Getting Things Done – Bill Glazer Style

As you may know I subscribe to an excellent marketing newsletter from Dan Kennedy and Bill Glazer. It’s posted to my office from the USA and it’s filled with very timely marketing and business information. One article describes how Bill Glazer as an entrepreneur gets so much done. Here is his response :

That’s great advice, unfortunately so few follow it. Many small business owners TRY to do everything which means THEY are the business and they are also the GOODWILL – it’s not a recipe for success. Being keen to find out what works and what doesn’t, I took the time to personally meet with dozens of wealthy business owners over the past five years – here’s what they had in common :

• They set business goals and targets. And targets for themselves and their staff.
• They allocate at least 2 – 8 hours per week to work ON their business not IN it.
• They take the time to improve their knowledge of marketing and business.
• They create good business systems so the systems support the staff (not the business owner).

It’s not hard to do. It’s more about mindset than anything else!

Attitudes (Mindset) of Successful People

Most people have a desire to be rich or be successful, yet so few attain prosperity and great wealth. This is something that I have pondered for over twenty years. So, I had a close look at my mentors and other role models like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Warren Buffett, Richard Branson, Anthony (Tony) Robbins and many others. I observed personal success usually occurs from a number of behavioural patterns and certain ‘attitude’ traits. Here are some of the reasons why many individuals are successful in their field of endeavours.

1] They have a life purpose or vision of what their company or life will be like in the future.

All great accomplishments begin with an idea and a vision. It’s purpose and vision that drives and motivates them.

To help you define your life purpose, click here.

To help you create a vision for your business, click here.

2] They have written down goals.

If you don’t know where you’re going, how do you know when you’re going to get there? I know many people in my own life (including family members) that just ‘float’ along in life without direction.

Studies have shown that written down goals have a higher probability of being achieved.

Try our goal setting forms, click here.

3] A burning desire to succeed.

Think about how competitive it is to be good in a chosen field these days. You WILL encounter set backs and challenges. I like to look at these challenges as a test to see if I’m serious about achieving my goals or not.

This is where written goals help. They will highlight what you have achieved so far and will give you the extra boost to keep going.

Having a good ‘friend’ to talk to when you feel a bit ‘blue’, helps too. Ask them to be your ‘Success Buddy’.

Read about other successful people and what challenges they overcame.

4] The acquisition of specialised knowledge to achieve your goals.

I enjoyed reading about the life story of Henry Ford. He continually learnt more about building motor vehicles, hiring talented people and investing in research.

To achieve your goals you will need to master certain specialized fields or skills, such as book writing, public speaking, writing and publishing press releases, becoming an expert in engine repair, etc.

If you can afford it, hire the best skilled people you can find.

Want a shortcut? Find people that have achieved your goals and just ‘copy’ them. It might cost you a few thousand dollars, but you will reach your goals quicker with lower chance of failure.

Read, watch videos, go to seminars, conduct tests and experiments, observe all you can about your specialisation.

5] Being decisive in nature.

Successful people know how to take advantage of opportunities that come up and they make a decision very quickly. Sometimes the decision will be the wrong one, but not making a decision is really a ‘no’ decision anyway.

Rich people surround themselves with experts who assist in making informed decisions. What ‘experts’ do you have around you?

6] Utilising mentors or being a part of a mastermind group.

As already mentioned in point four and five, surround yourself with experts and also have another group of people who share similar goals as yourself.

I currently meet with my ‘mastermind’ group every week for two hours. We’ve been doing that for over one year now and the benefits are enormous.

The outcome?

There are no guarantees in life (unfortunately), BUT, I have seen (personally) many of my wealthy mentors ‘live’ the attitudes mentioned above and I strongly believe these are some of the main reasons they are so successful. Now, how can you apply them to your journey?

Goal Setting and Planning

Goal setting

Why do so many people struggle to achieve goals? There are many reasons, but one of the most important is lack of constant re-enforcement and reminding that a goal exists. The way to achieve re-enforcement is to simply write the goal down. Specific written goals take a life of their own and have a much greater ability of becoming a reality.

Here’s how you set goals :

1) Look at your written down vision and life purpose. What smaller goals would help you to eventually reach your ultimate life ambition? What skills will you need?

• Raising capital
• Asking for donations
• Public speaking
• Book writing

2) Think about what ’smaller’ goals you would like to achieve in your life too.

For example, becoming a famous musician might not be your vision or life purpose, but you would like to learn how to play the guitar.

Use S.M.A.R.T. goals

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time – frame

The S.M.A.R.T. acronym above is a tool to assist you to be more specific in your goal setting. For example; don’t just write down that you want to be rich. Here is a more definite statement :

I will own three residential houses with a combined worth of 1.4 Million dollars by Jan 2012.

See the difference? The goal is detailed, not only ‘real estate’ is mentioned, but a specific type of real-estate – ‘residential’. Also the goal value can be measured (by a real-estate valuer), is achievable, realistic and has a specific time of completion.

Here are two templates you can use to help you set your goals :

• Life planning and goals – Achievements (for you last year)
• Life planning and goals – New goals (for you this year)