THE NEW LEAF™

OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Do You Know What You Want?
Two key principles of Authentic Promotion(tm) are Set Goals and Know What You Want.

Too many well-intentioned professionals underperform in business because they are unclear about what they want. Not knowing what they want, they fail to set specific, measurable, achievable, and dated goals. Not having clear goals, they also fail to ask for help in achieving them.

What do you want from your practice? Community? Money? Time? Excitement? Prestige? The opportunity to change the world? Knowing the answer to this question is essential for growing a thriving business. The book The Aladdin Factor, by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, can help with practical exercises and inspiring anecdotes about the power of knowing and asking for what you want.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0425150755/mollygordoperso

As you come to know what you want, write it down. Start with a master list (Canfield and Hansen suggest writing down 101 things you want in your life). Then break out what you want in five years, one year, and the next three months. Put dates on each of these goals and decide how you will measure your progress toward them.

Once you have set dated, measurable goals, you can decide how to accomplish them and you will be MUCH more likely to follow through. After all, running a business inevitably involves some tasks that you'll find unappealing. Knowing what you want is the engine that will drive your performance of essential tasks that might otherwise seem tedious.

That bears repeating: Knowing what you want is the engine that will drive your performance of essential tasks that might otherwise seem tedious.

Once you know what you want, ask for it. Ask for help from friends, colleagues, professional organizations, and schools. Ask magazines and newspapers to publish your articles, announcements, or columns. Ask clients for testimonials that you can share in your brochures or on your Web site. Ask more experienced colleagues for support, feedback, and guidance. Tell people what you want and why. The more clearly you can ask for what you want the more likely you are to get it.

Asking is part of delegating tasks to employees, colleagues, and contractors. In order to get what you want from your requests, be sure they are complete: specify what you want, when you want it, and any important details of how you want it delivered or completed. The more clear and complete your request, the easier it will be for others to respond to it.

It's important to acknowledge that your requests can be met with acceptance, refusal, or negotiation. Sometimes we do not ask for what we want because we are unwilling to entertain negotiation or refusal. We deny ourselves the opportunity for a yes in order to avoid the pain of a no. Again, I recommend reading The Aladdin Factor if this behavior describes you.