PILLAR 4
Setting Your Goals
The first step to being prepared is setting your goals in a way that allows you to follow through with them. Don’t say, “I want to change my industry and make money doing so.” Instead, set concrete and specific goals that you can envision yourself meeting on a daily basis. “I want to partner with these three people.” “I want to open an office and hire a staff.” “I want to get my product and ideas on this particular platform.” Ideas and goals are amazing things, but without follow-through, you will just become an improviser with nothing to show for your ideas at the end of the day.
My good friend Larry Brown, whom I love as a brother, is a perfect example of a (former) improviser. I want you to understand the magnitude of this example I am about to lay out. As I write this, only 47 people in the history of the National Football League have earned the title Super Bowl MVP. Larry is a three-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys. He’s a very good friend of mine, and he was constantly coming up with a brilliant new idea.
Back in 2001, after appearing on Dave Letterman’s and Jay Leno’s talk shows, Larry wanted to transition from being a ball player to being a businessman. We met in church, and he started mentoring me soon after. He was the first celebrity I was close to, and spending time with him and getting a taste of his lifestyle was an eye-opener. I was in my early twenties and not yet married, and as I spent more time with Larry, I learned more and more about what I could do if I found success. It only drove me harder.
I had been hanging out with Larry for a while when my friend Pete Vargas called me. He was still in college, working as a youth minister, and he wanted me to ask Larry if he would come and speak to his kids. Larry was happy to, but only on the condition that I would be invited (and paid) as well. That was just who Larry was (and is to this day).
On the day of the event, Larry and I got in this tiny plane to go speak to this youth group in Hereford, Texas, a town that is known for its cattle and beef industry. During the 30-minute flight, he began selling me on the idea of bringing the video game world to the internet. Now, Larry is a very high level visionary, and this idea was way ahead of his time. As he spoke, I became more and more excited, and I told him that we had to make this happen as soon as we got back. The idea was a moneymaker; I knew it. What I didn’t know at the time was that even though Larry was an amazing visionary, he didn’t have a plan in place. Larry talked about his ideas as if they were in their final stages, but in fact, this amazing idea was something he had just come up with.
When we landed in Hereford, everyone was so excited to meet the amazing Larry Brown—the kids, the parents, everyone. Billionaires in the cattle industry were lining up to shake his hand. It was an amazing event, and we both got a fantastic amount of exposure. I was riding high from Larry’s gaming idea and the event, but when we got back to the hotel, Larry sat me down to talk about another idea he had.
The same man from the plane now had a new passionate idea about cattle. He spoke to me as if it were the only idea he had ever had. I was floored. What happened to the gaming idea? What was going to happen to this idea when he had another epiphany? In that moment, I realized that while Larry was clearly brilliant, he wasn’t going to do anything big if he didn’t put his ideas into practice.
Larry was a master of vision, but he didn’t have a team around him or even a plan of attack to make those visions happen. When he played ball, his team would protect him from what he didn’t see and tell him when things were not going to work out. Larry had to learn how to create a team around him. Remember, in the multitude of counsel is safety. This statement applies to your support team and plan as well as to your mentors.
In the end, both ideas became wasted opportunities. Someone else took on the video game industry and the internet, and someone else revolutionized the beef industry. Happily, Larry is not that guy anymore though. He is now a successful professional speaker, television sports personality, and investor with a clear vision of what he wants for his future. 50I want you to learn from him. I want you to see what mistakes he made, so that you never make the same ones.
You don’t need to be like Larry. You don’t have to be an idea machine. Amazing things can happen when you take just one idea and put all your effort behind it. When you have your big idea or your big goal, when you’re ready to make the investment in yourself and follow through, attack that plan with passion. You will enjoy your rise so much more if you connect your endeavors to something you love. By making a choice about what you want and deciding to start working toward it, you are participating in your own rescue.
Goals are tricky things. Ever since we were in grade school, we have been taught to set huge, long-term goals. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “A fireman! A doctor! President!” Now, those of us who have kids—hell, those of us who were kids!—know that these big goals can change. They almost always do.
Setting goals can be daunting. It’s easy to think about things you want in the long term. You want to be a millionaire. You want to pay off your mortgage and buy a vacation house. You want to start your own business. You want to earn enough to take your family on vacation every few months. But if you don’t break those big goals down into smaller ones that allow you to make progress each day toward that big goal, you will never be able to get what you want.
Think of a ladder. Your ultimate goal is that top rung or step, and you are currently at the bottom rung. 51You can’t get from the bottom to the top without all those rungs in the middle. Setting huge, lofty goals may seem satisfying at first, but that feeling doesn’t last long unless you have all the rungs planned out. Long-term goals are all well and good, but it is the short-term ones that will get you results that you can build upon.
