We have survey results back from our Pilot II RMA class and I wanted to share some of the most frequently-cited goals:

1.      Greatly increasing the sales and revenue of their companies or teams.

2.      Increasing their current customers' loyalty, engagement, and retention.

3.      Exponentially increasing the overall trajectory of their businesses and/or careers.

4.      Finding greater personal fulfillment in their careers.

5.      Developing stronger connection and having more ease and self-confidence within their professional relationships.

Are any of you here working on any of these goals? Which is most important to you and why?

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When Joy Meredith was getting ready to throw her hat back into the job-hunting ring, she wanted to take the smartest and most efficient path to finding a new gig. Inspiration struck when Joy realized that an agent had been instrumental in landing her first book deal.  Why not enlist an agent to find a great gig?   Then Joy went beyond that and thought – “Why not reach out to the people who know me and think I'm brilliant and create an army of agents?”

Joy hatched the idea for her Joyful Job Bounty and sent it out to the universe via her blog, Twitter, and anywhere else she could think to share.  Joy’s Joyful Job Bounty offers 10% of her new salary to anyone who puts her in touch with the right people to land her next project.

Joy’s bounty was inspired by Never Eat Alone and Who’s Got Your Back, and to move forward even further Joy wanted to join the RMA program.  She reached out and offered an additional bounty on a scholarship to RMA.  If what she learned in RMA led to her next opportunity, she would pay back the tuition along with a matching charitable contribution.

Impressed by Joy’s ingenuity, I am giving her a 50% scholarship to RMA --  and 9 more scholarships will go to other unemployed people who can make a case for what they would do with the knowledge gained in the program. Winners will only pay $150 for the entire 10-week RMA program!

Do you want to be one of the other 9 scholarship recipients?   Send an e-mail to community@relationshipmastersacademy.com with the subject line: Pick Me for RMA Scholarship and tell me why you should receive a scholarship and what you will do with what you learn in RMA.  You must be over 18 years of age and unemployed in order to be eligible.

Good luck!

For discussion: What creative strategies have helped you find a job in the past?

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"My biggest motivation? Just to keep challenging myself. I see life almost like one long University education that I never had - every day I'm learning something new."-Richard Branson

I’m not just a coach in the Relationship Masters Academy program pilot that launched yesterday – I’m also a student!

I’m taking the course right along with our pilot class. Marketers call that “eating your own dog food” – a great way to show faith in the product or service you’re selling. The expression apparently came from an old Alpo commercial, in which the actor Lorne Greene said his own dog ate the product.

But I’m not just taking the RMA program to prove that it’s “tasty.” I’m doing it because even we experts constantly need to refresh our skills. This is an opportunity to up my own game over the next 11 weeks.

Redrafting my personal vision statement as part of Lesson 1 was my first task. Here’s the format we use – take stab at drafting your own today! Then post it where you’ll see it all the time.

“I will become [your role] who will [your goal] within [time period]."

Here’s what I came up with – I’ll be rethinking and tweaking it all week long:

"I will become a powerful GLOBAL force for change in people's lives who will prove that strong relationships are the fastest, most effective, most joyful pathway to success, within two years and throughout my life."

What skills do you need to refresh and can drafting your own personal vision statement help?

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"It's never too late to be who you might have been." -George Elliot

I won’t BS you: finding your passion, discovering your strengths, and most of all MAKING IT HAPPEN is not as easy as it sounds.  So, I’m constantly seeking strategies to make it easier.

Here's one: Five simple lists that you can make to set yourself on the path to discovering your dream job.  All you have to do is take a quiet hour to make these lists:

1. Every profession you’ve ever dreamed or thought of having

You wanted to be a fireman? Write it down!  Pharmacist? Great!  Put it on the list. The idea here is to brainstorm – don’t limit yourself by what you feel is “possible.”  You will start to see patterns among the jobs you list here. Similar traits between them.  That’s the real value, so the more inputs you have here the better.

2. Everything you’re good at – your strengths

Again, we’re brainstorming here so list everything.  Are you good at cooking?  Explaining things to people? Are you great at keeping your house organized?  Are you a great manager?  This is a good opportunity to involve your family, close friends and colleagues – ask them what you’re good at; often they have a valuable perspective that you can’t see yourself.

3. Everything you’re not so good at – your weaknesses

We all have weaknesses, or things that are NOT our strengths. Be honest here – you will find that often these align with unhappiness. Think about times when you’re unhappy: do you hate doing paperwork? Maybe it’s because you’re not very good at administrative tasks.  Are you uncomfortable in social situations? Maybe “being social” isn’t a strength of yours. BE HONEST in this exercise. And ask your family, friends and colleagues for their insights.

