Posted by JuJuan Buford @JSBUFORD
I stopped being a huge proponent of New Year’s resolutions, and ritualistic goal setting exercises at the top of the year some time ago. At least not in the way people have traditionally approached them. But I’m all about systematically identifying the things, or better yet priorities, that matter most and making small, steady incremental improvements to achieve them. Why would I recommend entrepreneurs adopt a more incremental approach?
Goal setting is a skilled trade. And in part, that is why there is so much mystique and apprehension around setting goals today. It’s not like we’re teaching this important life skill in our elementary or secondary schools. And very few of us have taken a class on how to learn and practice goal setting, or have read books like the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Steven Covey or “Today Matters” by John C. Maxwell.
There is an often quoted 1979 Harvard MBA study on goal that inventories the life outcomes (financially speaking) of the graduating class to determine how many had set goals and written plans to attain them. In the study on goal setting, the graduating class was asked about their goals in life. The question was, have you set written goals and created a plan for their attainment?
It was discovered that 84% of the entire class had set no goals at all; 13% of the class had set written goals but had no concrete plans; 3% of the class had both written goals and concrete plans. So, what were the results? According to the study, it was found that 10 years later, the 13% of graduates that had written goals without definite plans were enjoying twice the incomes of the 84% that didn’t set goals. And the 3% that had both written goals and a plan, had incomes exceeding ten times as much as 97% of their graduating class.
Despite the obvious implications of this goal setting story, most of us still won’t take the time to study, learn, and practice this skilled trade. And therefore, it’s a false expectation to believe most are going to make herculean changes absent some herculean pain. Unfortunately, the majority of human beings won’t take proper action when the ground starts to tremble below our feet, but rather we have to see the train’s bright headlights before we're ready to jump off the tracks.
Still, there are a couple simple choices or commitments we can all make to ourselves to enjoy a more fulfilling and prosperous 2020.
STARVE YOUR DISTRACTIONS
It all starts out simply enough. You’ve begun securing clients with some regularity, and you tell yourself you’ve earned the right to pamper yourself a little. You upgrade your vehicle. An extra $250 per month is worth it, to enjoy the comfort of more reliable transportation, feel better about your commute, and no longer have to park at the back of the lot.
After a couple more months of consistent revenues, the itch to acquire a nicer, more respectable residence needs scratching. After all, having a much more spacious environment to live in will help you work better, and will serve as a nice milestone, serving notice to your family, friends, and acquaintances that you’ve arrived. You’d never think of spending $250 on a shirt or $700 on a new dress or suit before, but everyone should have at least one in their closet. Then two. OK you need at least seven of them, because you don’t want people to see you wearing the same threads repeatedly.
When you started you were lean and didn’t give a rats ass what people thought of you, investing every extra cent into your business. Your baby business grew, and you grew in competency and the income started to flow. However, now you have to work harder, and more frequently to keep up the lifestyle you deserve. Or to be more honest, the one you’re renting.
When you stopped feeding your baby slash business, it stopped growing and maturing. The organs (systems) didn’t fully develop, whereas things could begin to operate absent your constant involvement and supervision. Rather than divest, it was time to reinvest more into the vehicle that was carrying you to your best life. You would have been better served to starve yourself of the accouterments of success a bit longer. Remember Amazon’s Steve Bezos, Microsoft’s Bill Gates, etc., etc., went a full decade before taking days off or a vacation.
Yes, it’s hard to forego the bowling nights, steak & egg my life is a vacation Instagram pics, unnecessary FB disputes (sadly, I get sucked in on rare occasions), the afternoon glass of beer or wine, and the hamburger and garlic fries excursions ...birthday and anniversary parties, and all manner of obligatory commercialized holidays.
But what’s harder? Denying yourself 2-5 years of missed vacations, or knowing you short circuited the growth of an enterprise that would have employed people; matured into a recognizable brand and culture that would have attracted the clients, partners, and the associations you desire... for the rest of your life?
