Set Compelling Goals

I have a potential crisis on my hands.  A big customer is being a bit slow paying a big invoice. This just might leave me unable to pay my salary next month.  (I don't think it will actually come to that in fact - but lets think it through.)  The obvious and logical thing to do is to try and get enough smaller jobs processed and billed to meet the shortfall.


I find this rather a dispiriting situation.  I don't feel highly motivated to work hard just to pay the bills.  You might well think I should, and you are probably right, but the prospect of just getting by is not one that fires my imagination.

Of course I have to pay the bills so I will no doubt have to do a bit of bread and butter work.  But I want to be working hard to achieve big things, not just to get by.

So when I get my pencil out to do my strategic plan for today I will be concentrating on what I need to do to build up my business in the long run, not what I need to do to pay the bills.  After all, if I did anything differently, I'd find myself with no motivation at all if the money I am owed actually turns up.

So the rule is to set goals that you find compelling.  You obviously need to be aware of the practicalities of the real world and take them into account, but what matters is what matters to you not what your situation imposes on you.


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