set goals Archives - Jason Brubaker

Want Success Online? Find A Business Mentor

One dude mentioned about how birds of a feather flock together. I heard it before, but he went on to talk about how you become the people you spend the most time with. If you want success, you need to hang around successful people. And that got me thinking. Most the people around me were losing jobs and running out of money too. Everyone was worried. And that sucked.

He also went on to talk about how success leaves tracks. And if you want to accelerate your own success, one thing you can do is find someone who has accomplished the things you want to do and see if that person would be willing to serve as a business mentor.

If the whole mentoring concept is new to you, I’ll make it simple – A mentor is someone who takes an interest in your success. He or she will be available for advice and to commensurate, but may not be directly involved in your business. If this is interesting, here are some tactics for finding your own business mentor:

Compile a list of people you want to meet.

Write them a letter. Follow up with a phone call.

When someone answers, reference the letter and ask for the meeting.

If you get the meeting, awesome! If not, try again later.

Repeat the process.

Finding a mentor will go a long way towards helping you avoid common pitfalls and accelerate your success. To get started, figure out what you want to accomplish. What do you want out of life? From there, find people who have achieved your goal. And if you want a really awesome resource for finding a mentor, check out SCORE.

Are you one of those people who set realistic goals? If so, you’ve probably had one of those months when everything is totally awesome. And as you get closer and closer to your goals… BOOM! In an instant, everything turns into to poop…

Even if you work to set realistic goals, your reality can change in a heartbeat. Life has a way of knocking you down. The good news is, you’re not alone. And with a little planning, you can re-set realistic goals and get back on track!

How To Set Realistic Goals

Over the last year a lot has happened in my life. I lost a consulting gig, moved across town, started a new consulting gig, got engaged, planned a wedding, got married, went on a honeymoon and came back to a gazillion unfinished items on my task list…

While each reason is valid, it doesn’t change the fact that I blew rather important self-imposed deadlines. To correct course, I have altered my schedule and had to “set realistic goals” multiple times to accommodate. In the process, I learned some lessons about how to stay the course and get things done!

If you’re looking to set realistic goals, it’s important to give yourself a reasonable timeline. Then break small goals into manageable chunks. You will also want to give yourself some leeway just in case your projects take longer than expected.

1. Dry Erase Board: I love adding long term goals to my dry erase board. This serves as a constant reminder for tasks that are still pending. I set it up so I can stare at it daily. With this said, I only add ONE major goal per week. Then I break the goal into smaller, daily tasks.

2. Daily planner: Yeah. I know what you’re thinking. Where is your computer? I use that too. But having a daily planer really helps me break down my smaller tasks into half-hour steps. I love the feeling of crossing something off the list. If your budget allows, grab a Molskine Planner.

3. Half-hour Glass: If you thought my daily planner was old school, wait until you start using a half-hour glass! Using this has helped me break my tasks into half-hour chunks and serves as an animated accountability partner, consistently reminding me the time keeps on ticking…

Even with the best tools, your projects won’t finish on their own. So make sure you take time to set realistic goals that are actually realistic! And if you blow your tasks today, continue tomorrow.