“We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” - Jim Rohn
Attention is like the sun. What you focus on grows and what you choose to ignore withers. When you feel your resolve weakening, place pictures, notes, and all manner of reminders to keep you focused on what you’re here for, and starve the distractions.
TAKE IMPERFECT ACTION
Here’s the thing. The majority of the people whose opinions you’re allowing to hold you back from the life that is waiting for you, won’t be around when you level up. And the people who were there when you level up, won't be there when you reach even greater heights. The higher the climb the thinner the air gets; the greater the scrutiny and expectations; commitments and excuses can't co-exist; the pursuit of excellence takes a special kind of drive.
Also, consider for a moment, these same people wouldn’t attend your funeral if the weather was bad. And if they aren’t willing to support your business, what makes you think they would be there to care for you if you fell ill; no longer able to care for yourself. Don’t take it personal.
Some just aren't ready to make the climb. It's not lonely at the top, you just have to make new friends. It doesn't mean you have to diss people, but you may have to distance yourself sometimes. I’ll never diss the brothers and sisters whom I grew up with in southwest Detroit and Highland Park, Michigan, but I had to distance myself from some of them to make the impact I wanted to make in the world.
Is this message harsh? Perhaps.
Let’s address what’s really harsh. Living a life of regret, knowing what you could have achieved. Living day to day with your music dying inside of you. Reflecting on the experiences you could have memorialized, and the people you could have loved on: family members that needed you; coupled with the impact you wanted to make in the community. Embarrassment and most uncomfortable moments only last for a handful of minutes out of 80 years, 960 months, 4,160 weeks, and 29,200 days. But regrets can nag you endlessly.
Now take your hands and dig them deep into the depths of your goals, and start plowing. Learn as you grow; give yourself time to level up; improve and pay the price; and surround yourself with people who will support you in spite of your ugly duckling stage (real friends, not social media fictions). Identify people who share your priorities and goals, and allow those who are attracted to your mission to make the climb with you. Take the bricks that will inevitably be thrown at you and build a stronger foundation. Remember, people barely remember this gal.
However, we all recognize Ms. Oprah Winfrey.
And remember, the refusal to let people define who you are, show up uninvited, and curate our own lives is evidence that entrepreneurial DNA, flows through your veins.
PAST PERFORMANCE, DOESN’T EQUAL FUTURE RESULTS
If you desire new or better results, or a different future, accept that the old you is going to have to die. The skills required to launch a micro-business are different from those required to build a self-employed practice. The skills and wisdom required to grow into a small business of 10, 20, or 50 employees are different than those required to build a micro-business.The future you that you are curating requires will inevitably require more of you.
Arrogance is the kiss of death in business. You must grow more, learn more, and be more, to build more. You’ll have to learn new skills, read new books, and allow new people with new insights to sharpen you. It’s not what you know that kills you in business, but what you don’t know. The moment progress stops, starts with the moment you believe your success is owed to you, or that you actually earned the accolades being bestowed upon you.
Old leaders are not as wise as their trophies and hanger-ons would like you to believe, nor youth as misdirected as people would have you believe. If you want to know what entitlement looks like; watch a person work harder to hold people back, hold people down, discredit and speak ill of others, rather expending that same energy to simply build taller buildings.
Growth is found in learning and creativity. Embrace the process of self-curating a better you. Identify a skill or subject that you’d be both inspired and made better by learning. Be the person that continues to build taller buildings.
JuJuan Buford is a Detroit native, entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of JSB Business Solutions Group, business development professional, and writer dedicated to helping families, entrepreneurs, and business owners establish thriving enterprises, achieve financial independence, and build lives of satisfaction.
Follow him online here:
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/linkedinpublicprofilejujuanbuford
Twitter: @JSBUFORD
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/catchjsbuford/
YouTube: http://bit.ly/catchjsbufordatyoutube
