Whatever You Do…Do This

  • December 19, 2002
  • Gary Kaltbaum



More end of year stuff
to think about.

How was your year? No, I am not just talking about the market. I am talking
about everything in your life. Do you even think about it? Do you take the time
to audit yourself? No one else is going to. A long time ago, I learned one of
the most important secrets of success….and it’s simple.

You see, every major company in the world is going to take stock of their prior
year. Did they do their job well? How did the shareholders do? Where can we cut
costs? Where can we do better? How can we make next year better?

Well, if it is good enough for all these companies, it should be good enough
for you. Here is what I do.

I get away for a couple of days. I take about ten legal pads with me and very
simply take a look at the past year. Here are some of the things I go over.


FAMILY

  • Did I spend enough time with?

  • Any problems I need to address?

  • How are the kids doing in school?

  • Are they happy?

  • Can I be a better father/husband?


HEALTH


  • How do I feel?

  • How do I look?

  • Am I in shape?

  • Diet?


FINANCES

  • Net worth?

  • How much did I make?

  • Am I happy with the numbers?


BUSINESS


  • Did I manage money well throughout the year?

  • Did I work hard enough?

  • How was my stock picking?



MARKETING

  • What did I do to market my talents?

  • Was I successful?


The list goes on. You can make up your own subjects that are important to you.
Then comes the hard part.

How can I do better in 2003, and what do I have to do to get better? It is all
about planning. Do you wake up every day without a road map? Are you just
wandering through life living day to day? I think it is important to take
control of your future before something takes control of you. I can’t  begin to
tell you what a difference this has made in my life. It is all about focus and
priorities. It is all about how seriously you take things. I have seen too much
wasted talent in my lifetime. People who had all the talent in the world, but no
focus and no thoughts. Then again, I have seen plenty of not-so-talented people
make successes of themselves for one simple reason…they took life
seriously…EVERY DAY. 

I draw up goals for the coming year in every aspect of my life. Not just yearly
goals, but monthly and weekly. It is amazing what could be done just by following
this much too often ignored exercise. People used to laugh at me…they don’t
laugh any more. Now they copy me.

I  work backward. My first question is: “Where do I want to be at the end
of next year…in all categories?” Then I will formulate a plan. It is not
good enough just to state a goal. You have to figure out how you are going to
get there. Dorothy couldn’t get to Oz without the yellow brick road.

I will then write up a broad-based plan for what I want to do and where I want
to go and how to get there. Do you do this for yourself ? I will tell you
that it is an awesome feeling to start a project like this. All of a sudden,
you are no longer wandering aimlessly. Your life gets definition to it. You
are able to keep score on a daily basis. Yes, some of the goals will not be
achieved.  That’s OK. There is no such thing as perfection. But it is a thrill
just to get on the road.

I have heard from many of you since I wrote about this last year. I hope to
attract a bigger crowd this year. Good luck.


Gary

 

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