How To Create The Corporation Of Tomorrow

Social entrepreneurship is evolving into a global movement, and it’s rendering the standard nonprofit/for-profit dichotomy obsolete. Now, new legal structures and certifications are being built to accommodate for businesses with embedded social missions. Leading the way in this movement is the B Corporation (B Corp), a new kind of certification created by the nonprofit B Lab that enables companies to “meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.”
(B Corp, it’s important to note, is different than Benefit Corporation, a legal incorporation that allows companies to consider non-financial, social outcomes-based motives when making decisions, a fact that is written into legal documents during incorporation.)
With more than 770 certified entities in 27 countries, the B Corp is giving “business as usual” a socially-focused and sustainable twist.
At the recent Ashoka Future Forum, we sat down with key leaders in this field to get a sense of exactly how B Corps are creating the corporation of the future.
“Businesses are legally obligated to be empathetic”
Jay Coen Gilbert could have gone on for hours about the mission, statistics and societal implications of B Corp and I don’t think anyone in the room would have minded. As co-founder of B Lab—the nonprofit that currently puts all potential B Corps through a rigorous financial and social analysis—Gilbert is full of insights on why this new certification is an important form of corporate branding.
“The last 20 years was about identifying good products through certifications like ‘organic’ or ‘fair trade’, but the next 20 years will be about identifying good companies,” he said. In other words, while capitalism in the 20th century was about maximizing shareholder value, capitalism in the 21st century is about maximizing “shared” value, a kind of collective value that is centered on empathy.
Greyston Bakery CEO Michael Brady explained the perspective shift B Corp has brought about. “We don’t hire people to bake brownies,” he said, “we bake brownies to hire people.” Greyston Bakery, through a partnership with Unilver, is the source of Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie—they make that perfect brownie batter ingredient.
Even better than the batter, Greyston creates jobs for people in low-income areas, who make up 80 percent of his staff. That impact is exactly what the B Corp status highlights to the rest of the world. The certification has redefined “social business” to mean that the entirety of the company is functioning with a bottom line of shared value: focusing on people, not just profits or products—in this case, brownies.
“Forget business as usual”
Michael Elsas is the president of the Cooperative Home Care Association, an organization that gives 85 cents of every dollar earned to its workers. “We care about the quality of the product but also about the quality of life of the worker,” he said, adding that CHCA has quadrupled in size in the last few years on tight margins. Businesses will grow when you care about the people that work for you. It’s as simple as that.
Millennial workers (who really think they can make a difference) make up half of the global workforce, so these “better business” efforts are not going unnoticed. Suddenly, there’s been an evolution in expectations in the marketplace—consumers have responded by setting higher standards through their purchasing preferences.
Greyston’s Michael Brady speculated that when consumer behavior change reaches a tipping point, the companies that are still trying to maximize profits will feel a loss of marketshare. Corporations will practically be forced to embed social values into the core of their models.
B Corp-certified companies have proven (and will continue to prove) that they can make a profit while creating meaningful social impact, which gives them a competitive advantage.
“We need to distill the chaos”

This is all fine and good, if it’s actually working. But there still seems to be a disconnect between consumer intent and actual consumer behavior.
As Ashoka Fellow Michelle “Mitch” Hedlund pointed out during the Future Forum session, consumers very much want to do the right thing, but getting the clear, correct information to guide split-second decision-making is the challenge. “We need to distill the chaos,” she said. “The part of the conversation that is missing is the information to allow people to act on their good intentions.” Hedlund, who herself works on demystifying information about “green” products, posits that this will influence real, long-term behavior change on a societal level.

Which states have passed B Corp legislation?

Grant Garrison, as the co-founder and director of GOOD/Corps—set to officially become a B Corp on July 1st—understands how to combat the disconnect between messaging and consumer action. GOOD/Corps, GOOD LLC’s media-for-change consultancy, was created to not only help companies drive meaningful campaigns and position themselves as corporate social responsibility mavens, but also to help nonprofits and causes strengthen their relationships with corporations to create lasting impact.
With campaigns such as the Pepsi Refresh Project, Starbucks’ “Vote.Give.Grow.” campaign, and the Google anti-piracy effort under his belt, Garrison has a unique lens into what actually influences consumer audiences.
“You have to do some gentle hand-holding and provide small amounts of guidance,” he said of directing customers through this cause-related chaos.
Consumers won’t act if pushed; they have to be presented with all the information in order to help them make incremental changes that will lead to new habitual preferences, which can shift profits ever so slightly to favor social outcomes.
Does it matter?
At the end of the day, we have to evaluate how much service and activism matter in our lives as consumers. If the brownie tastes the same, does it matter that it was made by workers who have been given a second chance and are also being treated well on the job? Well, here’s another way to put it: if the brownie is going to taste the same either way, and the price is comparable, why wouldn’t we choose to support a good cause?
The B Corp is “a tool among many tools, not the be-all, end-all of social branding,” Ashoka’s in-house legal counsel Jonathan Ng said. He feels that it’s about making informed choices as a consumer, and using a variety of resources and methods to determine those choices. B Lab’s certification process is yet another helpful way to brand a for-profit company as having a triple bottom line, inside and out.
Be-all, end-all or not, it’s certainly becoming a powerful stamp of approval. Suffice it to say that the more companies that become B Corp-certified in the marketplace, the easier it will be to act on our good intentions.


SOURCE: forbes.com

7 Ways You’re Wasting Time and Don’t Even Know it

By Jane Porter 

Fourteen months after starting her own insurance agency, Dawn Berry found herself surrounded by stacks of paper. Her inbox was brimming with more than 500 emails that needed to be answered or trashed. And just finding a pen on her cluttered desk became a challenge.

Berry realized she needed to get smarter about managing time and making Provident Insurance Agency in Florissant, Mo., run more smoothly. She hired a productivity coach and saw immediate results. She began completing tasks that would take less than two minutes right away and delegated routine work to her assistant so she could focus on selling. Now, at the end of each day, she has fewer than 50 emails waiting in her inbox. In 2011, by better managing her time, Berry grew her business to a point where she could hire her first full-time employee, making her all the more able to focus on the important aspects of the company. "I have a do-it-now mentality," she says.
If you feel as overwhelmed as Berry did, you may need to rethink how you use your time. Here are seven ways you may be wasting time without even realizing it.

