Wealth and Wisdom

Year after year you see the same thing. As we approach the new year every blog you subscribe to will publish an article on setting New Years Resolutions. It doesn’t matter what their blog is about. Got a blog on toy dogs? How about collecting porcelain tea cups? They all find a way to incorporate New Years Resolutions!

I’m hear to tell you to stop. Enough is enough. Setting goals is vital to success but the standard New Years Resolution is counterproductive.

How most people do it

Most people sit down and in 10 minutes rip out a list of 10 things that the will change. I will stop smoking. I will lose 50 pounds. I will exercise every day and get in shape. I will work an extra 10 hours a week and get that promotion. The list goes on and on.

This list quickly gets buried under a mound of papers and doesn’t get seen again until six months down the road. One day you clean up the office and come across the list. Wow, this is good stuff. How much did I accomplish?

Nada!

Add insult to injury

Not only did you accomplish nothing with this foray into goal setting, you actually set yourself back. Now you have another example of how you can’t keep with a goal setting program. Every time you fail to stick to your New Years Resolutions you further entrench a lack of confidence. It quickly becomes a self fulfilling prophecy and makes it easier to fail the following year.

There is a better way

No, I’m not trying to sell you a system. Any good goal setting program will tell you the same thing. At the heart of any good goal setting system are these five items.

Vision: Determine what kind of life you want to lead and what you want to achieve. Do you want to travel to exotic destinations? Do you want a beautiful house in the mountains? Do you want to meet the man (or woman) of your dreams? Write it all down then condense it into a compact statement.

One good goal setting metaphor is traveling across country. Your vision is your destination (in this case Seattle Washington). The more clearly you can see it the less likely you’ll end up in El Paso Texas!

Commitment and Desire: Now that you know what you want you need to emotionalize it. Don’t skip this step. Goals without the underlying desire are much harder to accomplish. Unless you can push through on willpower you’ll fall back into old habits.

Having a good vision makes this much easier. It’s hard to get excited by a goal like “no more smoking.” It is easy to stay committed if you can visualize the benefit. See your bank account growing. See yourself being more fit and athletic. Feel the pain of your current pattern to help drive you (this give you both the push and the pull).

Plan: You don’t have to write down every step. You don’t need to see the entire path. You just need to know the next few things that need done. This is where your actual goals come in. What do you need to accomplish in order to achieve your vision? Write them down. Be specific. Don’t say “I want to make more money.” Say “I want to make $250k a year before taxes running a website devoted to wealth and life balance through entrepreneurship. I will achieve this no later than 12/31/2009 and will devote 10 hours a week to developing content.”

Going back to our goal setting metaphor, your plan is your route. It is a step by step path. You don’t have to know every mile of the way but you better know your next turn!

Repetition: Wake up 10 minutes early and see your vision. Then get up and read your vision and goals. Do this also before you go to bed.

This accomplishes two things. First, it keeps you focused on your goals. It keeps you on track and keeps your goals in front of you. Second, it drives your goals into your subconscious. It is much easier to keep on track if you don’t always have to be thinking about it. Let your subconscious do the work!

Using our goal setting metaphor, this is going over your plan several times to make sure you stay on track. The better you know your route and destination the easier the trip is.

Review: Review your progress weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly. How have you done with your goals? Do you need to revise them? Do you need to set new goals? Is your vision still accurate?

How does this apply to our metaphor? As you drive you are constantly receiving feedback. You review your progress to determine if a change is needed. Maybe you need to call and let someone know you will be early. Maybe you need to plan an overnight stop. Maybe you need to change your route to go around a traffic jam.

Tools to help

I’ve used several goal setting systems in the past. All of them are good. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. Many are part of larger self-help systems. Tony Robbins, Stephen Covey, etc all cover goals.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill: This is the original self help book and is still just as valid today. If I had just one book on achieving your goals to recommend it would be this. It has made more people millionaires than any other book, course, or system.

Goals! by Brian Tracy: This is a full featured goal setting program. If you don’t already have a vision or you are new to effective goal setting this is the product for you.

For years I’ve been shifting my focus away from conventional productivity. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with getting things done as quickly as possible. I strive to maximize my output. The problem is that most productivity gurus (and blogs) focus on productivity as the end result.

What they miss (and I include David Allen’s Getting Things Done [GTD] in this) is a holistic view. It doesn’t matter how much you do if it doesn’t support a balanced life. Who cares if you cross off a ton of to do items if they are not focused on achieving your goals. They also tend to create a situation where the system (and the underlying technologies and techniques) become more important than achievement.

Most productivity experts mention having a long range view. The challenge is that this is given only lip service. Some (David Allen comes to mind) actually say it is better to use a first in first out approach and not worry about priorities. What ends up happening is you get buried in doing work that does little to move you forward. Using the 80/20 rule you end up focusing on the 80% of the tasks that only give you 20% of your results. Remember, these are often the tasks that “shout” at you.

