Aim High… Embrace Failure
Spend less. Save more. Lose weight. Gain knowledge. A new year is upon us, and with it comes the annual tradition of setting New Year’s resolutions for the 12 months ahead. Despite estimates that only 8-10% of all resolutions are seen through to completion, I consider the practice of setting new goals to be very constructive and entirely worthwhile. Personal resolutions relating to health, finances, travel, and self-improvement are common, but I challenge you as we begin 2019 to also establish new goals relating to your Melaleuca business. What makes a good goal? Remember the acronym S.M.A.R.T., which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Here are some examples of S.M.A.R.T. goals relating to a Melaleuca business: • Advance my business to Director 3 status for the first time by the end of March. • Enrol 4 new personal Preferred Customers each month. • Develop a personally-enrolled customer to Director status at least once per quarter. • Make at least 4 calls/approaches every day, regardless of the outcome. • Advance my business to Senior Director status by the end of September. • Grow my residual income (organisation commission) to $1,000 per month by the end of 2019.
Each of these goals meets S.M.A.R.T. criteria, and each is focused in one way or another on the Critical Activities proven to help you build a business to last a lifetime. If you are anything like me, however, you may be thinking in the back of your mind, “But what if I fail to accomplish this goal?” What if, indeed? A poem I learned many years ago comes to mind. It matters not if you try and fail, And try and fail again. But it matters much if you try and fail, And fail to try again. Consider the goals suggested earlier. Coming up a bit short with any of these objectives would still mean that progress was made. Failing to reach Senior Director but reaching Director 8 in the process would provide plenty of cause for celebration. Failing to make four calls or approaches each day but still managing to do three would undoubtedly result in sizeable positive growth for any business. What is it that stops us, then, from setting S.M.A.R.T. goals and doing all we can to achieve them, even when we know we may fall short? In CEO Frank VanderSloot’s message “Pain is OK” at the beginning of this Leadership in Action issue, he states: “Many never try to succeed in realising their dreams because of fear of failure or fear of rejection. In their minds they have convinced themselves that being told ‘no’ would be more painful than never to have asked.” World-famous author J.K. Rowling, creator of the beloved Harry Potter
character, stated that she was “…jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain…” as she set out to find a publisher for her Harry Potter story. She faced countless rejections before finally finding a single publisher willing to take a risk on her. We all know how that turned out. Her words in a Harvard University commencement address given in 2008 ring true today: “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.” I challenge you to take the time to set numerous S.M.A.R.T. goals relating to your Melaleuca business in 2019. Then have the resolve to work consistently every single day at accomplishing your goals, knowing full well that failure and rejection will come your way. Embrace the success AND the failure, as both are a part of growth and improvement.
Peter
By Peter Lamb GENERAL MANAGER
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JANUARY 2019 | MELALEUCA.COM
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