“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” -Lewis Carroll
I lead groups of sales producers, mostly financial advisors, through a coaching program called Fight Club. Yes, we don’t talk about Fight Club, but I am going to discuss it here. Shhh…
Here are some of my favorite strategies from Fight Club to help jump start your New Year!
Create Your Vision
It can be a paragraph, a full page, or more! It’s important to have a clear vision of where you want your business and personal life to be in 3 years. Write it out! Take some time to visualize what you want your life to be. Then share it with others to make it real. If your Vision is realistic (but just barely!), it should be exciting to think about and share. Your Vision should be your guiding light helping you determine what you should be doing every day.
Determine Your 90-Day Goal
What is the first major project you need to complete in the first 90-days towards creating your Vision? Be specific! Is it hiring someone? Ending a partnership? Establishing a leadership system? Earning a specific amount of money? Again, be barely realistic. Just make sure what you accomplish will truly be the first major step toward living your Vision.
Establish Your Model Week
What does your ideal Monday through Friday look like to insure you will accomplish the tasks necessary to hit your 90-Day Goal and hence your Vision? I like to divide my workdays into halves – mornings and afternoons. That makes each half of my day 10% of my week. Then I determine what percentage of my week will be devoted to what is necessary to hit my goal. 20% might be devoted to marketing, 30% to prospect meetings, 10% to networking, and so on. This way, I can be focused on the tasks that are truly necessary while determining if adjustments need to be made. One of the great benefits of establishing a Model Week is that we get to own our calendar and say “no” to the obstacles that often get in our way and rob us of our time.
Power Hour
One of my favorite organizational strategies is to schedule One Hour every day to be focused on the most foundational and powerful part of my day. I refer to this as my Power Hour.I schedule One Hour every morning Monday through Friday that I devote to the habits necessary to get my day going. This is similar to setting aside the same time every morning to get your daily run in. Or your time at the gym. Instead of doing 100 sit-ups or 50 push-ups a day, I have a marketing routine that I practice every day. And I mean every day. It has become a series of habits and a routine that generates business activity and momentum. My Power Hour allows me to practice a routine that has become known as my Daily Fight Plan.
Daily Fight Plan
My Daily Fight Plan consists of a marketing routine to get my day started. The DFP is focused on the tasks that I feel are necessary to set up each of the components of my Model Week. My Daily Fight Plan consists of quantifiable and measurable tasks focused on social media, follow up, networking, and important contact lists related to my target market. Imagine what it would be like to be focused on the daily activities necessary to hit your goal? It’s similar to doing all the training needed to be ready for a scheduled fight. Or race. Or exam. Or whatever. They key is to schedule the time (reoccurring meeting!), plan the right activities, and work the plan. Plan your work and work your plan. Certainly, you can make adjustments as needed.
Best App ever! You can have accountability partners (or sparring partners!) and set up accounts on WhatsApp for free. Then you can post when you accomplish your Daily Fight Plan. It’s a way of creating accountability while rewarding yourself every day. In one of the Fight Club groups I lead, we often post different symbols to represent each of our accomplishments. For example, if I were to accomplish all 5 tasks on my Daily Fight Plan, I would post 5 boxing gloves. Someone else might post 5 golf balls. Fun! The point is you get some daily accountability, affirmation, and love. By gamifying your efforts, you motivate yourself and others while having fun!
What gets visualized, scheduled, measured, and discussed, gets done.
Get your efforts and ultimately your Fight Club going today!
Image by David Bailey from Pixabay