wish you could design that career? What would that dream career look like? Would you have the best boss in the world? What would that boss be like?