(6) Choosing Your Goals
Aim for the stars; set lofty goals. You just might achieve beyond
your own expectations.
Write down what you love to do (without thinking about it as a
job), and next to that list, write down all the ideas you can come
up with that will help you do what you love to do.
Don’t worry if you don’t have immediate solutions, the answers
will reveal themselves in time if you keep the focus in mind. The
Law of Attraction will go to work on your behalf and begin
drawing things into your life that you need. Be creative with
your answers and don’t be afraid to think big.
Aim for your goals the way an archer aims for his target. Goal
setting follows the path of a parabola, a kind of arch.
Aim for the sky and you might hit the mountain. Aim for the
mountain and you might hit the lake. Aim for the lake and you
might drown. But don’t be surprised if when aiming for the sky,
you hit a star.
Moral: Aim for the stars!
Perhaps you really only want one cookie but you ask for ten; you
might be given three. But if you just ask for “a” cookie, you
might get one or none. When you set low limitations or
expectations, you’re trapped within these boundaries. Set high
goals and think big and you open more doors for success. Great
sales people use this strategy to sell. If I am going door to door
trying to sell the most $10.00 widgets for my company, I could
try to sell $100.00 widgets to improve my chances. Let me
explain with a dialogue between Jim the sales person and Mr.
Jones the customer:
Jim
“Mr. Jones, I was just admiring your lawn. Couldn’t help but
notice how well taken care of your grass is. I don’t mean to
butter you up, but I too have a lawn that I look after and so I
know what consistent effort is required to maintain such a
wonderful looking yard. Well, I have only a short amount of
time, but I want to share something with you. It is a super
widget and they are selling for only $100.00.”
Naturally the salesman will continue to build rapport and or
work on eliciting the values of his customer (discover the needs
and then match his product to those needs). But in order to keep
this story short, we will just assume he is doing his best in that
department.
Mr. Jones
“Sorry, Jim, but I just don’t need that one-hundred dollar
widget.”
Jim
“I can see that you might need me to explain more details on
how this super widget could be put to good use and why it is
valued at one-hundred dollars.”
Jim explains the details while being friendly and building
rapport.
Mr. Jones
“I can see that it certainly is worth that price tag, but it just
isn’t something I am ready to buy right now.”
Jim
“Okay, what if I were to tell you about some other benefits and
how your life would improve and have added value if you were
the proud owner of one of these one-hundred dollar widgets.”
Jim explains the benefits without asking for too much patience
from his client.
Mr. Jones
“Once again I am going to have to decline. One-hundred dollars
is just not in my budget, regardless of how much enjoyment I
will be getting out of your product. Thank you for your time and
have a nice day, Jim.”
Jim
“Okay, Mr. Jones, I respect your decision and I can see today is
not going to be the day you purchase a one-hundred dollar
widget. I will be out of your hair in less than 30 seconds, but in
that time I would like you to consider my only other product
and the pride of my collection. It is this ten-dollar widget. It has
many benefits and would certainly be well worth its weight.”
Mr. Jones
“Jim, ten dollars does seem like a fair price for such a widget.
Okay, please give me two.”
What Jim does is aim high without really expecting his customer
to purchase his most expensive widget. This way, when he offers
his main product at the much lower cost of ten dollars, it is
much easier for the customer to say, “Yes.” And every now and
again Jim will sell his one-hundred dollar products.
History lesson on the strategy of contrast:
At age 8, little Markita Andrews had become the number one
girl scout cookie salesman in the country. Markita was invited to
be a guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Johnny
asked Markita what was the secret to her success. Markita
replied, “I just went to everyone’s house and said, “Can I have a
$30,000 donation for the Girl Scouts?” When they said “No,” I
said, “Would you at least buy a box of Girl Scout cookies?”
Winjitsu Work Out
This chapter began, rather than ending, with your work out. Be
sure to spend plenty of time on this exercise, as it is vital to
understanding your goals and the value of aiming high.
