Saturday, September 12, 2009

LACK OF PLANNING FOR WHAT’S NEXT AND THEN PARKING

LACK OF PLANNING FOR WHAT’S NEXT AND THEN PARKING

monkey_shaking_head Sorry if this picture does not load up correctly. The picture is supposed to be a monkey shaking his head "NO". I thought this picture is very fitting for the message I present to you today. The message is this:


LACK OF PLANNING FOR WHAT’S NEXT AND THEN PARKING IS THE REASON FOR PEOPLE QUITTING BUSINESSES!


I’ve discovered that one of the greatest enemies to success is the lack of planning for success! Another is reaching a certain level of success and then parking on our laurels. Success becomes stagnated when people park themselves and insist on staying where they are instead of setting new goals and continuing to grow.


People park when they sit back and rest on past laurels (see Dr Robin Rushlo report on Parking at http://www.betternetworker.com/articles/view/marketing/article-marketing/sitting-on-your-laurels).


The mistake in parking is that over-confidence and past successes interfere with future rewards. If the goal is to reach a finacial level or the prestige that comes with it, then we miss the reason for growth by moving on. This situation frequently causes people to become lazy and over-confident in their business dealings. They may also become board with their lives and fall victim to complacency.


Another problem with parking is that it can set up people for a nose-dive if the tide changes, as it often does. As such, it behooves a successfull person to continue setting goals to keep them feeling alive and active. Staying active doesn’t have to mean making more money or reaching a higher level of competiveness, it means setting goals that make life mean something more than just working for money.


A stagnanted situation happens when people stop dreaming, stop reaching for goals, and stop growing in their businesses! This is NOT a good position for them to be in because it affects their downline as well! Unfortunately, I’ve been around a number of success- oriented people over the past thirty years, and I’ve seen this situation happen all too frequently.


It took me a long time to figure out why people die in their businesses, why they quit when they seem to be doing well, or why they fail in life when they seemed to be at the pinnacle of success. In almost every instance, parking was the reason; they did not plan for what to do next once success was attained.


Unfortunately, often people spend too much time and energy on building for their future but they forget how to build a good life in their present. And even worse, they overlook their own need to maintain healthy relationships with people that are envolved in their lives. In so doing, they take people for granted and no longer appreciate their blessings.


How does this happen? How can we forget "Why" and "For Who" we started building the business in the first place? There is only one way that this can happen; it's when people see success as a destination instead of a wonderful journey. Our journey is to enjoy the life we were given at creation. Our destination is really the life we want to have on the other side of the veil when we depart this world; leaving this life with a "Treasure Box" full of memories; a treasure box filled with the beautiful gems we've collected from our relationships and associations; a treasure box filled with different colors of pearls that come from trusting people, from developing healthy friendships, and from feeling blessed by the associatons we've had.


The problem with people treating success as their destination is that, once they’ve arrived, they have no idea about what comes next. In other words, they forget to set additional goals for what comes next after reaching their specified goal. A life without goals and dreams has a tendency to become routine, mundane, dull, and no longer exciting. Existence from that point forward seems meaningless when people have not planned for “What comes next.”


A woman I once knew named Mary Lou found herself in this situation. She described herself as feeling depressed. Mary Lou said she asked herself, “Why do I feel this way? All I want to do is cry. I should be happy. I have everything that I could ever want and life is so good to me.”


Mary Lou’s best friend suggested that perhaps what she was experiencing was just a let-down after coming off the high she had been on during that period of time. She had become successful in her business; also, she had just married a wonderful man. It was a whirlwind leading up to the wedding so that, when it was all over, a big void was left because she did not know what to do next. In other words, because she had been busily working hard in her business and for the event of a lifetime (which she had prayed for a long time), a big hole was left inside her when it all calmed down. The problem was she had nothing in place to substitute the energy high she had been on for the past months.


My point is you should not only plan to succeed, but you should also plan for what happens after you reach the level of success for which you had planned; this should include "What Comes Next" by setting new goals. Perhaps the following questions will help you plan better for the next step:



  • What motivates you to move ahead in life and to reach another goal?

  • What worthy project would you like to be involved with next?

  • What will you do with your time, energy, and money once you have reached the top of where you want to be?

  • How do you see yourself in the future? Decide what you want to see when you get there?

  • Who will be there with you, who will not be there, and what will you be doing or not doing?

  • What kind of person will you be? Will you be spoiled to the point that you lavish yourself with what money can buy, and then sit there and watch others struggle for just a piece of bread? Will you be humbled and spend time and money helping people who are not as blessed as you?

