Here are my 2012 goals and my comments on how I've performed.
Even better at sales- killing it. I also want to be an expert in influencing and negotiating. Ready to do this in every way, managing, recruiting, training and selling. Better opportunities, more commission. Same effort level or even more effort, more skill. Better personal presentation, more self investment.
7/10
In 2012 I’ve worked in some very interesting and intense sales environments. Been involved in inbound and outbound telesales (including receiving leads from India). I’ve put a lot of energy in, and taken very few days off. Other people in these jobs a lot of the time seem to have the attitude of ‘when’s my next break’ or ‘how can I spend all the money I get’... I’ve just been wanting to get commission and improve my sales ability.
I would like to say a personal thank you to Sky this year for employing me. When I was a boy I always wanted to have Sky TV, and to work for this company was a good experience. The sales team there are professional and pay the staff well, so thanks to Ty Branson and everyone I worked with there. I’ll be more than happy to go on Sky TV if I become famous in the future ;).
Why have I rated myself 7/10? I feel my verbal and overall sales skills are VERY GOOD... however the real measure of a salesman is how much he gets paid and I can’t honestly say for the sales jobs I’ve done this year I’ve been very well paid. It’s really important to really probe before every sales job (right now I’m considering how to probe and research better!) then you have to ‘follow the culture’ of an organisation to get paid. Overall I’d say that doing sales roles in the UK is pretty tough at the moment- you have to perform to an EXTREMELY high level to get good money. Other people are getting money much easier in other jobs. Still, I love sales and influencing people. I think it’s a great skillset to have and I still get a buzz out of every time I sell.
This year I’ve also been involved in my first six figure sale of my Grandad’s property. I did everything I could to help my father with this and I believe he tried his best too. However, I feel he made some mistakes- paying the estates agents Haybrooks FAR TOO MUCH (one of my biggest regrets this year was that I didn’t go to that meeting, even though I had to do sales myself that day) and generally everyone involved with the process too much. In every decision he made I did my best to advise and influence him, but his name was down in the will to do the sale. It is a shame that despite being an accountant (and probably VERY GOOD at doing the role he does) he doesn’t negotiate with people much... I have never seen him do it in my life. Still, I will negotiate with every single significant financial decision I have to make in my life. Companies can sometimes be very tight fisted in giving employees money, and I will be when needed to as well.
I promoted the house through social media and advised my dad for free and at the end we achieved a relatively quick sale. I think I would have achieved more money overall for it, if only by reducing costs involved in the sale, but it’s a learning experience. I may well buy my own house in the future and know more about the process now.
By the way, despite him paying the estate agents in total £3,000 including VAT I'm yet to recieve ANY money from him for doing this. This is just one example of how illogical the world is- pay a conning estate agent a lot of money for not doing much then be reluctant to give your son money. Still, either way, I feel OK spending time doing this as it improves my sales skillset
More money- I have an 'at least goal' a 'high goal' and a 'stretch goal'. I will have no wealth barriers, I know I deserve and am worth it. Monitor money better, check sales performance carefully
8/10
Well... I’ve phrased this goal as ‘at least’ ‘high’ and ‘stretch’ but rest assured, I know exactly what each of them are
At the end of the year I am half way between my at least and high goal. I have really smashed total energy into getting money this year... it’s an interesting goal to have, as it’s something you can measure to the penny. I don’t know anybody else who has a specific financial goal, (although one person says he will make one next year) but it’s definitely a good one to have.
My investments have done very well this year. Some shares I’ve bought about a year ago are worth nearly five times their value, and many other shares I own have gone up by around 50% this year. I feel confident in my portfolio and know it will go up over time, while still producing a good yield. I like looking at my shares going up, although I know they will still go up without me looking at them as much. Probably will aim to do this less in 2013 unless I’m researching buying shares.
I have played a VERY GOOD defensive game this year in terms of saving money. I have been very careful in how I’ve invested it in everything and made decent decisions. However, I can’t award myself higher than 8/10 because my offensive game (earning money) has only been quite good. Made decent money on side from poker and surveys as well as my jobs, and received a lot of good things through the internet for free.
In future I need to make myself able to make more good investment decisions in many different ways to really smash my wealth goals. I know I will do this in future.
Done alright on this but want to meet even better ones. Have more to offer! Be more social. Help high value people with their goals pragmatically.
8/10
My official phrase for this used to be “mutual fulfilment with high value people”... although now I believe fulfilment and fun might be a better way of phrasing this. Overall this year I've said exactly what's on my mind with no filter... and that's the best way to be the vast majority of the time. Possibly I need to calibrate a bit with some people in some situations, but in an ideal world I'd say just what's on my mind all the time. Doing sales this year has been often hilarious with the amount of things people come up with... I don't think I've ever laughed so much at work! I think this year I've learnt to 'enjoy the now' more, and not overestimate how hard it is to do something. Just go and meet people, or do challenges, it's all a learning experience.
I know great people in many different areas. It’s humbling sometimes to know that great people who’ve achieved a lot want to help me reach my goals. The best way to repay them I believe is to be a success, and I would like all my friends to know that I will be a success. I have achieved some decent things in my life so far, but I will achieve much more. And I will remember everyone who helped me get there.
I have done my best to help high value people, and many people, reach their goals. To be honest, I’ve wasted a bit of time trying to help some people- for example if someone doesn’t want to make money easily (maybe not by wasting it) that’s their decision. To be honest, people like Stevie PUA ... do they actually even need my help in being amazing at what they do? Maybe I can help a bit and hopefully I have but amazing people achieve amazing things anyway.
So why am I scoring myself 8/10? Well, I would like to have deeper relationships with high value people, and meet more of them in person. For 2013 I am going to invest more time and energy into this.
