Treat Yo' Self! The Systematic Process for Reaching All of Your Goals.

2019 is moving fast.  So how are you progressing on your goals?  Typically, the first month of the year provides us a glimpse of what's to come.  If you haven't made as much progress as you'd like, but you're really serious about achieving your goals, I'd like to introduce you to a system that just might make that possible.
I was introduced to this idea around this time exactly 4 years ago.  It was my month as an entrepreneur.  At the time, my business was earning way less than it needed to in order to support my lifestyle.   One of the first steps I took, to help ensure my success, was to sign up with a training program to help with some strategy and direction. 

I'll never forget the one piece of advice that person leading the course shared. 

He advised every one of us to write down a series of milestones that we wished to accomplish with our business that year.  And for each milestone, we were to write a corresponding reward associated with reaching that goal.  As the goals got bigger, we were to think of bigger ways to reward ourselves. 

Quick story, recently a game called The Senior Bowl aired featuring star college athletes.  The game is an annual event but this year, things went a little different.  Although the players are still in college, the Senior Bowl is coached by 2 coaches selected from the NFL.  One of the coaches is Jon Gruden from the Raiders.  Although his team was down for a portion of the game, he eventually led this college team to a sizeable victory using a simple reward system.

Every time one of the players had a great play, he (or a member of his coaching staff) would slap a Raiders sticker on the helmet of the player who performed well.  That player didn't necessarily have to score a touchdown, they simply had to make a big play that moved the team closer to reaching their goal. After each outstanding play, the athlete was rewarded with a helmet sticker.  Watching what unfolded was interesting, as soon as the sticker rewards system came into play, that team seemed to filled with vigor and motivation.  Ultimately, they went on to score various touchdowns that helped them to easily win the game.  They played poorly the first part of the game, so no stickers were awarded, but once each person was rewarded immediately for their hard work, everything changed.

This game reminded me of that advice I learned years ago.  For every single accomplishment made in our business, we were asked to reward ourselves.  As soon as I learned of this method, I pulled out a notebook and wrote down a series of goals and corresponding rewards.

If you're just starting your business, it could look something like this:

Launch your website => Pedi/mani
Reach 500 followers on IG => Buy your favorite candle.
Make First Sale or Land First Client => Massage
Earn $250 => Treat yourself to a nice lunch
Earn $1000 => Invest in a quality planner
Earn $2000 => .....

You get the point.  You don't necessarily have to spend a lot of money on rewarding yourself, just do what makes you feel good. I did this for all of the monetary milestones I wanted to reach in my first year.  I'm not saying that this system was the only thing that worked, but it was a huge motivator for helping me to surpass my financial goals on year one. 

Years ago, I attended a seminar where they invited a bunch of people on the stage to share stories of how their high-level training program created incredible results for their participants.  I couldn't afford the high-level program at the time so I listened closely for clues as to what they did that worked so well. 

Two things stuck out to me:
1. They instituted a daily system for accountability and goal achievement.
2. They established clear milestones for each step that needed to be reached in order for the major goals to manifest.

 If you want to make six figures, you must first earn your first sale.  That's the first step.  I basically listed out all of the milestones I needed to reach then attached a reward system to stay engaged and motivated.   Achieving my major goals seemed somewhat effortless because of all the mini-rewards along the way.  It worked for the guys on the Senior Bowl team, it worked for my mentor who I learned the process from and it worked for me. 

With this method, you don't have to figure out how to launch a successful business on day one, you just have to get to the very next step. This helps you to really stay focused. Also, every time I enjoyed a reward, it enhanced my confidence in being able to reach the next milestone.  Just like that football team that proudly showed off their Raiders sticker after every spectacular play.