F53-067: Downside Of Focusing On Results Only

Today's show is about focusing on results only and not the path and the journey. I see this a lot and it basically comes down to people being so enamored with this one goal they set for themselves, which is typically a pretty powerful goal, and they compromise everything along the way to get it. I'm going to use two analogies here: Building a business - I will use my coaching and consulting side of what I do as a business example. Baking cookies with your kids And as we go through this, hopefully, it shows the challenge that we face when we try to apply a single metric, goal, and focus to our business. 1. There is value in learning from your failures. If you're so enamored with the final result or goal that you don't learn from your failures along the way, then you're missing out on some tremendous knowledge and experience. The same with cooking with your kids. If they don't learn to measure using the right measuring utensil or learn to measure with the right numbers then they just don't learn and experience the value of learning from their failures. 2. There are so many other benefits besides the single result you're looking for. If I'd just look at my business, where I'm at today versus where I was at 6 months ago, and if I were to only focus on top line sales and I ignored all these other benefits... ... of all the great relationships I've had and set up, ... of all the business opportunities that came to me, ... of all the great people I've met, ... of all the great conferences I've been to, All these things have been just blessings in my life. Had I only been focused on driving sales, I would have missed those and that would be really bad. That would just be really bad for my business and it's just really bad as a person and a human being. I wouldn't have been able to offer or serve other people along the way, had I been only focused on that. Same thing with baking cookies and you're only worried about that you have the most perfect cookie. And you're not rocking the benefits with your kids along the way. You're not enjoying being with them. They're not having fun with you. You're not engaged. You're not giggling. You're not appreciating your time with them. You're not appreciating what that time together is about. Who gives a crap about what the cookies come out like really? The value is spending time, cooking cookies, and being together. Sure, you want good cookies. Who doesn't? But if you take that same approach and apply it to your business, I wonder if we really dive in on a single goal or focus too much at the expense of other things as we're going along the path. 3. You are blindly attacking this desired result so hard that you compromise everywhere else. This is one that probably will sting a little bit for many people. This maybe hard for you to hear (and sometimes for me too) but you worked so hard to close these deals that you basically have no pipeline after you hit your magic result. I see this all the time in the corporate world as well as with small businesses. They're driving for sales number. They get it. Lord knows what kind of carnage is left behind of what they did. They hit their number and they're happy for 20 minutes then they realize the next quarter, the next month, or the next 6 months, they have a sales goal or they have business that they need to bring in. And guess what? They have no pipeline. They have no people left to service because they just burned through everyone trying to hit this goal. This is equivalent to baking cookies at 700 degrees in your oven with every single ingredient in your house and then at the end of it, maybe you have some cookies that cook fast and they're good. But at the end of it, you certainly can't bake anymore. So the pipeline is crushed and you just blindly attacked it. Head down. No holds barred until you get to this goal and result without really appreciating the process. What is the solution? To me, it's having a clear understanding on a few key metrics for your business that allow you to achieve your goal without compromising the important things in and around your business or life. Metrics for cooking cookies: Is my child having fun? Are they learning? Have I taken the time to really sit back for just a couple of minutes and just look at them and enjoy our time together and what they're doing? Are they engaged? Metrics for my business How many people am I serving? How many people am I actively coaching and consulting with? What are my conversations like and how do I feel about them? Am I continually learning? Am I serving in the most powerful way possible? These are metrics that I literally keep track of and that I diagnose, look at, and reflect on. So as I continue to grow my business, those are what are important to me. It is critical to have goals. I think everybody knows that. But it's also brutally painful if all you do is focus on that goal and not the process to get there. If you look at where you're at today, no matter where it is, no matter how successful you are, stop and look back and think to yourself, "If I only wanted to get to where I'm at today and I didn't learn or experience all the things behind me that had gotten me here today and I didn't get the value out of that, think about how difficult it would be to go forward." The moral of the story: Absorb, soak in, and appreciate the things along the path because those are the things that are going to take you to the next level for your business.   Books, People, & Resources: I'm researching former professional athletes and how they transition from being an athlete or a new lead athlete into the "real world." I'm interested in hearing about their struggles, their challenges, roadblocks, successes, and everything in between. Sports has always been a big part of my life. I love them. I have a special interest in athletes and specifically the ones that have competed at the highest levels. Do you know anyone like that? If so, I'd love to hear from them or maybe it's even you. Shoot me an email at [email protected].