1. You overload on administrative work. If you've spent three hours reconciling a bank statement, you're making poor use of your time. Too often, small-business owners waste time on tasks they don't like or aren't even good at. What's more, they often expend energy avoiding such tasks and then spend more time than necessary doing them, says Cathy Sexton, the St. Louis, Mo., productivity coach who helped Berry. "If we just hired it out, it would be less expensive," Sexton says of tasks like bookkeeping and website maintenance. "It's looking at your time and putting a value on it."

2. You put off quick tasks. If you can pay a bill or schedule an appointment in a couple of minutes, do it immediately. Putting chores aside for later—no matter how mundane—is a common way small-business owners waste time, says David Allen, author of the runaway bestseller Getting Things Done (Viking 2001). People often set emails aside for later, for example, and then have to search for them and reread them. "It will take you more time to remember it later than just doing it now," Allen says.

3. You micromanage employees. Too many employees need their hand held throughout the day, says Jason Jennings, author of The Reinventors - How Extraordinary Companies Pursue Radical Continuous Change (Portfolio, 2012). As a result, small-business owners often waste precious time micromanaging such workers just to make sure they do their jobs properly. If you have to guide an employee through every aspect of the job and he isn't making progress toward working independently, Jennings advises that you let him go. Harsh as it may seem, firing people who are slowing you down may be the best solution for your business.

4. You let daily developments drive you. Putting out tiny fires throughout the day is a big misuse of time, Allen says. Rather than thinking about strategies to expand your business, you're bogged down dealing with every issue that comes your way minute-by-minute. "That's not making good priority decisions about things." To stay focused on what really matters, try to block out time each day for your strategic priorities.

5. You don't have a clear social-media strategy. Limiting the amount of time you spend on social media sites will certainly help your productivity. But even if you devote only one hour each day to social media activity, you will still be wasting time if you don't have a game plan, Sexton says. "Social media is part of your marketing plan. You really need to understand what your desired results are."

6. You try to reinvent the wheel. Hanging onto projects or products that no longer look promising is a big time-suck, Jennings says. "The reason people are stymied and can't get stuff done is because they are constantly reinventing the wheel. They can't let go." Stop and ask yourself, "How promising does this endeavor look?" Be honest with yourself and decide if it's time to drop it and move on.

7. You repeat the same things over and over. Customer communication is important, but if you always have to answer the same questions from different customers, you're wasting time, says Chris Guillebeau, author of The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future (Crown Business, 2012). Rather than starting from scratch each time, Sexton recommends creating a template for such routine tasks as email responses to common queries, invoices, client letters and meeting agendas.
 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224090

10 Tricks for a Fabulous Workday

It takes just as much effort to have a wonderful day as it does to have a miserable one. Why not enjoy yourself?

By Geoffrey James

Want to have the best workday ever?  Day after day?  It's not as difficult as you think.

These 10 tweaks to your everyday behavior will virtually guarantee you a day that's not just enjoyable but allows you to get more done than you ever thought possible.

1. Start with 15 minutes of positive input.
It's easier to achieve and maintain a positive attitude if you have a "library" of positive thoughts in your head, so you can draw upon them if the day doesn't go exactly as you'd prefer. Start each day by reading (or listening to) an inspirational book to ensure that you have just such a resource at hand.

2. Tie your work to your life's goals.
Always remember that there's a deeper reason why you go to work and why you chose your current role. Maybe it's to support your family, to change the world in some way, to help your customers, to make a difference: Whatever the deeper motivation, remind yourself that this workday--today--is the opportunity to accomplish part of that deeper and more important goal.

3. Use your commute wisely.
Most people waste their commute time listening to the news or (worse, especially if they're driving) making calls, texting, or answering emails. In fact, your commute time is the perfect time to get yourself pumped up for the day, and there's no better way to do this than to listen to music that truly inspires you and gets you in the right mood. Don't depend on a DJ: Make your own mixes!

4. Stick a smile on your face.
It's likely, if you followed the first three steps, that you'll already be smiling. If not, stick a smile on your face anyway. It doesn't matter if it feels fake: Research has shown that even the most forced of smiles genuinely reduces stress and makes you happier. Does this mean you should be grinning like the Joker in the Batman comics? Well, yes, if that's the best you can do. But something a bit more relaxed might be less alarming to co-workers.

5. Express a positive mood.
When most people are asked social greetings--questions such as "How are you?" or "What's up?"--they typically say something neutral ("I'm OK") or negative, like "Hangin' in there." That kind of talk programs your brain for failure.

Instead, if anyone inquires, say something positive and enthusiastic, like: "Fantastic!" or "I'm having a wonderful day!" It's true that there are some people whom this annoys--but these are people you should be avoiding anyway. (See No. 7, below.)

6. Do what's important first.
Everybody complains about having too much to do, but few people do anything about it. As I explained in "The Surprising Secret of Time Management," 20% of your activities are going to produce 80% of your results.  So do that 20% first, before you get to the 80% of your activities that is mostly wasted time. You'll get more done, and you'll get better results.

7. Avoid negative people.
If you've been following Steps 1 through 6, you'll probably find that the most negative people in your orbit will be avoiding you, while the positive people will want to hang out with you and help you. Though it's true you can't avoid all the Debbie Downers, you can certainly find something else to do when they start grousing about stuff they won't or can't change.

8. Don't work long hours.
Long hours are simply a bad idea. For one thing, as I have pointed out before: Long hours, after a short burst of productivity, actually make you less productive. But frankly, if you've followed Steps 1 through 7, you'll be getting so much done that you won't need to work those long hours.

9. Wind down and relax.
Once you're done with the workday, fill the remainder of your hours with non-work related activities that bring you joy and help you relax. The analogy of "recharge your batteries" is valid. Failing to take time to relax and stop thinking about work guarantees that you'll begin the next day with a "hangover" of resentment that will leach the joy out of what can, and should be, a positive work experience. overconcentration.