  • How will you spend your time, energy, and money when you've reached a level of freedom from the toils of our times?

  • Will you be wasteful with these assets or use them wisely and charitably?

  • How much time or money will you be giving to charity, and to what organizations?


These are questions you need to answer for yourselves. By doing so, you will have a realistic plan in place that keeps you motivated and growing when each new goal is attained. Also, you need to have a contstant flow of new lifeblood coming into your business and into everything you do. Old blood becomes sluggish and thick when there’s nothing to give it a boost every once in a while. This means you need to proactively bring in new people to your circle in order to keep new ideas flowing and the enthusiasm high enough to nourish the spirit of your organization.


Do you believe that planning for "What’s Next" is important? Also, do you believe that following through with your plans is important? I welcome any comments you feel inclined to share with us.



6 comments:

Judith Sherman Consulting said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
/dr. Rubin said...

http://www.betternetworker.com/members/blindguy

Thanks for the mention
You are so right. Just remember there is s difference from parking and being a tortoise.
I read a book a billionaire told me he read every day to help keep his focus. It was the TORTOISE and the HARE. Remember the Tortoies always wins but once you park moving again is really tough.

Dr Robin Rushlo — Sat, 09/12/2009 - 9:29am
reply
Lack of Planning

Lidie Gray said...

Lack of Planning
Great article Judith!

I've found that the people who don't end up "parking and resting on past laurels" have crafted their strong and passionate "WHY". They have it written down and they read it every day keeping their focus on the bigger picture...their purpose in life. Their "WHY" is so powerful that it keeps them from becoming stagnant. So it's very important to know your "WHY"!

Lidie Gray — Sat, 09/12/2009 - 10:14am

Judith Sherman Consulting said...

Reply To Dr. Rubin's Comment
Tortoise and The Hare
Tortoise and Hare
I appreciate your comment. You bring up a point I never considered. The story of the tortoise and the hare is a story that illustrates the difference between a slow tortoise and the speedy hare. The hare hits the ground running and goes as fast as he can until he drops. He then kicks backs and rests until he is ready to get back into the race again. He runs as fast as he can until he drops again from fatigue. He does this run fast and then stop and rest routine through the entire race. He knows he is much faster than the slow tortoise she he isn’t worried about the outcome of the race.
On the other hand, the tortoise moves very slowly;, you could probably fall asleep while waiting for him to move along the road. The tortoise may be slow, but he is consistent. He just keeps putting one foot in front of the other, as he continues down the road and crosses the finish line. These two animals represent Network Marketing associates. Are you the tortoise or the hare?
I appreciate the fact that it may appear someone is parked, when in fact, he or she may still be moving so slowly that you don’t see the movement. Someday I will tell you my story of how I resembled the tortoise and someone I knew well was like the hare. The point is, we have seen associates like this. It doesn’t matter how fast you build, it’s being consistently doing the right things every single day to work your business. By putting one step in front of the other every day and continue to move forward, you will eventually cross the finish line.

Judith Sherman — Sat, 09/12/2009 - 10:24am

Judith@JudithSherman.com said...

You're right Lidie
I am good example of what you just said. I wrote a book titled The Treasure Box Series, Volume I: Peace, Joy, and Happiness. I got so frustrated with my writing ability and all the mistakes I kept making. I was frustrated that sales did not go as I wanted. At one point, I made a mock-up of the book so that I had something tangible to keep the dream alive for me. I had to keep that mock-up in front of me so that I my dream looked real. My husband took the mock-up to work and showed it off to people. He was so proud of it until he found out the book was just a bunch of paper put together and glued to appear to be a book. I refused to accept that it would take 18 months to get the book in front of the critics so, in my impatience, I published it with many errors. I had the book edited but I didn't have it re-checked after I made changes. I was like the hare in this case. Because I was impatient, it took me 8 revisions before I figured out that I needed to accept help.

I became the tortoise when I accepted that it takes time and I just had to wait until all the right pieces fell in place. My point is that, although it took longer than I wanted, I kept my mock-up in front of me and kept putting one foot in front of the other until sales began to take place. We just have to keep the faith, put something in front of us that is tangible so we can see the reality of what we are trying to do. That will give us the energy to stay in the race. Thank you Lidie for you comment.

Judith Sherman — Sat, 09/12/2009 - 10:37am

business coaching said...

Generally people's idea of what coaching is has some point of contact with (my) coaching reality, but there are usually some gaps to fill in, and that's where the excitement starts!