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Look – Get Hooked – Your Cooked!4 min read

Follow along with me on this story even if you don’t like fishing as this message truly relates to you and your business. 

In the activity of fishing, we sometimes use shiny lures replicating the fish or bait that targets the fish we’re seeking. We may retrieve these artificial baits either by shore or boat, sometimes from a standing position or trolling them at fast speeds from a boat. The fish that swim below the water is eventually distracted by the sight and/or sound of these shiny objects. If presented correctly, these shiny lures will get them to strike and once that happens, they get hooked. If the fish is of the right species, let’s say tasty mahi-mahi from the ocean. They find themselves tossed in the cooler and eventually into the frying pan where they get cooked! 

I share this analogy as I believe this is no different in business when you are not clear on the WIN formula or of What’s Important Now! If you are not crystal clear on exactly the focus of what’s most important to move you, your team and your business forward you will eventually get distracted by these shiny objects. We are continually targeted and marketed to on a daily basis and if you are one that is not clear on your objective, these shiny objects will get you to look. When they are cleverly and properly presented you may get hooked, and when it takes you away from your primary focus of what’s most important, you get cooked! 

So, what leads us to look, get hooked and eventually cooked? It’s simply the lack of clarity and intentionalism. 

If you do not have proper systematization in your business or organization, you will get distracted! 

If you are not clear on your ultimate goals and objective, you will get distracted! 

If you do not have a written plan, you will get distracted! 

If you are not communicating your goals and plans to your team, they will get distracted! 

If you are not clear on the Vision, Mission, and Culture of your organization, you and your team will get distracted! 

If you are not clear on your ideal customer, client or team member that fits into your model, you will get distracted! 

If you don’t have the right marketing plan, you will get distracted! 

I hope I have you thinking of where you may need to tighten up your focus to keep you from getting distracted. Now, let me now share some points to get you on track! 

1.       Create a clearly written, well-defined plan with daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly goals and action steps to apply to get you closer to your ultimate objective of whatever that may be. 

2.       Create a Vision, Mission or ultimate purpose written and articulated for your business or organization. This, when properly articulated, will become the main driver of all the decisions you make in the building of your team and organization. Without it, you may just drift day to day and be easily susceptible to those outside distractions and shiny objects. 

3.       Be clear on exactly who your ideal customer, client and/or team member looks like. If you do not create the clarity on this you just may become frustrated with your team or customer base somewhere down the road. In addition, getting clear on your ideal customer and client will clarify exactly what type of marketing you will want to put in place. 

4.       If you have a team, you must have rules of the game, clearly defined roles and responsibilities for each and every member of your team. You must create, track and measure KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators), vital functions or action steps that each member is responsible in accomplishing. 

5.       You must administer weekly meetings to keep proper communication as a top priority while reviewing and discussing everyone’s weekly successes and objectives. In addition to having a quarterly review process in place to track your individual team members performance and goals. 

6.       Get an accountability partner to keep you on track to hold you accountable while you’re doing the same with everyone else. Whether it be a trusted colleague or a coach, none of us can take this journey alone and expect to reach maximum success. 

Create the clarity, plan and action steps to apply and deliver the business that works for you and no longer will you be a fish in the water that looks, gets hooked and eventually cooked!