10. End your day with 15 minutes of gratitude.
As I pointed out in "The True Secret of Success," exercising your "gratitude muscle" is the best way to make certain that you experience more success. Before you go to sleep, get out a tablet (paper or electric), and record everything that happened during the day about which you are (or could be) grateful.

You'll sleep better and be ready for tomorrow--which will probably be even more fabulous than today.

But What About ...
Now, I know some of this can sound like a stretch. It may take a leap of faith to give this approach a try. But before you push back too much, let me answer some of the questions I sometimes hear.

• What if something really horrible happens during the day? You'll be much better prepared to deal with challenges than if you were already halfway to miserable--which is how most people go through their workday.
• What if I simply have to deal with a negative person? Tune out the negativity. Learn to shrug it off. If the negativity becomes too much of a burden, start using the extra energy you're producing to reorganize your team or (if the person is outside your company) find a different partner.
• What if I'm too depressed to do any of this? If that's the case, you may need professional help. None of these tricks require more time and effort than making yourself miserable, however.
• Do these tricks really work? Yes.

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/have-a-fabulous-workday-10-tricks.html?nav=pop

7 Deadly Sins of Business Meetings Pt. 1

By Lisa Girard 

  

Skype meetings used to be a weekly ritual for InQuicker, a health-care IT company with offices in Nashville, Tenn., and Vancouver, B.C. "It had always felt a bit contrived to meet weekly," says company co-founder and CEO, Michael Brody-Waite. "I think it hurt morale to place what is essentially a giant productivity speed bump in the middle of every work week. When we really thought about it, there weren't too many issues coming up in our weekly meetings that needed everyone's attention."

InQuicker finally changed the meeting schedule to once a month and began using Google Hangouts so that 10 people can share the screen in a less formal setting. That made everyone happier—and more productive.
InQuicker is not alone when it comes to dysfunctional meetings. For many businesses, routine meetings can lack focus and a clear agenda and end up wasting time and boring people.

"The last thing a meeting organizer wants is their attendees to be sitting in a conference room or on the phone wondering what the meeting is for, why they were asked to join, or what the output will be," says Kathryn Hammond, owner of BlueSpire Strategic Marketing, a Minneapolis-based marketing company. "If a meeting doesn't have a defined agenda and concrete next steps, I can almost guarantee you will see people playing with their phones or hear people typing in the background."

Here, seven deadly sins to watch for in business meetings -- and tips on how to redeem yourself.

1. Meetings that become useless rituals. Companies frequently meet simply because it's time for their weekly, monthly or annual sales meeting. "Meetings that are ritualistic instead of necessary are often boring, and attendees eventually flip an 'off switch' in their brains," says Joe Calloway, business strategy consultant and author of Becoming A Category of One (John Wiley, 2003).

Tip: First, reexamine your routine. "Do not have a meeting unless you can very specifically define why it's necessary and how it will advance the strategy of the organization," he says. Also, create a specific agenda and send it out early enough for people to prepare.

2. Meetings that are a one-way conversation. People often tune out monotone lecturers and mind-numbing PowerPoint presentations. "A one-way speech is generally one of the least effective ways of teaching, informing or motivating people to action," Calloway says.

Tip: Encourage your team to speak up, exchange ideas and comment on what they've heard. If you show PowerPoint slides, make them visually interesting and keep words and numbers to a minimum.

3. Meetings with lax leadership. In today's "virtual" conference rooms, time is often wasted waiting for people to join the call and then getting stragglers up to speed on what they missed. "This punishes the people who joined the meeting on time with the likelihood you'll run over, leaving employees stressed out playing catch-up on the rest of their day," says Gary Bradt, business strategy expert and author of The Ring in the Rubble (McGraw Hill, 2007).

Tip: Choose a leader who is organized and forceful, leaving latecomers to catch up on their own. "Use tact, of course – you don't have to be Attila the Hun – but if you're too nice, it allows too much nonsense to go on," Bradt says.

Stay tuned for more tips. 


 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/224151?cam=Dev&ctp=PopRightMod&cdt=2&cdn=224151

7 Key Relationship Marketing Goals for 2012

by Kelli Holmes

1. Make your One Minute Business Commercial ROCK!

• Vow to spend 5 minutes on your one minute each week!
• Get very specific. Think “a great referral for me this week is…”.

2. Commit to be at every TEAM meeting (or have a representative when you cannot be there).

• Out of sight is out of mind!
• Being casual about your TEAM attendance commitment implies you are casual in

all of your business commitments. Your networking partners might question your “referability”.

3. Attend all TEAM events (and TEAM Sponsored Events).

• Local, regional and organizational wide events are offered all the time!
• Take advantage of these knowledge expanding networking opportunities.
• Commit to your Personal and Professional Growth by educating yourself this year!

4. Do an AWESOME TEAM presentation when it’s your turn to speak!

• Prepare a “knock your socks off” presentation to show your stuff.
• Answer the question… “Why you should refer me”.

5. Do Coaching Sessions!

• Make a plan to meet “one on one” with every member of your TEAM.
• Organize your notes from these meetings to be more effective in referring your

networking partners.

6. Expand your “Power Partners” opportunity in TEAM!

• See who is missing from your “Center of Influence”.
• Ask your fellow TEAM members to help you invite these key professionals to your chapter.

7. Put all of your Relationship Marketing Goals in Writing!

• Set specific, measurable goals.
• Base your goals on personal performance or skills and knowledge to be acquired.
• Reward yourself in the achievement of your goals!

THINKING THROUGH YOUR GOALS

When you are thinking about how to achieve your goals, ask yourself the following questions…

• What skills do I need?
• What information/knowledge do I need?
• What help do I need?
• What resources do I need?
• Is there a better way of doing things?

11 Tips to Time Management

by: Susan Ward

Do you feel the need to be more organized and/or more productive? Do you spend your day in a frenzy of activity and then wonder why you haven't accomplished much?

Time management skills are especially important for small business people, who often find themselves performing many different jobs during the course of a single day. These time management tips will help you increase your productivity and stay cool and collected.

Time Management Tips

1) Realize that time management is a myth.

