The Best Year Ever

by Jeb Blount, author of PowerPrinciples

"Happy New Year!"

For the next week or so those words will be written, spoken, blogged, and shouted in many languages across the globe. People from all walks of life will reflect on the accomplishments and failures of 2007 and hold out hope for a better and more prosperous 2008. Most will make empty promises in the form of New Year Resolutions. Already, weight-loss books are flying off the shelves as people, with every good intention of losing weight and getting in shape, look for the next big thing to help them easily shed pounds and get the six pack abs they've always dreamed of.

Interestingly, the most successful among us are not making resolutions - they are making plans and writing down goals. During my conversations over the past week with some of the most well known thought leaders in sales and business, most have confided that they are using the remainder of 2007 to build personal business plans for 2008. Instead of the empty promises of New Year Resolutions, these very smart people are writing down goals and mapping out their steps to success. They are prioritizing what can and cannot be accomplished in 2008 and they are always checking to ensure that their plans and goals are congruent with the actions they are willing to take to achieve those plans.  They have set aside time to contemplate what they have learned in the past year and to use those lessons to make 2008 their best year ever.

Sales is the greatest profession on earth because in sales you are in complete control of your own destiny. It is one of the few professions in business today that offers you the opportunity to truly make your dreams come true. But to take full advantage of the opportunities the sales profession offers, you must be willing to define what you want, write it down, and determine your steps to success. Even if you were to take only take a few minutes to write down a couple of goals you would improve your chances of success by 1000%. However, when you spend a few hours to define and map out your personal business plan for the year you literally take control of your future and move light years ahead of everyone else in your company, industry, and field.

Perhaps the best way to develop your 2008 plan is with a goal sheet on which you write your goals and steps to success all on one page. I recommend that you take a moment to download the FREE PowerPrinciples Goal Sheet^TM from SalesGravy.com. The PowerPrinciples Goal Sheet^TM was developed specifically for Sales Professionals. If this document doesn't work for you take a few moments and create your own.  The real key is to keep things simple, specific, and, where possible, on a single page. A written goal is powerful because it sets your success in motion.

I guarantee that by taking a few hours to plan and write down your goals for 2008 today, you will look back a year from now and proudly say, "2008 was my best year ever!"

Happy New Year!