Recently I’ve started seeing a shift from this task based viewpoint. The first move I saw was from Leo Babauta. He distilled GTD into a lean and minimalistic version called Zen to Done. I liked how he simplified GTD. To be blunt this is a better product for most people. At $10 it is highly recommended.

Merlin Mann (43Folders) also has taken a profound change in direction. He is changing the focus of his blog from productivity to accomplishment. Since he was the one of the original and most vocal bloggers about GTD this is a major event.

A great article on this was written this week by Dustin Wax at Lifehack.org. Toward a New Vision of Productivity is the first part of a 12 part series on the future of productivity. It does a great job examining this shift and covers it from a broader perspecive than mine!

A week at sea with no email, phone, or internet. Lazy afternoons napping in the Caribbean sun. Fantastic meals served by a wait staff that truly cares to see your every need satisfied. Traveling to new exotic places.

Isn’t it amazing that with all this going on I manage to see things in business terms? Maybe it is getting away from all the day to day issues. Perhaps it was disconnecting from the World Wide Web. Or I could just be a business junkie!

7 Lessons I Learned from Royal Caribbean

1.   Wow your customers without going too far over the top

Royal Caribbean has mastered this. Every new ship has new features that just stun you. How about a rock climbing wall? Have you ever seen an ice rink – or seen a world class ice show – at sea? How about being able to surf on a cruise ship? Who would imagine a shopping mall at sea?

Then there is my favorite. The Voyager of the Seas has perhaps the most amazing men’s room I have had the privilege to see. Instead of a boring porcelain urinal they have built a granite work of art. It manages to be useful, practical, and amazing. It is the only time I have seen people come into a restroom to take a picture (excluding perverts!). Looking at the picture below you can see I was one of the photographers!

Would you believe this water feature doubles as a urinal?

2.   Customer service that exceeds expectations.

Royal Caribbean has mastered this. Every aspect of their business is based on making you a happy customer. From the dining room staff to the person cleaning your room their number one job is to see that you have a great vacation.

3.   Don’t cut your price. Give so much value that you appear to be a bargain.

I’ve run the numbers myself. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this conversation with other passengers. When you take into consideration transportation, lodging, and food it is hands down the best value. It gets even better when you look at the quality you get. I know I don’t go to fine restaurants when on vacation. I may not eat at McDonald’s but I also don’t order lobster or Fillet Mignon!

Note: I never once mentioned price. A cruise is not cheap. It is just the best value.

4.   Focus on you target markets.

Carnival is known for their “fun ships.” If you are young and single you will have a blast. If you like staying out late drinking and dancing this is the way to go. If you like fine dining and a reserved atmosphere you will be disappointed.

Royal Caribbean focuses on families looking for a great vacation. Their kid’s center is first rate. While they have bars and dance clubs their target demographic is an older crowd and adults who are more reserved. While the food and service are fantastic they fall just short of perfect. You will get a great meal, just not four star.

Other cruise lines discourage children and are focused on upscale adult activities. Some cruise lines focus on that upper / elite group that wants nothing but the very best. Each has defined their target market and doesn’t worry if they can’t make everyone happy.

5.   Test, test, and test again

Everything Royal Caribbean does is measured and tested. It is all done quietly behind the scenes (much of it would not be noticed if I wasn’t into sales and marketing). If the score goes down the slightest bit they investigate. Do we need more training? Do we need to replace a person? Do we need to modify the menu?

6.   Train your people well

I had the pleasure of having lunch with Royal Caribbean’s director of training. It was fascinating how much goes on behind the scenes to make their service seem effortless. Every crew member goes through extensive training to make sure their service is top notch.

7.   Quickly weed out people that are not a good fit and reward your top performers

Another thing top companies (including cruise lines) do is weed out people that don’t fit into their organization. Sometimes this is because the person isn’t of the quality needed. Sometimes the person just doesn’t fit your culture. The key is to cut your losses quickly.

This goes hand in hand with rewarding your top performers. Sometimes the reward is with promotions or bonuses. Sometimes it is by honestly letting them know that they are part of something important. Sometimes it comes from your customers openly appreciating the service.

And for those of you wondering I do not get paid by Royal Caribbean. This is not a paid endorsement. I just happen to love their vacations!

I apologize I haven’t posted for so long. I’m not going into the details but my family suffered a profound loss several weeks ago. We were dealing with our grief and focused on supporting each other. This is true to my belief in life balance – believe it or not some things are more important than business!

This was compounded by a previously scheduled vacation-a full week without phone, internet, or email. While this added another week without a post it was a timely break. The time off gave us a chance to clear our heads and think. We gave a lot of thought to our lives and the direction we were taking.

One area that we will be changing is Wealth and Wisdom. Don’t worry, we won’t be shutting down or changing our focus. We’ll just be giving this blog-and the underlying business-more attention. You-our loyal readers-deserve no less.