No matter how organized we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn't change. All we can actually manage is ourselves and what we do with the time that we have.

2) Find out where you're wasting time.

Many of us are prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. What are your time-bandits? Do you spend too much time 'Net surfing, reading email, or making personal calls? Tracking Daily Activities explains how to track your activities so you can form a accurate picture of what you actually do, the first step to effective time management.

3) Create time management goals.

Remember, the focus of time management is actually changing your behaviors, not changing time. A good place to start is by eliminating your personal time-wasters. For one week, for example, set a goal that you're not going to take personal phone calls while you're working. For a fun look at behaviors that can interfere with successful time management.

4) Implement a time management plan.

Think of this as an extension of time management tip # 3. The objective is to change your behaviors over time to achieve whatever general goal you've set for yourself, such as increasing your productivity or decreasing your stress. So you need to not only set your specific goals, but track them over time to see whether or not you're accomplishing them.

5) Use time management tools.

Whether it's a Day-Timer or a software program, the first step to physically managing your time is to know where it's going now and planning how you're going to spend your time in the future. A software program such as Outlook, for instance, lets you schedule events easily and can be set to remind you of events in advance, making your time management easier.

6) Prioritize ruthlessly.

You should start each day with a time management session prioritizing the tasks for that day and setting your performance benchmark. If you have 20 tasks for a given day, how many of them do you truly need to accomplish? For more on daily planning and prioritizing daily tasks, see Start The Day Right With Daily Planning.

7) Learn to delegate and/or outsource.

No matter how small your business is, there's no need for you to be a one-person show. For effective time management, you need to let other people carry some of the load. Determining Your Personal ROI explains two ways to pinpoint which tasks you'd be better off delegating or outsourcing, while Decide To Delegate provides tips for actually getting on with the job of delegating.

8) Establish routines and stick to them as much as possible.

While crises will arise, you'll be much more productive if you can follow routines most of the time.

9) Get in the habit of setting time limits for tasks.

For instance, reading and answering email can consume your whole day if you let it. Instead, set a limit of one hour a day for this task and stick to it.

10) Be sure your systems are organized.

Are you wasting a lot of time looking for files on your computer? Take the time to organize a file management system. Is your filing system slowing you down? Redo it, so it's organized to the point that you can quickly lay your hands on what you need.

11) Don't waste time waiting.

From client meetings to dentist appointments, it's impossible to avoid waiting for someone or something. But you don't need to just sit there and twiddle your thumbs. Always take something to do with you, such as a report you need to read, a checkbook that needs to be balanced, or just a blank pad of paper that you can use to plan your next marketing campaign. Technology makes it easy to work wherever you are; your PDA and/or cell phone will help you stay connected.

You can be in control and accomplish what you want to accomplish - once you've come to grips with the time management myth and taken control of your time.

The Urgent/Important Matrix

by Mind Tools

We've all been there: The project is due for today's meeting and we are only three quarters done. We're anxious, we can't concentrate, everything is a distraction, and then, finally, we blow. Time stressors are the most pervasive source of pressure and stress in the workplace and they happen as a result of having too much to do in too little time.

With this kind of pressure all too common, effective time management is an absolute necessity. You probably use a day-planner and to-do list to manage your time. These tools are certainly helpful, but they don't allow you to drill down to one of the most essential elements of good time management: distinguishing between what is important and what is urgent.

Great time management means being effective as well as efficient. Managing time effectively, and achieving the things that you want to achieve, means spending your time on things that are important and not just urgent. To do this, and to minimize the stress of having too many tight deadlines, you need to understand this distinction:

• Important activities have an outcome that leads to the achievement of your goals.
• Urgent activities demand immediate attention, and are often associated with the achievement of someone else's goals.

Urgent activities are often the ones we concentrate on. These are the "squeaky wheels that get the grease." They demand attention because the consequences of not dealing with them are immediate.

How to Use the Tool:

The Urgent/Important Matrix is a powerful way of thinking about priorities. Using it helps you overcome the natural tendency to focus on urgent activities, so that you can keep clear enough time to focus on what's really important. This is the way you move from "firefighting", into a position where you can grow your business and your career.

Here's how it works:

The matrix can be drawn as shown in figure 1, with the dimensions of Importance and Urgency.

The steps below help you use the matrix to prioritize your activities:

1. The first step is to list all the activities and projects you feel you have to do. Try to include everything that takes up your time at work, however unimportant. (If you manage your time using an Action Program, you'll have done this already.)
   
2. Next, assign importance to each of the activities – you can do this on, say, a scale of 1 to 5: remember, this is a measure of how important the activity is in helping you meet your goals and objectives. Try not to worry about urgency at this stage, as this helps get to the true importance.
   
3. Once you have assigned importance to each activity, evaluate the urgency of each activity. As you do this, you can plot the listed items on the matrix according to the assigned importance and urgency.
   
4. Now study the matrix using the strategies described below to schedule your priorities.

Strategies for Different Quadrants of the Matrix

Urgent and Important
There are two distinct types of urgent and important activities: Ones that you could not foresee, and others that you have left to the last minute.

You can avoid the latter by planning ahead and avoiding procrastination.

Issues and crises, on the other hand, cannot always be foreseen or avoided. Here, the best approach is to leave some time in your schedule to handle unexpected issues and unplanned important activities. And if a major crisis arises, some other activity may have to be rescheduled.

If this happens, identify which of you urgent-important activities could have been foreseen and think about how you could schedule similar activities ahead of time, so they do not become urgent.

Urgent and Not Important
Urgent but not important activities are things that stop you achieving your goals, and prevent you from completing your work. Ask yourself whether these tasks can be rescheduled, or whether someone else could do them.

A common source of such interruptions is from other people in your office. Sometimes it's appropriate to say "No" to people, or encourage them to solve the problem themselves. Alternatively, try allocating time when you are available so that people only interrupt you at certain times (a good way of doing this is to schedule a regular meeting so that all issues can be dealt with at the same time.) By doing this, you'll be able to concentrate on your important activities for longer periods of time.

