I.  The Goal Setting Overview

As I mentioned in the Preamble, the state of our economy for recruitment is very strong right now.  Your client companies, who have been waiting for some definition to the future, have it now.  Cash will start flowing into hiring because it must.  Most company’s workforce has been spread too thin for too long.  How robust this increase in hiring will be depends on many factors (*see my monthly BLS Analyses), but hiring will expand.  So now is the time to set your goals for 2018 to take advantage of this new hiring dynamic.

Begin at the Beginning

When you contemplate any new venture, you want to make sure that you are not bringing any old baggage with you.  You want to approach new goal setting with a blank slate—‘a tabula rasa’.  Have you ever been in an upscale restaurant and the waiter brings you a sorbet between courses so that you can cleanse your palette of any previous taste before sampling the next course?  That’s the perspective we want to operate from as we set our new goals for 2018.  We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past.  We want to leave them in the past.  How many times have we heard the famous quote that, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?”  Let’s not be insane as we plan for next year.

“The Four Agreements”

Sometimes, in this cleansing phase, it is beneficial to revisit some literature that has inspired you in the past.  I like to re-read, “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz.  In his little book, which is chock full of great advice, Don Miguel covers the four agreements we need to make with ourselves.  I believe that Don Miguel sets the stage so that we can be successful in any new endeavor.  Here are those four agreements: 

The First Agreement - Be Impeccable With Your Word

Speak with integrity.  Say only what you mean.  Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.  Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Impeccable means “without sin”.  When you are impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions, but you do not judge or blame yourself.

The Second Agreement - Don’t Take Anything Personally

Nothing others do is because of you.  What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream.  When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering

The Third Agreement - Don’t Make Assumptions

Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.  Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama.  With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

The Fourth Agreement - Always Do Your Best

Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick.  Under any circumstance, simply do your best and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

Focus & Concentration

As with all new challenges we undertake, now is the time for focus and concentration.  Here are a couple of quotes that might help you re-align your mental state as we approach the topic of goal setting for 2018.

*“The secret of concentration is elimination.”—Dr. Howard Hendricks

*“Elimination actually allows us to accomplish more if we discover our zone and stay there.”—Andy Stanley (Next Generation Leader: Five Essentials For Those Who Will Shape The Future)

*“In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.” ― Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988)

Goal Setting for 2018

87/10/3

87% of an Ivy League population study had no goals;

10% had goals that were not written down;

3% had written goals.

1/1.5/15

The 10% realized 1.5 times the income of the 87% over a 20 year period;

The 3% realized 15 times the income.

The Five Central Principles of Goal Setting

--The Five ‘Musts”--

1.  Your goals must be in writing – if they are not in writing they are ‘wishes’, not ‘goals’.  

2.  They must be vividly imagined – pictures of your goals at your desk are good here.

3.  They must be ardently desired – you must really, really want them.

4.  You must be committed to attaining your goals.

5.  You must have an ‘accountability partner’ – someone to whom you report your progress toward your goals on a regular basis.

If these five principles are in play, then the goals exist and you will have a good shot of attaining them.  At the end of the day, goal setting can be fun.  Stay with me.  It’s easier than you think!

*TBMG Training Note:  For those of you who would like direct help/assistance when establishing your goals for 2018, or have other recruitment questions, please reach out to me directly.  Remember, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.  I am ready.  Are you?

You can call me at 770-898-5550 or email me at bob@themarshallplan.org.

Bob Marshall began his recruiting career in 1980 when he joined MR Reno, NV.  In 1986 he founded The Bob Marshall Group, International, training recruiters across the nation as well as in the United Kingdom,