FOUR QUESTIONS THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE

When you look back at your life, I believe you’ll be measured by two things: who did you become, and what did you contribute.

The reason you set goals is not to add something else to your plate or to just have some token exercise to make you feel better for a few months before you abandon the chase for something else. The reason you set goals is to become a better version of you and contribute as much as possible while you’re on this earth.

“You’ll be measured by two things: who did you become, and what did you contribute.”

In my latest book, The Mindset of a Sales Warrior, I dive into this concept even deeper to uncover the truth behind goal-setting and behavior change.

The problem we have is that the general population makes goal-setting so complicated that they just don’t want to do it. Think about the gym membership cycle. On average, 80% of new gym members who join in January quit within five months. It’s because their goal was either too complicated, too poorly defined, or too overwhelming. We need to simplify the process, pattern, and strategy and turn it from a to-do list into a goal, and from something you have to do into something you want to do. And that’s why I developed The Four Questions to Change Your Life.

Creating a stretch goal is plan-based. You may be able to visualize yourself at the summit of the mountain, but you need to strategize the path upward first. And that’s why these four questions will change everything for you.

1. What do I want to accomplish by when?

2. Why is it important to me?

3. How will I accomplish it?

4. Whose coaching do I need?

Goal-setting is at its most stressful when it’s chunked up to its biggest level. That means the only thing you see is the massive goal itself. Need to hit a certain number of sales by the end of the month? Focusing on that number, and not your next move, only creates anxiety and causes you to put down your goal forever.

Instead, the purpose of these four questions is to chunk it down by clarifying the goal, setting a deadline, establishing the emotional connection to it, coming up with the steps, and listing out the external help you need. That’s the mental foundation for any goal you set for the rest of your life, no matter how big or small.

Improved performance is all about increasing the consistency and effect of what you do on a daily basis. And the key to effective goal-setting is giving yourself a consistent process to follow on the smallest scope possible. For instance, famous golfer Arnold Palmer always believed that his goal at the Masters tournament was to shoot a 54. He arrived at that number because if you added up his best scores on each hole over dozens of rounds, you’d arrive at a 54.

That’s a great example of a stretch goal. If he focused on one hole at a time, and not the 54, he knew he could put together his best ever round.

Had Palmer set a goal for a 44, it would’ve been a different matter. Your subconscious will reject goals if you can’t see them or experience them in your mind. That’s why sales warriors with a 5% conversion rate don’t set a goal for a 50% conversion rate. You might set a goal to go from 5% to 10%, then from 10% to 15%.

Once you can consistently reach each incremental goal, you raise the bar. That’s true progress, and it’s the way to turn goal-setting anxiety into goal-setting achievement.