Go USA – Haute Business

Are you having as much fun watching the Olympics as I am? Team USA is doing such an amazing job! I’m always impressed by and mindful of the tremendous amount of work that goes into those few minutes (or seconds) we see an athlete perform. Athletes spend hours, days, years training – sometimes all alone – for those precious moments of competition, giving it all they’ve got, leaving it all out there, testing their limits. I find myself cheering them on, rather loudly, as they race to the finish line, or the end of their routine. Go USA!

It is so easy to become emotionally invested in the individuals we watch night after night. I always wonder what I could achieve if I gave it my all like they do. It’s not easy to sacrifice the fun things in life to succeed at a goal you’ve set. Even if you’re driven, life tries to pull you in so many directions. We know that’s what Olympians deal with. It’s part of what makes us admire their achievements. It’s why we Americans yell, “Go USA!” whether we’re in the arena or our living rooms. It’s that tunnel-visioned, all-out, do-or-die sacrifice these men and women make to win.

I got a very small taste of that studying for my CFP(r) and taking my securities license exams. The CFP(r) was tough because I had to take an online class during tax season, which meant nights and weekends of studying on top of 12-hour days of taxes. Once the class was finished, I had three months of studying to take the exam. It had been so long since I’d seen the sun I could have been cast for a Twilight sequel. My securities licenses were easier because my study time was shorter, although I was trying to blog at the same time.

Still, that’s nothing to what these athletes go through. The time, the sacrifice, and I’m sure the physical pain, are all part of their daily routine. Day after day. Month after month. Year after year. So my thought is: what if I pushed with a fraction of that drive, day after day? What could I accomplish? Do you ever have those thoughts? I’m sure I’m not the only one.

I have three short-term goals. “Short-term” means one year or less to a CPA. Because these goals are on three different fronts that I work concurrently anyway, I don’t think I’m hurting my chances pursuing all three. After watching a week of the Olympics I feel so motivated. I’m ready to be serious. I’m writing these goals down and going after them with more energy, drive and focus.

How about you? Are you willing to do join me? You don’t have to tell anyone what your goal is, even though that flies in the face of the goal-setting books we read. You do need to write it down though, so you can measure your progress. It has to be quantifiable so you can gauge your progress. For example, a sales person might say, “I want to be better at cold-calling.” How do you measure that? Better would be, “I want to make five cold calls a day,” or, “For the next month, I want to convert one cold call a day into a sale.” You can measure that. You can gauge your progress.

Off we go! If you’re taking this little private challenge, my hat goes off to you. I’m cheering you on, just as I cheer on our athletes. Go friend! And Go USA!