Contrary to popular belief, setting a goal is not an indication that you are on your way to mastering the mindset of a first-generation millionaire. Not even close! Setting a goal is simply an indication that you have your eyes on the prize with the intent of accomplishment. Writing a goal is a personal declaration that you have a desire to start. Anyone can set a goal, but the sad reality is that most people who set a goal never start. Champions who truly have a burning desire to win don’t just set the goal. They get the goal. I have heard many speakers and coaches train people in how to set the goal, and that’s good, but those who train people in how to get the goal create the slight edge advantage of teaching people how to actually reach that goal. How do you go from being a goal setter to becoming a goal getter? The truth is, there are many ways to exercise this mental muscle, but what follows is one of the most proven, practical, and best step-by-step principles I have ever witnessed.
My mentor Holton Buggs was the first person I have ever heard teach a version of this concept years ago. Since then, I’ve taken his concept and transformed it into something that now works perfectly for me: the 90-Day Get-the-Goal Challenge.
To start the challenge, I first want you to think of a ladder. Each rung, or step, is your measured progress toward your goal. Your goal ladder represents a short-term goal that you want to reach in the next 90 days. Right now, take out a piece of paper and draw a ladder with five rungs. Write down your big idea—your big goal—on the top rung. Now, write down one smaller, achievable goal that will help you get there on the bottom rung. You can sketch out the four other rungs if you want, but that isn’t as important right now. That first rung is your first 90-day goal.
Next on your ladder (or on a separate piece of paper), break up that first goal into a halfway point. Use a pen, not a pencil. These are not sketches. They are set in stone for the next 90 days. Where do you need to be at that halfway point? Say you want to write that book or get a certain number of customers every single month. You can’t just go from zero to finished book or 20 customers to 100 customers a month. You have to build up to it. If you want to write a 200-page book, then at the halfway point, you need to have 100 pages written. Now that you have your halfway point (45 days from your start), break that down into 15 days, 30 days, 60 days, and 75 days, and write those goals next to them.
If you want to talk to 60 potential customers every single day, then you know that by the 45-day mark, you will need to be talking to at least 30 people every single day. But know that those numbers won’t happen right away. Build up to it. Start by mastering talking to 15 people every day. Then 20. Once you know you can hit those numbers consistently, move up to 30 people a day. If you reach half your goal, great, but use those benchmarks as guides.
Stay on track and watch those benchmarks. Focus on those smaller goals and not the goal at top of the ladder. While that top-rung goal is important, know that it may change over time, due to changing circumstances—a death in your family, a new baby, or even a global pandemic. Also keep in mind that if your top-rung goal is too big or too vague, you can get discouraged if you aren’t seeing that goal happen right away.
Once you have reached that first rung, repeat this exercise for the next rung, and the rung after that. Add rungs to your ladder if you need to. And remember, it’s OK to amend that top-rung goal as you see yourself scaling the ladder. It may get bigger. It may expand or adjust as you change industries or professions or as you discover things about yourself as you climb this ladder. All of that’s OK. Focus on those smaller 90-day goals. They will lay the foundation for your success.
The amazing thing about implementing this principle in your life is that you can aim it at any goal (losing weight, increasing your savings accounts, increasing your annual income, quitting smoking). There are zero limitations. Here’s why. Imagine a 90-dot connect-the-dots puzzle. It is more important to focus on the next dot that is already in sight than it is to focus on the end result. It’s the same process when it comes to practicing your 90-Day Get-the-Goal Challenge. The more you practice this process in multiple areas in your life, the more this new strategy will become part of your lifestyle, which will ultimately lead you to becoming a master of the millionaire mindset.
I want you to be a visionary. I want you to think of great ideas. But I also want you to pick one good idea and prepare for it. Just give yourself one goal to focus on right now and make it count. Don’t live in the land of improvisation. Don’t improvise your life and continue to think you’re on your way to becoming wealthy when you are not.
If you don’t plan the rungs of your ladder, then you have no way of knowing if you are actually working toward what you want. You have no way of measuring your growth. You have no way of knowing if you are on the right track.
If you truly want to be a first-generation millionaire, if you truly want to master the art of wealth, then you have to put your goals into action. Have faith in yourself and your ideas. Pay attention to your ideas, and implement them. Be brilliant. Stay focused. Prepare. Hit your goal. If you aren’t willing to do so, you have no business on this journey to becoming a first-generation millionaire.
ACTION STEP
I want you to start with your first goal and work backward. I want you to isolate that goal and trace backward to that exact number of what you need to do each week or day to reach your goal. Once you do it one day, then two days in a row, then three days, you will know what success feels like.
The evidence of hitting those goals every day and every week will build the commitment key of your character, making you a master of your wealth and success.
PILLAR 4