Not Urgent, but Important
These are the activities that help you achieve your personal and professional goals, and complete important work. Make sure that you have plenty of time to do these things properly, so that they do not become urgent. And remember to leave enough time in your schedule to deal with unforeseen problems. This will maximize your chances of keeping on schedule, and help you avoid the stress of work becoming more urgent that necessary.

Not Urgent and Not Important
These activities are just a distraction, and should be avoided if possible. Some can simply be ignored. Others are activities that other people may want you to do, but they do not contribute to your own desired outcomes. Again, say "No" politely and firmly if you can.

If people see you are clear about your objectives and boundaries, they will often not ask you to do "not important" activities in the future.

Zig Zigler Setting Goals 3 of 3

Zig Zigler Setting Goals 2 of 3

Zig Zigler Setting Goals 1 of 3

6 Principles of Goal Setting

by Susanna Palomares

Why is setting goals important? Because goals can help you to be, do, and experience everything you want in life. Instead of just letting life happen to you, goals allow you to make your life happen.

Successful and happy women have a vision of how their lives should be, and they set lots of goals (both short-term and long-range) to help them achieve their vision. By setting goals, you take control of your life. It’s like having a map to show you where you want to go. Think of it this way: Two drivers, each sitting at the wheel of her car. One has a destination in mind (her goal) which is laid out for her on a map. She can drive straight there without any wasted time or wrong turns. The other driver has no goal, destination or map. She starts off at the same time from the same place as the first driver, but drives aimlessly around, never getting anywhere, just using up gas and oil. Which driver do you want to be?

Winners in life set goals and follow through in pursuit of them. Winners decide what they want in life and get it by developing detailed plans. Unsuccessful people just let life happen by accident. Goals aren’t difficult to set, and they aren’t difficult to reach. It’s up to you to find out what your values, vision and goals really are. You are the one who must decide what to pursue and in what direction to aim you life.

The Six P’s of Goal Setting

Research tells us that when we write down a goal we are more likely to achieve it. Written goals can be reviewed regularly, hence they have more long-range power. Like a contract with yourself, they are harder to neglect or forget. Also, by writing goals in the following fashion, you can stimulate your subconscious to be continuously alert to situations that will further those goals. Goals should be:

1. Positive. State goals in positive rather than negative terms. ("I am a neat and organized person," rather than "I am no longer disorganized.")
2. Present Tense. State goals as though they are being realized right now, or have already been attained. The subconscious mind only operates in the present. If you create goals in the future tense, your subconscious will never get there.
3. Personal. Goals must be about you, and under your control, not about someone else.
4. Precise. Write goals in a manner that clearly describes what you intend to accomplish.
5. Possible. Goals should be realistic. Achieving them must be within the realm of possibility.
6. Powerful. Use words that convey action and emotion.

Place written goals where you will see them at least twice a day. If possible, read them aloud and visualize each one.

What You See Is What You Get

Visualize success. Picturing a positive outcome can greatly affect your progress in achieving goals. If you can see yourself attaining a goal, you very likely will. If, on the other hand, you can muster no image of success, or create an image of failure, you very likely will fail.

Visualizing is something we all do, every day. When you daydream—thinking about someone you know or remembering a place you visited—you are visualizing. You can make the technique of visualization work for you. You can use it to help achieve your goals by seeing yourself achieving them. And by enjoying the feeling of success.

Let Go of Control to Get What You Want

Releasing is an important practice for successful goal achievement. It has to do with letting go of attachment to something or someone. How do you know when you’re attached to a goal? If you find yourself obsessing and worrying about the goal as opposed to being enthused and enjoying thinking about it, you’re attached. You’re attached when you believe that in order to be happy, you must reach this goal. If these signs appear, then it’s very important for you to practice releasing.

The technique is simple but not easy. You just decide to let go of your attachment to getting the goal. In other words, you decide that if for some reason you do not reach this goal, life will go on and you will still be happy. Believe it or not, this is a very important part of the process of reaching your dream.

If you’re too attached, worried, obsessed or tense other people feel it and pull away from you instead of helping. When you’re enthusiastic, inspired and radiating confidence, other people will be magnetically attracted to you and will help and support you.

1. Release attachment to control: There are some things in your life that you can control. All of them have to do with actions you can take or internal changes you can make inside yourself. You cannot control other people, events or circumstances. You can make the best of what you are given as in “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade” and you can release attachment to making things fit your model of the world. When you practice this kind of release on a regular basis, you will find peace and abundance creeping into your life.

2. Forgiveness, another kind of release. Forgiveness actually is a releasing process that involves letting go of negative feelings and resentments you’re holding towards other people. When you forgive others, you are actually helping yourself more than them. If you are able to let go of holding on to the negative thoughts and feelings you have about others, you become much lighter and freer with a lot more energy. Many well-known success teachers such as Oprah, Tony Robbins and Wayne Dyer mention forgiveness as an important step in creating abundance and peace in your life.

3. How to handle bad days and good days: Sometimes as you’re working hard to get to your goals you’ll find that you have really bad days when you feel like you’re getting nothing done. This is a time to release your attachment to being extremely productive every day and just accept what’s happening. You will also find that some days are just great, it’s also important on these days to release attachment to all days being like this. We all go through energy cycles, ups and downs and highs and lows.

4. Release things you don’t need anymore: Go through all of your excess “stuff” and start getting rid of (releasing) what you aren’t using or don’t need. This is a technique that will really open up space in your world for new things. It will also increase your energy and help you to feel more deserving. Go through every room in your home including the kitchen and either sell or give away those things that may be secretly draining your energy every day!

5. Open your mind to alternative strategies for reaching your goals: By learning to accept feedback and constructive criticism, you will be able to expand your thinking and become much more creative. Often what holds people back are “control patterns or ego attachments” where a person thinks, “Their way is the only way”. There may be many ways to get to the same goal and some of them might be faster or more efficient than others.

Sometimes a particular strategy may have worked well in the past but with changing conditions, this may no longer be true. If you can only open your mind to one way of doing something, you limit your progress. Make a point of accepting help and ideas from others in rethinking goals strategies. Don’t be attached to being right.