4. Every little thing that’s ever made you happy in your life

Happiness is one of the most important things in life. Who doesn’t want to live a happy life?  If you want to find your passion – something that will allow you to be great – then it must also make you happy. Think about every little thing that you’ve ever done that makes you happy. Spending time with your kids, tearing apart a computer and putting it back together, running miles and miles until you can’t run anymore.  Your list of “happy things” will help you figure out first what it is you DON’T want to do; then, you work with this list to identify a career that incorporates one or more of these things in a big way.

5. Companies and/or people you want to work for

Have you always wanted to work for a particular company? Or how about that woman you’ve read about in the WSJ and respect so much. Make a list of all these companies and people.  This will help guide your search after you’ve made all your other lists.  This is one of the first steps in crafting your Relationship Action Plan. Don’t forget to do this one – it will guide you into action.

Making these lists is just the first step of a new system I’ve developed: A Simple 5-Step Program to Land Your Dream Job in 2010. The webinar package is currently $99.95 in our store, but subscribers to KeithFerrazzi.com’s Tip of the Week – and their friends – can purchase it for $29.95 using a special link provided in this week's Tip of the Week.

You can get this special price of $29.95 too by becoming a member of KeithFerrazzi.com!

I’ve found this exercise alone has offered more immediate insight into my passions than any other.  But these lists are only the first step – there are four more steps you need to take in order to realize your dream.

I teach them all in this exclusive webcast, which I originally gave to the Stanford Graduate School of Business. If you are serious about making a change in your life, I really encourage you to download this package.  It’ll be the best $30 you’ve spent all year.

100% Money-Back Guarantee

Not only am I offering this package to you at a steep discount, I’m also making it RISK FREE for you! That means that if you are not 100% satisfied, I’ll buy it back from you (with one condition: you tell me what I can do to make it better!).

This process has helped many successful people discover their passion and their path to greatness. I want it to do the same for you. We’re all in this together.

Product Details

In the “A Simple 5-Step Program to Land Your Dream Job in 2010” package, you’ll get:

• The one-hour video tutorial from me (in Windows, Mac & iPhone versions)
• The audio-only version of the download, so you can take me on your commute on CD or in your iPod
• A NEWLY REVISED version of the Lifeline Group Launch Kit
• An offer of exclusive Charter Membership to KeithFerrazzi.com.

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Welcome to the final day of our Relationship Action Plan Challenge, designed to give you just a small taste of the system I teach at the Relationship Masters Academy, currently enrolling for the March 4 class.

The final piece of the system? RENEW! Today’s challenge helps manage Goal Drift. Reassessing your goals (and the relationships you need to achieve them) over time is essential. Goal drift isn’t necessarily bad; as you devote yourself to outreach, you take in new information, your horizons expand, and as a result, your goals often shift. But that's why it’s important to renew and refine those goals and your Relationship Action Plan on a regular basis - and at least quarterly.

The Renew step is best accomplished with one or several trusted sparring partners – preferably lifeline relationships, but most importantly someone you respect and who will be honest. The idea is to engage in a no-holds-barred discussion of your goals from top to bottom. Are they the right ones? Are they overly ambitious or too tentative? Have you missed someone obvious on your outreach list? Once you’ve sparred with your partner, you should find another two or three and repeat the process. As your thinking develops, you'll amend your strategy.

Today's challenge: Make a date to spar over goals with someone close to you who's interested in doing the same - or just willing to help! Share your goals in writing before the session, so you and your partner have each had time to think and perhaps even research the issues at hand.

Hope you enjoyed the Challenge! I'd love to hear your feedback if you participated in all or any days - what happened?

Today’s challenge has to do with Goal Drift – reassessing your goals (and the relationships you need to achieve them) over time. Goal drift isn’t necessarily bad; as you devote yourself to outreach, you take in new information, your horizons expand, and as a result, your goals often shift. But that's why it’s important to renew and refine those goals and your Relationship Action Plan on a regular basis - and at least quarterly.

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Welcome to Day 3 of our Relationship Action Plan Challenge, designed to give you just a small taste of the system I teach at the Relationship Masters Academy, currently enrolling for the March 4 class.

Today's Challenge: Get Smart About Goals

Most people who read this blog are probably working toward some kind of goal - from experience I know my readers to be motivated and ambitious. I'm willing to bet that for most of you (or at least those who didn't read Who's Got Your Back!), that goal is some form of performance goal: Get the promotion. Increase revenue x%. Lose 10 lbs.

Today I challenge you to develop a Learning Goal to compliment your performance goal. Learning Goals are qualitative, mini-goals that define what you need to learn to help yourself achieve a specific performance goal. As long as you do the work, there’s no way to fail at a Learning Goal.

So for examples:
"Get the promotion" --->Learn 5 new techniques for being a better manager.
"Increase revenue" ---> Improve your bookkeeping skills.
"Lose 10 lbs" ----> Learn to exercise better portion control.

Get the picture? Write down those learning goals and make a plan to make them happen!

