Aim High to Achieve Goals

Goal setting is interesting. I talk to a lot of people on a daily basis. I truly do love listening to people’s stories and learning about those individuals. I usually like to ask people what their goals are. Where they plan to be a year, 5 years or even 20 years from now. It’s amazing the responses I get. In business, I’ll hear someone say, “I’d like to get 3 new clients in the next 6 months”. Now, this really depends on the person but if that is that person’s goal, they will typically not hit that goal. Why? They set the bar too low; either the time or number is off.

My precision shooting analogy is my favorite and I actually plan to make a quick video about it. If I am going to shoot an 800m target using a rifle chambered in .308, there are some factors that will come into play. We’ll take crosswinds out of the equation for this example and only take distance into consideration. If the rifle is sighted in at 100m and I set the center of the reticle center mass on the 800m target, dirt will fly in front of the target. Why? Because I have momentum and the most power/energy at the beginning but as time and distance increase velocity will drop. Pulling the trigger on a new venture or idea is the same as pulling the trigger on that rifle. Max power and energy once you set in motion. As time goes by momentum will decrease. If that 800m target is a 6 month target, much like trying to hit that steel target, I have to set my sights higher to hit it. We call that “Holdover”. The angle of the barrel has to rise to maximize my trajectory. A .308 round will fall over 50in at just 500 yards. Can you imagine how much it falls at 800m? You have to aim high for the bullet to drop and hit the target.

Back to those goals. You have to set realistic but uncomfortable goals to hit your intended goal. In my business my goal is 3-5 new customers each week. Some weeks I may only gain 1 and some I may gain 8 but I still keep my sights on that 3-5. Don’t underestimate yourselves, people. Set high goals, aim high, to hit those targets. You HAVE to get uncomfortable to be successful.