6. Great stress release technique: Here’s a great technique to help you instantly release stress and resistance. Imagine yourself breathing in harmony and relaxation, and then when you breathe out let go of stress and negativity. Do this for about 5 or 10 minutes. This simple process can be surprisingly useful for putting you into a relaxed and clear state in just a few minutes so that you’ll be more effective in working on your goals.

7. Love your goal but release attachment to the form: It’s really great to love your goal and be committed to it, but be willing to be flexible in the way it shows up. For example, you may want to earn an additional $5,000 through an investment and instead your uncle leaves you $5,000 in his will. We never have control over how the exact outcome of our goals will show up. The releasing part of reaching a goal is just as important as feeling passion and energy for it.

8. Some fun ways to release fear: Draw your fear with colored pens or crayons or make a play dough model of it. Or scribble with colored pens or crayons until you feel a sense of release. This technique may sound simplistic or silly but it is a really good way to release fear. Both authors have used it and found it to be tremendously effective. If you find yourself resisting using these techniques or you find that your fear leads to panic or is chronic, you probably need professional help.

9. Gratitude for what you have: This may be one of the most important tips in this entire report. Being grateful for what you have allows you to focus on the positive elements in your life, value the gifts you’ve already been given and appreciate the fruits of your goal setting efforts. When you’re having a rough period where you’re starting to judge yourself negatively, gratitude can break that pattern by shifting your focus to the positive things in your life.

Bonus Techniques to Goal Setting

1. How can you tell when you’re truly committed to a goal? Have you ever noticed when you really really want something that you automatically think about it all the time? When you think about it you get so motivated and enthusiastic that it’s easy to take action!

2. What speeds up goal achievement? Some of the things that will get you to your goal faster are: Commitment, enthusiasm/passion, thinking about the goal a lot, using imagery or visualization, regularly working with and getting help from your Goals Success support group, opening your mind to possibilities, moving out of your comfort zone, letting go of old ways of doing things and taking lots of actions. Correct as you go. If one thing doesn’t work, try something else.

3. Surround yourself with successful supportive people: It’s very important to associate with people who have already reached the goals you want. It’s also good to spend time with people who are striving for goals similar to yours. Unsupportive friends and family may try to sabotage your efforts, be prepared for this if it happens. The best way to handle such behavior is to ignore it or to make a point of spending more time with those who support and empower you.

4. Right and left-brain integration: As you probably know there has been a lot of research recently on the importance of bringing both sides of the brain together in your life. This helps us to keep balance in our lives. The left brain is mainly occupied with linear, word and number oriented tasks. The right brain is connected to creativity and intuition. When you bring them together, you’ll find that you have more energy and enthusiasm and things become almost effortless.

How do you do this? Most people are left brain focused. If this is true for you then you need to check out the ideas under creative tools in this report. Try them out and see what a difference it makes in your goal setting experience. We use these tools all the time and find they help to make setting and reaching goals a lot more fun!

5. Don't let other people’s reactions to your success discourage you: As you reach goals and find yourself changing you may lose many of the friends you’ve made who aren’t on the same path. They may feel uncomfortable and jealous about your success. They also may try to discourage you so that you won’t change. Be prepared for this and try to find new friends as you go along who will support and grow with you to enhance and expand your horizons.

6. Read success stories about others: One of the great ways for you to develop more inspiration, passion and commitment for achieving your goals is to read stories about people who have achieved outstanding success. Stories that are especially inspiring are about people who have faced great obstacles in reaching their goals. Their ingenuity, commitment and perseverance can be very motivating for you. You can also watch inspiring movies and listen to audiotapes, etc.

Resistance and procrastination: Ways to identify and overcome these goal stealers

Everyone finds at certain times that they just can’t move forward, they are stuck...has this ever happened to you? It may mean that you need to reformulate your goals. It might be helpful to go back to brainstorming or other goal setting basics. This can also be a sign that it’s time to get creative and find other more enjoyable ways to get where you want to go. Getting help from others can be particularly useful at these times.

Internal roadblocks that keep you from advancing towards your goal can stem from temporary lack of focus or fear. Outside distractions like too much partying, TV or computer games can also stop your forward momentum. Some people distract themselves with extra long “to do” lists of unimportant tasks that take up time that might be better spent focusing on high priority items.

However, resistance and procrastination may be a sign of distress stemming from deeply held programming or blockages from childhood. Another possibility is that you may have a deep-seated fear of success and the responsibilities that come with it, or you may fear failure so much that you don’t even try anything. When you encounter obstacles such as these, it is useful to get support from a therapist or other professional. A professional can help you explore your internal motivation so that you can release what gets in the way of your creating a life you love to live.

1. List obstacles in your journal: Writing down both inner and outer obstacles to reaching your goals can help you to become more aware of what is getting in your way. And it can help you overcome them. Often just being conscious of the difficulties helps you to find creative solutions.

For example, your goal may be to develop a successful business that nets you one million dollars in 3 years. Examples of external obstacles you might face in reaching this goal could be; recent challenges in getting a bank loan; a lot of competition in your type of business; or family members who are unsupportive or negative about your idea. Inner obstacles might be: your own belief system, that says; “you will never succeed with your own business”; a belief that you don’t really deserve what you want; or fear of failure.

Writing such obstacles down takes them out of your head and puts them on paper where you can get a helpful degree of objectivity.

2. What are the payoffs for not reaching your goal? One payoff for not reaching your goal may reflect a part of you that says; “I don’t want to change. Attaining this goal will force me to become a new person and I’ll have to move out of my comfort zone”. Or, “reaching this goal might put me in a position of power and I don’t like giving orders, directions or commands”. It might also be that, “reaching this goal will require me to have to work much harder than I do now, I may have to take risks or do things I’ve always been afraid of.”

You might become so successful that you could lose friends. So another payoff for not reaching your goal is to keep your present friends. Yet another payoff for not reaching your goals or having “problems” is that you get to play victim and have people feel sorry for you. You may get extra attention for having a problem. It’s human nature to want to keep the status quo of comfort and security.

3. Ways to release negative feelings: In your Goals Journal, write down anything negative that comes into your mind. Keep writing until you have a sense of completion. If you find that the negative feelings you face repeat over and over like an obsession, consider getting professional help.

