Is it true that you are where you are today based on the choices you have made in the past? Then it also stands to reason that you will get where you want to be in the future based on the choices you make in your present. This fundamental truth is the basis for this article.

The choices we make, or do not make, have a great impact on our businesses and personal lives. The ‘right’ choices lead to large amounts of revenue, a simpler and more balanced life, and a greater sense of fulfillment. Poor choices tend to create less cash, frustration, a complicated and out of balance life, feelings of being overwhelmed, and a sense that one is operating far below their true potential. The benefits of these choices are usually very clear, yet it often seems that the people who make and stick to these sometimes obvious choices are in the minority.

Twelve clear choices are identified here that are turning points in the careers of virtually every person. Every person makes these choices either deliberately or by default. Six of these are best presented as positive choices that consistently lead to greater success and six of these choices are best presented as commonly unmade choices that lead to failure, or worse: mediocrity.

1. A choice of self-reliance. It has always amazed me when a person says that they would attend a seminar, a training course, or workshop provided they can get someone else to pay for it. Make a choice to pay your own way and take TOTAL responsibility for your success or failure.

2. A choice to have a comprehensive, long-range business plan. Do you understand the difference between a business plan, a marketing plan, and a sales plan? Do you set goals every year and mistakenly think you have a plan? If your company were publicly traded, you being the CEO, would investors be impressed with your long-range plan and your ability to articulate exactly where you are now, where you want to be, and how you are going to get there? Would you buy stock in a company whose CEO had no plan?

3. A choice to take more time off. Eddie Bauer has a powerful advertising slogan: "Never confuse having a career with having a life." Make it your mantra.

You see, when you decide that you are only willing to work a certain number of hours or days per week, but you want your income to go up anyway, you become more resourceful and skilled at producing more results in increasingly smaller amounts of time.

4. A choice to be paid what you are worth.
Stop giving your services and value for less than they are worth. It's time.

5. A choice to be on the path of continuous improvement. You have heard it before. Everyone has a next level. We live in a world and have chosen a business that changes rapidly. This means that you become comfortable learning, growing and continuously improving.

6. A choice to be clear about you do, what you don't do, and do only what you do well. A person I met says, "I am very good at what I do because I only do what I am very good at." This is a very smart way to live.

1. Failure to recognize that what got you from where you were to where you are today may not be the best way to get from where you are today to where you want to be in the future. (Failure to change.)

Do you believe that your industry legends would do the same things they did in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s today? Their genius was not in what they did then. Their genius was their ability to figure out what worked at whatever time they needed it.

2. Failure to write your book. Are you currently writing a book? Have you ever thought it would be a good idea? Have you ever read a book on your area of expertise and said, "I could have written that?" A book may be the best credibility tool in your entire marketing strategy.

3. Failure to implement well. Will Rogers once said, "Even if you're on the right track you will still get run over if you just sit there." There are no secrets in business.

4. Failure to master the referral interview. (Training your clients to do all your sales and marketing.)
All prospecting and marketing other than referrals should be temporary. Prospecting and marketing is what some people who have no clients or no natural market have to do to get started. Unfortunately, some persons get so good at it that they just keep doing it forever.

5. Failure to master the art of delegation. If you are only going to do what you are very good at then you have to hire people who are very good at the other things. Hiring well and delegating is a skill that all serious business people must develop.

6. Failure to align your choices and your target market with your values. One of the key decisions that my husband made that was instrumental to his success today was the choice to make the financial services industries his exclusive target market. It wasn't an easy decision to be industry-specific, but it was one of his best.

In closing, I suggest you create an informal, honest self-evaluation. Simply rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 in each of the 12 areas we have discussed and then begin to make incremental improvements. "The truth will set you free" is not just a Biblical reference, it's the truth. Be honest with yourself and make a commitment to make the choices that will propel you to your highest level of success.

©1999 Anne M. Bachrach, San Diego, CA