The Missing Link in Goal Setting

Are you a person that with anticipation can’t wait when the calendar flips to a New Year? Are you excited to wipe your whiteboard/blackboard clean and start with new goals? It is a fresh new start. A clean board. You stand back and look at it with hope. You daydream about all the things you are going to achieve. You may also feel a bit of fear with all that empty space in front of you.

As a sales professional, many of us are handed our goals in the framework of quota’s. This is often an arbitrary number assigned with little to no say in its assignment. This is a goal or a target that sales professionals work towards and develop their own personal ways to chip away at it and outperform against it. They battle daily uphill towards that number.

I offer a different goal you DO have say in. A goal which can be written, measured, and yes, be fun. Set a goal for learning. Yes, learning. Invest in your own knowledge. Ben Franklin outlined it profoundly writing,

“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

I challenge you to make this a stakeholder in every segment of your goal setting categories. Learn something to enhance your career, personal life, a new hobby, and financial goals.

This is a cornerstone of achieving a “growth mindset“. You must be open to new ideas and concepts. If you have children, learning something new actively exhibits learning is a lifelong goal not only for the young.

Invest in your career. Ask your leadership to take a course developing your skills as a sales professional. Many companies allow you to each year use an amount to attend a conference or development class. Minimally, read a book, watch YouTube Videos or TEDTalks, or listen to podcasts impacting your professional development.

On the personal front, do wish you could play the piano, prepare a healthy meal, speak Chinese, or salsa? Enroll in a class! Do self-study! This is a fun part of goal setting. Is one of your goals to travel? Make learning part of your journey. Learn to speak some of the languages. Take a cooking class there. Learn scuba diving.

I guarantee you will benefit from it. You will meet new people and learn something about yourself in the process. Take a fresh look at your 2019 goals and see if learning is part of them or a path to achieve success.

How will you incorporate Learning as part of your success achieving your goals in 2019?