Toughin’
Out
Tough
Times
A positive mindset
and clear-cut
goals help tackle
career hurdles.
By Jim “Mr. Energy” Smith, Jr.
When I played defensive back at Widener
University in 1981, head football coach Bill
Manlove emphasized the importance of goal
setting during one of our pre-game pep talks.
We won 43 games and a national championship (only losing four games), so when Coach
Manlove spoke, I listened. He had an incredible E.F. Hutton effect on me.
Coach Manlove explained that although
less than 10 percent of people write down their
goals, 90 percent of what they record comes to
fruition. In fact, he said, the more specific the
goals are, the better. So, I immediately became a
goal-writing machine, observing that his words
of wisdom came true more often than not.
Admittedly, I continue to perform my annual
goal-setting ritual as the clock ticks off the minutes to midnight on New Year’s Eve. As I hurriedly jotted down my 2008 goals on Dec.
31, 2007, at 11:45 p.m., however, I only had
enough time to list some very general statements.
My No. 1 goal was spiritually related. No.
2 was family related. No. 3 fell into the “eat
right, work out daily, and get in the best shape
of my life” category. No. 4 was to be more
organized and stop rushing. My No. 5 goal,
simply stated, was to have my best year ever as
a business owner, speaker, trainer, author and
coach. I knew in my heart that I would achieve
this goal, but not in the ways I had anticipated.
I dreamed of great success resulting from endless bookings, a newsletter, breathtaking presentation sites, a new book, new clients, new
products, an appearance on Oprah and over
$1 million in revenue.
My Year in Review
It’s November now and, although 2008 has
been my best entrepreneurial year, it also has
been my most tension filled. January didn’t
start with a bang; it was more of a whimper. A
very reliable client, who had hired me for the
past three years to facilitate my Total Awesome
Trainer/Facilitator Bootcamp Workshop for
its new sales trainers, never called me—and
didn’t return my calls or emails. Disappointed,
I moved on. There were more “to do’s” on my
business and marketing plans.
I zeroed in on another organization I had
worked with successfully over the years. A new
department hired me to help build a competency model for its managers. After completing
the model, I inquired about moving forward
with the project’s next phase, which was building a competency model for sales representatives, and then discussing their training needs.
Later, I learned the organization was putting a
freeze on all training. “OK, this is getting tired
fast,” I thought.
