How To Get & Stay Motivated By Choosing The Right Goals

The key to your success in sales is how you deal with slumps. How do you get and keep yourself motivated? That's right. How do you motivate yourself?

No one can motivate you. Just as no one else can stress you out or reject you, you alone allow outside influences to affect you. Therefore, it's critical, especially in this profession, that you have a comprehensive plan to keep your outlook and performance at sky-high levels. And there's one proven way to do that consistently: set goals.

Everything significant that you've ever achieved was probably a goal at first. Great stuff just doesn't automatically happen.

Goals can help you get motivated, too. To keep performing at high levels, you need targets to shoot for. Here are tips for setting and reaching your goals, as well as how to stay motivated.

How To Set And Reach Goals

·          Pick goals that you desire passionately

If you just mildly wish for something, you probably won't muster the drive to pursue it, much less weather the storms you'll encounter along the way.  For example, if you say, "I wouldn't mind dropping a few pounds," the feeling doesn't seem strong enough for you to act on it.  Instead, if you state, "I must lose 15 pounds because I absolutely refuse to go up another clothes size, and I've had it with feeling sluggish all the time," you'll do whatever it takes to shed the excess weight.

·          Pick goals you can see yourself attaining

Before you begin, you must be able to visualize the end results. Otherwise, your subconscious will never buy into the notion that you can accomplish your goals. People never rise above their own self-perceptions. If you can't see yourself earning $20,000 more than you do today, you'll never get there. On the other hand, if you visualize yourself already there, you'll be able to come up with ways to actually reach your destination.

·          Pick goals you're willing to work hard for

Everyone would like to make more money. A relatively small percentage of people are willing to do what it takes to make it a reality. That's part of the reason lotteries are so popular. Whatever you select as a goal will have trade-offs attached to it. You can reach that goal, but only if you're willing to toil and sacrifice.

·          Remove your doubts when setting goals

Most of us fly way too close to the ground.  Doubts are not the result of rational thinking but of habitual thinking.  Write out some of the self-limiting beliefs that act as lead weights strapped to your feet.  Then rewrite them in a positive, proactive way.  For example,    "I've never been able to close the large accounts where the big commissions are," could become "What I need to do is analyze the work of people who consistently close the large

accounts and create my own strategy."

·          Take risks

Sure, it's a bit spooky treading into territory you've never traveled in, but it's also motivating. Besides, the only risks that aren't scary are the ones you've outgrown.

·          Don't let details get in your way

Fussing about the details burdens your thinking and fuels the fires of doubt. After setting your goal, immediately fire your machine in motion. It's easier to view the possibilities when you're moving. Plus, it eliminates worry. Don't worry about what happens in the middle of a jump. Focus on the end result.

More Motivational Tips

·          Recall your most motivated moments

When were you last fired up? Have you stormed toward getting something you desired, as if you were an out-of-control train thundering down a mountain? What were you pursuing? This gives you a clue to what you really want. Can you, and are you willing to, repeat the desire and the tactics to reach another goal?

·          Expect to excel

Ask winners and they'll tell you, matter-of-factly, that they never doubted they could achieve their lofty goals. Sure, they ran into road blocks along the way, but progress has a way of masquerading as problems. Regardless of those road blocks, they prodded along until their goals were met.

·          Act as if you've already achieved your goal

I asked a superstar rep what he attributed his success to, and he told me his life changed when he started acting as if he was a top performer, even before he got there.  He studied the people who pulled down the big numbers (and dollars) and copied their behavior: coming in early, not squandering phone time, asking for commitment more often and expecting to do well.  The desired results followed.

·          Walk 25% faster

Don't laugh. Psychologists have proven that body posture and movement can affect people's attitudes.  Ever see slovenly losers walk with a spring in their step -- as though they had something important to do?    No, a person like that usually shuffles along.  Conversely, watch the gait of achievers you admire.  Their confident stride says, "I'm coming from something I just accomplished.   Now, I am marching over to another challenge."

·          Think "Action . . . now.”

Remove these words and phrases from your vocabulary: "tomorrow," "later," "one of these days" and "someday." If you use wish-oriented, vague terminology, it could result in unfulfilled goals.

Any time you're tempted to lazily shove an achievement-oriented task out to the ambiguous horizon, stop yourself and take action immediately.


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Art Sobczak. All right reserved. For information contact Frog Pond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@frogpond.com.