Happy New Year! Here’s hoping that this
will be one of peace and prosperity for you
and your company/organization.
As you focus on the weeks and months
ahead, you might find yourself reflecting
upon successes and/or failures over the
past year and begin formulating goals
(resolutions?) for 2018. You know: those
objectives that are decided upon with the
best of intentions, but fall by the wayside
with each turn of the calendar page. To
help set a new course, ask yourself (at least)
three questions:
1. What specifically do I want
accomplish in 2018?
2. How will I do it?
3. How will I know if I’m on the
correct path to achieve it?
Do you want to grow your revenues
and profits? If so, how much? Do you
want to increase your income? If so, how
much? Perhaps you want to expand your
territory, develop key accounts, or grow your
customer base. Maybe you want to be able
to accomplish more…in less time... so you’ll
have more time to yourself.
Whatever your goals, they must be
specific. You can’t formulate plans for
accomplishment if you don’t know exactly
what it is you want to accomplish. More
importantly, you must be clear about why
those accomplishments are important to
you. And the “why” must be significant.
The motivation to pursue goals that have
superficial meanings or only provide shortterm
gratification fades quickly.
Once you’ve decided exactly what you
want to accomplish, you must determine
how you’re going to do it. For each goal, start
with the end results—the accomplishment of
the goal—and work backwards, identifying
the sequence of steps that will lead up to that
132 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018
accomplishment. You will need a sense of
flow in order to map out your plan so you’re
not working haphazardly or frantically.
You should also be brutally honest with
yourself about your ability and willingness
to perform each step. Even the most wellthought
out plan will fail if you lack the
skills to perform any of the steps, or you’re
unwilling to do what needs to be done…
when it needs to be done.
In order to determine if you’re on track
and on schedule in accomplishing your
goals, include benchmarks in your plans at
set points along the path. If you’re off track,
you can make adjustments to get back on
track and back on schedule.
2018 will be exactly what you make
of it…nothing more and nothing less.
You have a choice: you can develop lofty
goals; you can develop play-it-safe goals;
or you can simply let things happen as
they may. Your ability to see today a picture
of what you want in the future, and your
willingness to develop and implement a plan
for accomplishment, will determine whether
today’s picture becomes tomorrow’s reality.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sandler Training
provides proven, effective sales, corporate
and management training to high-achieving
companies and individuals throughout
Tampa Bay. Call Jim Marshall or Clint
Babcock at (813) 287-1500.
THREE QUESTIONS
FOR THE NEW YEAR
By Jim Marshall and Clint Babcock
Sandler Training
of Tampa Bay