Planning for Success

It has been my observation over the years that many people seem somewhat cavalier about their success. They never really make specific plans or decide what is important as they drift through life. Much of this in my opinion is due to the lack of a long-term vision in conjunction with too much focus on the immediate gratification reflex which we all have. It appears to me that there is also often a natural fear of failure that manifests itself in acting “cool” possibly to hide these personal insecurities.

On the other hand, the most successful people make a plan, focusing on what they want to accomplish, and diligently follow that plan to meet their objectives. Incidentally, I am not just talking about success in monetary terms. Successful families have a plan for how they want to raise their children and the expectations for same. The same can be said for successful marriages; something as simple as never taking for granted a great relationship is integral for long-term marital success.

Are you treating your success and business in a cavalier manner and just drifting along, hoping something good will happen? Or, are you focused diligently on your goals, specific in what you are trying to accomplish and taking steps to plan for the future?

To give you some examples, HBW as a company, has long-term goals, which are very specific on what we would like to accomplish. We have a goal of developing 5,000 Charter Vice Presidents throughout the United States which would make us the largest independent distribution in the country. In order to accomplish this goal, a great amount of planning has gone and continues to go into developing relationships, systems, compensation models, infrastructure and so much more.

We also have shorter-term goals that require specific, intense planning. This includes such things as our regional FasTrack meetings scheduled on all across the country throughout the year, as well as an annual incentive trip and training convention. These meetings take months and sometimes years in planning.

Are you planning on attending these events which are so critical to your success? For us, this is just an everyday, regular part of business and business planning, seeking every opportunity to help our associates maximize their opportunities.

Are you planning for your success? Are you looking ahead one month, 1 year and even 5 years to project where you want to be? This is absolutely critical for your success. It is difficult to arrive at a destination if you have no idea where you want to go and what you plan to do to get there!

As we have always said, “Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.”