Moving Words – Goals

Written by Timothy Brady.

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar

We all have set goals in our lives. Many times it’s having these goals that keeps us driven and working, even in the most difficult and challenging of times. However, have you ever considered what you will become, how you will be looked at, and what the achieving of a goal really represents in the big picture?

Setting goals is important; achieving them is a great means to measure your worth along with your success. The trick is setting the correct goals which accomplish your intended purpose.

So how do you set your goals?

First. Set them for the short term, one year at the very most.

Second. Select goals which are concise and easily defined in the least number of words; the shorter, the better.

Third. Think in terms of using the 3 “P’s” of goal setting (developed by Brian Tracy, CEO of Brian Tracy International). Set your goals in the:

Present tense – the language of NOW. As an example, the goal would be, “I earn x amount by this date,” instead of “I will earn x amount.” Do it as though you’ve already accomplished the goal.

Positive statement –  Again, using the present, you’d say, “I’m a non-smoker,” or, “I weigh x pounds,” instead of  “I’m not smoking,” “I lost x pounds.”

Keep it Personal – You’re the only person who can preface a statement with “I.”  By doing this, you “own” the goal. This is very important when working towards any goal, as ownership denotes responsibility, which provides the drive to achieve each goal you’ve set.

It’s recommended that you sit down and take five minutes to write down 10 goals you want to achieve in the next twelve months. Yes, write them using a pen and paper. The reason is, if you write it down in your own hand it imprints each goal into your subconscious, which is the first major step necessary to reaching that goal.
As you write down each of these 10 goals, keep them sharp, direct, short and to the point with action verbs following the word “I” for each goal. Finally, write the date you want to have achieved each of the goals.

Keep in mind that less than 5% of all adults ever take the time to write down 10 specific goals they want or need to achieve. Now that may or may not put you into the 1%, depending on what you set as goals, but it does set you apart from a vast majority of Americans who just work from day to day with a loose set of ideas about what they want to accomplish in their lives.

So now you ask, “How does this apply to the moving business?”

The household moving industry is full of goals that need to be set for the success of the business. Those goals range from developing new business, maintaining and growing current business to achieving certain revenue goals. It also includes reducing claims, increasing customer satisfaction and having the safest fleet of trucks and drivers in the industry. You surely can add a long list of other important goals. This method of writing down 10 specific goals that need to be achieved is as effective for a moving company as it is for any individual.

Here’s your template. First write down 10 goals for the company as a whole. Next have each department write down 10 goals that will move them to the next level. Keep in mind that each person in each department, not just the department heads, needs to write down his/her list of 10 goals which each feels would move the department ahead. Then as a group, the department selects the 10 most important goals. (Again, this is to be done using pen and paper, not the computer or email.) Once the final 10 goals have been decided upon, each member of the department writes down the final list of goals which is posted at their desks where they see it every day.

Finally, post the goals where anyone walking into the department will see them. This adds a little competition and peer pressure between departments to see who achieves their goals.

You’ll be amazed at how your goals are achieved as each person in your company is subliminally reminded of them each day.