A frequently asked question among my clients is, “I set a goal to:
- Earn $10,000 per month
- Get 5 new clients
- Start a new business
But I only:
- Earned $2500 this month
- Met 30 people, two of whom are prospects
- Enrolled in the WBDC Fast Track program
“Did I fail?”
Even as I write this I can see you shaking your head along with me. No! Success is a journey. What I do with my clients is get them into the pond they want to swim in. Where would you have been without that committed goal? What turned up as a result of moving towards your desired income? How are you feeling, energetically, on this path?
I’ll never forget hearing Mark Victor Hansen at a National Speakers Association talk back in 1997, way before Chicken Soup for the Soul was a household name. He told us that he and Jack Canfield set a goal to sell one million books. But that year they only sold 800,000. Was that a failure? Same concept, bigger numbers.
Anything you do on behalf of your goal is a success. You can see that Hansen was clearly on target for achieving his goal. Sometimes all you need to do is push the end date out a little further. Like the parent having a young child swim towards him/her. “Come on,” she says stepping back a foot. “Just a little further.”
The better question is, are you in the water and moving forward?
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May 21, 2009 at 4:14 am
Amanda Wiss
Such an inspiring post, Jane. I love the analogy to teaching a child to swim – it reminds me how much we need to gently encourage ourselves and realize how far we’ve come. It’s easy to forget to be as kind and supportive of ourselves as we are to others (be they our kids or our clients!)
Thanks for sharing your words of wisdom.
May 21, 2009 at 11:42 am
janepollak
@Amanda
Thank you for mentioning the kindness part. I forget that. Our inner voices tend to be harsher than anyone else’s. That’s why it’s a good idea to compare notes, let someone else know where you are on your path and say it out loud. The gentle, “Just a little further” encouragement is balm to the sore muscles (and ego).
September 2, 2009 at 10:06 am
Maria
I love that story about Mark Victor Hansen/Jack Canfield coming up just shy of their goal. That might also be an indication to shoot for bigger numbers!