Scheduling a routine check-up with the doctor, dentist, or mechanic is not something I do with eagerness and clockwork timing. I fall into the deferment mindset with standard excuses such as, “I feel fine,” or “It’s running well and I keep up on my oil changes.” It takes a toothache, check engine light, or thrown out back to get me to these professionals. I keep operating in this fashion in spite of repeated life experiences supporting the old cliché: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
If you’re anything like me, regular maintenance is a struggle. And sometimes, that mentality in your personal life bleeds into your business. When I say your business, I don’t mean you have to be the owner. I’m referring to an entrepreneurial, take-charge-of-your-own-situation mindset. If you’re a salesperson, your business is your book of accounts, commission, expenses, and customer loyalty. If you’re a mechanic, it’s your bays, tools, billable hours, and work quality.
So, what about your business? Do you have a regularly scheduled plan to do routine check-ups and evaluations? Do you seek the help of a specialist, consultant, mentor, employee, or spouse to ask you the right questions and provide feedback? What goals are you setting for your business, for yourself, and for those you work with? How are you measuring and evaluating your performance? What actions are you taking to make the improvements you desire?
When you work hard, it’s easy to allow the daily grind of productivity to put blinders on you and inhibit the “planfulness” that is critical to ensure you’re on the path towards realizing your objectives. Most of us desire to be “planful” and strategic. I believe you fail to do so for the same reason. You don’t plan time for planning. You don’t schedule, carve out, or make time to step back and view your operations from the 10,000-foot level.
From my personal experience, this process is only difficult at first and once established, it’s hard not to do it. After starting with this process a few years ago, I’m passionate about the value of goal setting and review.
Here are some tips that help me:

1. Schedule time where you won’t be distracted – and show up on time for your own meeting.
2. Use S.M.A.R.T. Goals.
3. Keep your goals visible. Share them to keep you accountable and focused.
4. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Pick one or two impactful things to work on at a time.
5. Enhancing a strength is often as useful as addressing a weakness.
6. Get support! You’re always smarter when you have a sounding board.

Schedule that 60k mile inspection. Call your dentist’s office. Schedule some time with yourself to give your business a check-up. Ultimately, you’ve got to create and implement your own system, one that works for you. And, you’ve got to work it.
photo credit:© Brian Jackson / Dollar Photo Club

Who looks forward to getting poked and prodded at the doctor? Or waiting around for a tune-up on your ride? This week, the Sales Cyclist is talking routine maintenance – and why you should make a plan to plan. Like what Ben has to say? Join the conversation below or send him an email.