Goals and plans are useless, without timely action

Good morning, everyone. It’s Sal Celly hope you all are doing well. It is Thursday, April 6 2023, and it is 7am. Today I want to speak about a very important topic-Goals and plans are useless without timely action. This is equally important in your personal life as in your work life.

The importance of taking the first step

Take the first step of Goal Planning action, the rest will follow. You don’t need to know all the steps when you start. Just the first one. Analysis without action is of no use. Your shot need not be perfect. Take it anyway. Perfection is an illusion, not reality.

Prioritize & Act

Prioritize what is important and make that your focus. Say no to other things-actions and issues that are not important. When you say no to things that are not important, you create space for the things that are. And after you’ve prioritized it, you need to take action. Free your mind’s real estate by getting rid of the old and non-important, so that you can make space for the new and the critical. When you make way for the important rather than the urgent, you focus your efforts and action on the things that turn the dial and make a difference, and have impact. And that is what prioritization and effective action is all about.

Don’t wait for the perfect time or ideal situation to take action Plan for goals

You can make all the goals and all the plans and chalk out all the strategies and the Twelve Steps plan. Nothing happens unless you do something. Invest your time in the right places and on the right people. You’re never going to have the perfect opportunity to take action. Don’t wait for 100% to take the shop, it will never happen. 86 is good enough, take the shot. The cost of perfection and getting to 100 is too high and not worth it. Jim Rohn said, “Ideas and inspiration without actions are just delusions and insanity”.

Taking prompt Action is critical

This becomes even more relevant if you’re in a sales situation and as a salesperson. In sales, as you all know, the phone is not going to ring on its own, especially in 2023. So you have to go out there, you have to prospect, you have to reach out to customers, and you have to build your sales pipeline. You need to be constantly talking to people, identifying their problems, going and visiting customers, figuring out what is going on, and doing your research. You need to be reaching out to your prospects and clients via social media, email, phone calls, networking events etc.

Take Responsibility of Goal and Action Plan 

You need to take responsibility and make this happen. Nobody’s going to do it for you. That is what I mean by goals and plans are useless without action. I’ll give you an example. I believe in this and I have practiced this for years. I did my first YouTube video on October 27, 2013. I took the action. Was it a perfect video? Absolutely not. I just saw it and it gave me a chuckle because the zoom level wasn’t perfect. The video wasn’t straight and correctly aligned. The sound quality was good, but the picture quality was a little blurry- but I did it anyway. Fast forward to today. I’ve done over 130 videos.

In these videos, I focus on a key topic to give you greater balance- to give me greater balance and to lead a more rewarding, fulfilled and happy life. Nothing would have happened if I didn’t take the first step on October 27^th, 2013 and did the video and then continued to do that. Of course over the last 10 years, the quality of the videos have improved, the technology has improved, and I’ve got better. But I took the first step. And that is so critical.

The same applies with my podcast- We have over 140 podcast episodes. And the first one was done in 2019. Was that first one perfect? Absolutely not. It was far from it. But I took the first step and did it, and the rest will follow.

No need to map out the entire path of Action Plans for goal

The same applies in sales. I am actually here in Dallas, because I took action and went out to meet customers-did I have all the meetings lined up? No. But that forced me to schedule the meetings, knowing that I am going to be there. And that is the key- you don’t have to have the entire path mapped out. But you need to take the first step.

We had one very good meeting yesterday, and we’re going to have two more meetings today. That would not have happened unless I said that I’m going to go to Dallas, and I’m going to meet these customers. When you meet your customers in person and you sit with them and you break bread with them, and you have a couple of drinks with them, you build a relationship at a different level.  Do this outside their office, and not over a phone call or a Zoom meeting. It’s a world of a difference. So go ahead and do that, and then good things will happen.

A funny story

I drove from Austin to Dallas. It’s about a three hour plus drive. In between, I was feeling hungry. So I stopped at a Denny’s location. It was in a small town just before Dallas. I was sitting there and the waiter gave me the menu.

I looked at the menu and I ordered Salmon with rice and vegetables- it was really good for being at Denny’s. When I got the bill, I saw that the waiter had applied the senior price- that gave me a chuckle because I’m not a Senior yet-far from ti. But I guess, he thought maybe I was. Or maybe he wanted to give me a break.  I ordered some coffee, I sat there and had my meal, took three calls while I was there,  and went on my way and got to Dallas.  I had my customer meeting. And it was a very productive meeting, where we got to spend time with three IT individuals from the same company.

You must Make Things Happen

Today we’re going to have a lunch meeting and then another client wants us to see their facility and show them how we can help them improve. That’s what I’m talking about. These things are not going to happen on their own, you have to make them happen, and you have to take this first step. That’s what is going to result in finding new opportunities and meaningful conversations, which in will result in additional sales pipeline. As you progress the opportunities and the pipeline, the end result is revenue. So that is the importance of taking action.

Put your Customer First

Remember, put the other person front and center of your every interaction- be genuinely interested in helping them solve their problems. Nobody cares about your product or your solution or how great your company is- they care about themselves and their issues, and if you can help them solve their problems. When you focus on them and you solve their problems, you’re in business. The same applies in your personal situation.

Two-way communication & listening more

As a leader, are you practicing two way communication consistently and effectively? Are you listening more and speaking less? Two way communication doesn’t mean that you’re talking to your employees and your writing to your team! No, it means listening and getting feedback and providing feedback and discussing. That’s what two way communication means. You should listen more and talk less and act more and plan less.

Conclusion Of Goal Planning

That’s what I wanted to focus on. It’s good Friday tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to completing my meetings in Dallas today and driving home later tonight. Is it a hectic trip? Yes. Is it going to be productive? Absolutely. And none of this would have happened if I had not taken action. So remember that. The action doesn’t have to be perfect. But take it anyway. Thank you for reading this post. If you’d like to develop an action-oriented mindset and how to make a difference and maximize your impact, send me an email at coach@maximizeu.life and we can have a 30 minute complimentary discussion. This is Sal Celly. Enjoy the rest of your week. Take care.