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I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life.  The problem is that I can't find anybody who can tell me what they want.  - Mark Twain

Have you ever sat down and thought seriously about what you truly love? What you’re good at? What you want to accomplish in life? What are the obstacles that are stopping you? Most people don’t. They accept what they “should” be doing, rather than take the time to figure out what they want to be doing.

We all have our own loves, insecurities, strengths, weaknesses, and unique capabilities. And we have to take those into account in figuring out where our talents and desires intersect. That intersection is what I call your “blue flame”—where passion and ability come together. When that blue flame is ignited within a person, it is a powerful force in getting you where you want to go.

I think of the blue flame as a convergence of mission and passion founded on a realistic self-assessment of your abilities. It helps determine your life’s purpose, from taking care of the elderly to becoming a mother, from being a top engineer to becoming a writer or a musician. I believe everyone has a distinct mission inside of him or her, one that has the capacity to inspire.

So how do you figure out your bliss? There are two aspects to getting good information. One part comes from within you; the other part comes from those around you.

Part I: Look inside

1. Get your mind ready for a deep self-assessment. Some people pray. Others meditate or read. Some exercise. A few seek long periods of solitude.

2. Shift your mindset. Throw away the usual constraints you put around possibility – the doubts, fears, and expectations of what you “should” be doing. You have to be able to set aside the obstacles of time, money, and obligation.  (For some thoughts on whether following your passion will lead to better financial rewards, check out this post at The Art of Nonconformity.)

3. Create a list of dreams and goals. Some will be preposterous; others overly pragmatic. Don’t edit yourself at all right now. Next to that first list, write down in a second column all the things that bring you joy and pleasure: the achievements, people, and things that move you. The clues can be found in the hobbies you pursue and the magazines, movies, and books you enjoy. Which activities excite you the most, where you don’t even notice the hours that pass?

4. Start to connect these two lists. Looki for intersections, that sense of direction or purpose. It’s a simple exercise, but the results can be profound.

Part II: Look outside

1. Call on advisors and friends. Ask the people who know you best what they think your greatest strengths and weaknesses are. Ask them what they admire about you and what areas you may need help in.

2. Discuss your self-assessment with them. Ask them to be candid about their reactions.

3. Make decisions. Use the information from your own review and what you got back from others to establish a mission statement and plan of action. For help in setting goals, see my earlier post, Five Steps to Setting Goals.

This post is based on Chapter III in Never Eat Alone.  Image courtesy of artofstuff.com.

Once you do the exercise, jump back in here and tell me: What did you learn?

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An NEA fan, Jesse La Rose, wrote me with the perfect example of what Jim Collins calls an “audacious goal” – and he’s paired it with an ingenious, NEA-style approach to achieving it. Jesse recently founded his own company, ESE Solutions, a consultancy focused on cost-cutting green solutions. We’ve been in contact sporadically (he's a king of follow-up) since he first reached out to me six years ago at a Sigma Chi event.

From Jesse’s recent email:

So, here I am, living my dream of starting a company that makes money and has a positive impact on the environment and society. I’ve also set an ambitious networking goal of attending the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting before I’m 30, I turn 27 tomorrow. I’ve already been to one of their events for experts in sustainability with about 150 people who President Clinton addressed personally for about an hour which was incredible. I am planning on trying to do some pro-bono consulting work for them and have a call set up as a result of that meeting with their staff for next week. My plan is to use the network I’ve developed to get major companies to partner with them and make commitments that I will help them to implement.

What’s your audacious goal – and do you have a plan to make it happen?

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This is an exercise you can do right now. So get out a sheet of paper and ask yourself:

Who are the 75 people who are most important to your success and joy? This is the barest essential of what I call a Relationship Action Plan. The list should be some combination of people you already know, and those you need to get to know.

Start writing! If you run out of names, start thinking about the types of people you need to know – what I call “constituencies” – and then work backward from those constituencies to add names to your list, or knock ones off as your list grows and you need to prioritize. For example: If your goal is self-publish online, one constituency might be “Successful online self-publishers.” Then all you need is some internet research to help fill in the blanks.

Once you’ve got your list, give each of the people on it an intimacy rating from 1-5. If most of them are at 0s or 1s, you know you’ve really got some work to do to build those relationships into the kind that will contribute more deeply to your success.

But even if all you do is make the list, I guarantee you it will evolve the way you think about your outreach – whether you’re doing enough and targeting the right people.

0 Comments // In Goal Setting

...from an unlikely source: Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds, in Men's Health Magazine.

"Whether he's talking about inhabiting characters or running races, there's a theme that arises frequently in Reynolds's conversations: goals versus expectations. He has plenty of goals, both professional and personal, but as much as he can, he tries to avoid having expectations -- simply assuming that something is going to happen without doing the work. "When you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment," Reynolds says. "I didn't expect to finish the marathon; I trained to finish it."

0 Comments // In Goal Setting