Your Way…Or the 1% Way

Here's a fun fact that you may not be familiar with. Less than 1% of the United States population earns more than $365,000 per year. You read that right, less than 1%. So what does that mean? That means that in order to break out of the 99% pack, you must do things drastically different! You need to look around and see what everybody else is doing and start doing the complete opposite.
 
And what better time than now.
 
I want you to ask yourself, have you outlined your goals? Have you written them down? Are you clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt, where you and your business are heading? I want you to read the following quote and tell me if you can relate:
 
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to go," said the Cat.
"I don't much care where-" said Alice.
"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.
--Lewis Carroll (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
 
Ask yourself this: are you mindlessly traveling whichever way the wind blows, or are you moving through life with a purposeful direction?
 
When speaking, I often tell my audiences about a 1953 study done at Yale University. The class of 1953 was asked the following questions:
 
1.    Do you have goals?
2.    Have you written them down?
3.    How do you plan to accomplish them?
 
Would you just assume these Ivy Leaguers had it all together? Well, the truth is, out of the entire class, only 3% had written down their goals with detailed plans on how they intended to achieve them. Thirteen percent had goals, but just hadn't bothered to commit them to paper and the remaining 84% had no specific goals other than to "enjoy themselves."
 
So twenty years later, the researchers went back to Yale to check in; to see how things were going and how "big and important" these Yalies had become. For the 13% who had written down their goals, the results were stunning! The 13% who had goals, but had not put them in writing were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent of students who had no goals at all. That's right, twice as much. But, here's the kicker; the 3% who had written their goals down were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent of graduates combined!
 
Wow-Ten times as much!
 
As an entrepreneur, this is what you need to know: success leaves clues. You don't have to create your own instruction manual. Find the clues and do what works. Get clear on what you want for your business, where you want to take your business, what you want your bottom line to look like, how many clients you need in order to fill your practice, etc. Write it out and put it in a place where you will see it often: on the refrigerator or mirror, in your wallet, cell phone or day planner. Refer to it often, as you move yourself and your business out of the 99% column!
 
 ©2010 Jennifer Ransaw Smith