#9 Lunch and learn: The secret sentence that will change your business

A tip to keep you focused on the stuff that counts

Why it works:

Being blunt, it’s an in-your-face reminder. Works very well if you are inclined to get distracted!

What you do:

This is one of those deceptively simple tips.

What you do is this:

1. Write on a piece of paper “Is this leading me to my main goal?”
2. Check your piece of paper many times a day and ask yourself the question “Is this leading me to my main goal?”
3. If the answer is ‘no’ stop what you are doing and get back onto something that is leading to your main goal.

If you want a slightly more sophisticated version, I like this one:

1. Decide your profit goal for the year
2. Convert that profit into a target number of sales (so if you want to make $100,000 profit and on average you make a profit of $100 on each sale, your target number of sales is 1,000)
3. Write on a piece of paper “Is this getting me to 1,000 sales?”
4. Check your piece of paper many times a day and ask yourself the question  “Is this getting me to 1,000 sales?”
5. If the answer is ‘no’ – get back to something for which the answer is yes!

I know this sounds to easy to be useful, but it’s got me back out of some rabbit holes and saved me from my mind-wandering self.

This was inspired by an article in Gary Bencivenga’s Marketing Bullets. In particular I loved the image of this super-successful guy and his little note:

“One of the most successful marketing executives I know keeps a framed sign over his desk and carries an index card in his shirt pocket with the same message—”Is this leading me to my main goal?” He checks that reminder numerous times a day and saves countless hours each week by staying on track—getting out quickly from time-wasting phone calls, meetings, gossip, etc., and relentlessly getting back to the big-payoff activities for himself and his company.”

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