4. Explore inner and outer conflicts: When you start losing energy or passion for your goals, explore any conflicts you uncover. Ask questions in your journal with your dominant hand and answer with the non-dominant hand. See if this helps bring clarity into the issue you’re facing. You can also use your Goals Support Group to help you understand your motivations. Sometimes you may have a conflict with another person that is somehow impeding your progress, at other times you actually have a conflict inside yourself. You may find that the answer is simple and only requires tools that you will find here or…you may find that you need professional help.

5. Take action on things you’ve been putting off: Make a list of all the important things you’ve been putting off and start doing them. These things may not necessarily be directly related to your goal. Put them on your “to do” list. Denis Waitley, a well-known success trainer, says that he writes down the five most important tasks that he has put off for the last month and then makes sure to take steps towards finishing them. You break out of being stuck by doing and taking action. Willingness to take action creates the energy to do something. This is an extremely powerful technique that will really help remove resistances and catapult you ahead!

6. Find your “problem areas” that may be holding you back: The concept of “problem areas” is that you may have a weakness in a certain area or a lack of skill which holds you back in other parts of your life. For instance, a salesperson tells the story of being reasonably successful but hating cold calling and prospecting. Once he made the commitment to focus and overcome the resistance and fear he had about taking action, his sales career really took off. Not doing this was holding him back even though he was quite successful in his other work activities. Figure out what your “problem areas” are that may be holding you back in your desire to reach your goals. Start taking action on them today!

Creative Goal Setting Tips

Creative tools: Wild, wacky, fun and outrageous

Here’s a way to add to your fun. Using creative tools for goal setting can expand your energy, help you to have fun and make goal setting more joyful rather than a chore. Creating colorful playful visual images will get you to your goals quicker and add to your pleasure in the process.

1. Create a goals list poster: Using a piece of poster paper, write out your goals list in colors. You can use “Mind-Mapping” and put the goals anywhere on the page rather than in linear order. Don’t forget to add your sub-goals with lines linking them to the major goals. Decorate the poster with colorful pictures on stickers you can buy at the stationery store. Draw things on the poster or paste on pictures you cut out of magazines, whatever appeals to you. It should be exciting and make you feel great when you look at it. Imagine you are a kid and having fun.

2. Create a collage to support your vision: To make a goals collage, cut out pictures and words that you like from magazines and glue them onto a piece of paper the size of a place mat. Be sure to put your picture on the page as well. Laminate the paper at copy shop like Kinko’s. Use it on your dining table to remind you of what you want to create. For example, you see a picture of a beautiful home in the magazine Architectural Digest so you cut it out and put it on your paper. Then you glue a picture of yourself right under it or in it with words that you cut out of ads that say; “I own it and I love it!” You can also make larger collages to put on your wall.

3. Use your computer to support you in reaching goals: There are many ways you can put your goals on your computer. Scan your collage or a poster/picture that inspires you into your computer, convert it to a bitmap and use it as wallpaper. You can create a screensaver with your scanned images or just put up a digital “post it” with your goals list. Try sending yourself an encouraging email. You can also create your own custom posters, personal stickers and printouts using a graphics program. Have fun and let yourself get creative with your digital friend (your computer).

4. Make a Money tree: Take a piece of paper and draw a tree on it, then stick play money (you can get play money at toy stores) all over it or you can use real money (with removable glue). This will help you overcome any negative thoughts you have about creating lots of money. Be sure to put this picture somewhere where you will see it regularly. Put a picture of yourself on the poster holding lots of money.

5. Use images that inspire you: Find an inspiring picture and write a few motivating words on it. Try writing the words with brightly colored markers. Hang this picture on your wall at home or at work to inspire you and build energy for your goals. You can use pictures of animals, nature, mythical figures (from fairy tales, Knights of the Round Table, kings, gods, characters from Star Wars), etc. Buy a Poster with a word, poem or saying already printed on it that motivates and inspires you.

6. Write some outrageous goals: Start with some silly and outrageous goals to mix in with your regular goals when starting your goal setting session. This loosens you up and helps the left and right brain to be more integrated. A silly goal might be to play charades with friends at least 3 times in the next 3 months, dye your hair green, or to dress in a funny costume and trick or treat on Halloween. An outrageous goal might be to learn to fly a helicopter, learn to skydive or fire walk in the next six months.

7. Try writing goals with your non-dominant hand: One interesting technique that can help you break through from left-brain thinking to more creative right-brain is to write your goals and detailed plans with the opposite hand from the one you normally use. It can be a bit challenging physically at first and it might not look very elegant but this technique can reveal hidden aspects of your plans and dreams and new goals, too. According to a recent article in the magazine, Utne Reader, this process is an excellent technique for contacting creativity and intuition.

8. Use creative techniques to open up your mind: Try drawing, painting or playing with play dough before working on goals to loosen up your creativity. If you are using a computer for some of your goal setting, planning, and development use a paint program to put your goals in colorful letters or use pictures, etc.

9. Take a “mini” mental break: When you’re feeling stuck while doing disciplined mental work including working on your goals; give your mind a rest by playing solitaire or minesweeper on your computer. You can also play solitaire with regular cards. This gives your left-brain a vacation. After ten minutes or so, you can go back to the task you were working on with renewed energy.

Basic Goal Setting Tips

These basic tips are organized in a sequence that will support you from thinking about your goals to actually achieving them. Don’t forget, these are only suggestions, take what you like and try it out for a while to see what works best for you. Have fun and play; Don’t make your goals “shoulds” but “wants”.

1. Use a journal to keep track of your goals journey where you may keep daily or weekly records of your progress including affirmations, successes, appreciations for your hard work, rewards, resistances, obstacles, etc. Use your goals journal to write goals initially and to rewrite them over time. Use it to break your goals into steps. Review your progress regularly and jot a few notes.

2. Get yourself into a positive state before writing your goals: It’s really important to get yourself into an inspired, positive and relaxed state before writing goals. Some ideas for getting yourself into a positive state include: Meditation, listening to inspiring music, reading something fun or funny, watching a funny movie, taking a walk in a naturally beautiful place, brisk exercise, reading or listening to an inspirational story, listening to motivational tapes, brisk exercise or prayer.

3. Start brainstorming: After getting into a good mental and emotional state, start your brainstorming. Write all possible goals quickly without any editing or criticism. You can review and prioritize later; right now you want to be as creative and grand in your vision as you can be.

4. Areas of your life to consider for goal setting: Here are a number of possible areas of your life to think about when you are developing your goals list: Career, financial, relationship, family, home, friends, personal development, health, appearance, possessions, fun and recreation, travel, spiritual, self esteem and service/community. Some types of goals include: personal development such as emotional, mental, physical and spiritual.

5. Goals time frames: Goals fall into varying time periods such as: Immediate goals, 30 day goals, 6 month goals, 1 year goals, 5 years, 10 years or longer. Make sure you can accomplish what you want in the time frame you set.

6. Here are four tips for writing effective goal statements:
* Say it like it’s already happened: When writing your goal, say it like it has already happened. Put your goals in words that assume that you already have achieved them. For example, “I now have a new silver BMW 4 door 2002 sedan.”

* Use motivating language: To get you passionate, committed and motivated, add emotional language to your written goals. Here’s an example “I absolutely love and am excited about my beautiful new home in the hills” which is much more passionate than “I like my new home in the hills”.

* Write specifically and in detail: Because your subconscious manifests things literally, you want to write specific detailed goals. Use language that is clear in describing exactly what it is you want

* Write in positive terms rather than negative ones: Examples of positive statements might be: “I am now free of the habit of smoking”, or “I am now a smoke free person”. Negative examples might be: “I don’t smoke anymore” or “I’m not a smoker”.

7. Be sure they’re really your goals: Check in with yourself to make sure that you’re thinking about what you really want. Often we try to please others at our own expense. You won’t be successful trying to reach the goals your parents, spouse or other friends or relatives want for you.

8. Be congruent in creating goals: Consider your most important values and beliefs when formulating your goals (e.g. honesty, security, integrity, freedom, responsibility, respect for others, love, leadership, etc.). For instance if you value freedom, your goal might be to be self-employed. If security is what you value, you might want to work for the government where layoffs rarely occur.

9. Choose rational goals: Choose goals that you can actually reach in a reasonable amount of time. An example of a rational goal might be: “I’m 55 years old and I want to sing opera with a local light opera performance group, a choir, or monthly recitals with my voice teacher’s students” (given of course that you have a good voice). An irrational goal might be: “I’m 55, I’ve never taken singing lessons, and I want to be a world class opera singer performing key roles with the New York Metropolitan Opera”. It’s unlikely that anyone starting at the age of 55 could do this, even with an excellent voice and rigorous training.

10. Prioritize your goals: After you’ve brainstormed, one way to prioritize is to put the highest priority goals at 10 out of a possible 10 points and the least important at 1 out of 10. Pick 3-7 of the goals with high numbers and focus your efforts only on them for the next few months. Try not to pick too many goals to focus on as this will dilute your energy and make it harder to get the results you want.

11. Create a step-by-step plan: Break each goal down into manageable blocks creating a step-by-step plan to achieve it. For example, if you want a new car, first decide exactly what color, model, year, and brand you want. Write this down in your goals journal. Then write the specific steps you need to get to your goal such as: Apply for a car loan, look at and test drive different models, write affirmations, visualize yourself driving the car, etc.

Goal Setting: The Key to Success

“Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” -Fitzhugh Dodson

Did you know that less than 3 percent of Americans have written goals, and of those who do less than 1 percent review and rewrite their goals on a regular basis?

This means that as soon as you start setting goals and reviewing them regularly you’ll be ahead of 99% of the population in terms of the potential to become successful.

If you want to accomplish something in life, financial independence for example, and you don’t establish clear and specific goals it’s more like day dreaming than goal setting.

Keeping Apart Goals and Day Dreaming

Ask yourself the following four questions to discern if your goals qualify as goals or if they can be considered as day dreaming. In the examples below I use becoming rich as a goal, but these questions can be applied no matter what kind of goal you want to achieve.

1. Is this goal specific? Becoming rich is a dream, and to turn this dream into a goal you need to put numbers on it. Instead of having the goal to become rich, which really isn’t a goal, your goal can be specified as building a net worth of $1 million.
2. Is this goal actionable? Hoping to become rich by winning the lottery is a dream. A goal needs to be something that you can take action on, preferably right now. Becoming wealthy through starting a business is actionable.
3. Does this goal have a time limit? ”I am going to be worth $1 million one day”, or ”Some day I will go to France”, or ”Some day I will change career”, all of those are goals, but they can be improved. When you set a deadline, that’s when the magic really begins to happen. ”I am going to be worth $1 million in seven years”, or ”I will go to France within three years”, now those are better examples of correct goal setting.
4. Is this goal realistic? Building a $1 million net worth in seven years is totally reasonable, but setting the goal of building $1 million net worth in three months is just not realistic. It is possible, but not realistic. While it’s important to not set the bar too high, it’s just as important not to set the bar too low. If you feel scared by your goal but still feel that you can accomplish it, that’s when you know you have set the bar at an appropriate level..

Breaking Down Goals

When setting goals people often start with the big goals, goals that may be spanning several years into the future. To translate your big goal into a manageable plan you need to break the goal down though. Let’s say your goal is to be worth $1 million within 7 years. Then what?

You Break The Goal Down

Breaking down your goal into smaller sub goals or objectives makes goal setting more manageable, and this is an important strategy in how to set goals the right way. For example, if you want to write a book within a year the goal to ”write a book in one year” can feel massive. It’s easier to break that goal down into monthly and weekly goals, so your monthly goal might be to finish chapter one, while your daily goal might be to write one page per day. All of a sudden it feels a lot more manageable.

Keeping a Daily Task List

A secret to successful goal setting is to have a clear picture of what needs to be done each and every day to move one step closer towards achieving your goal. A recurring habit among very successful people is that they know exactly what needs to be done when they get up in the morning, i.e. they plan their days ahead of time so they can get to work on the most important tasks immediately in the morning.