“It All Comes Down to Cat Food”

I have an old friend whom is a very successful Real Estate Agent in Utah. In just one year he sold 112 homes!! But, truth be told, he didn’t start off that great. When he first started he didn’t have any luck listing many clients even though he’s a super friendly guy. He didn’t know what he was doing wrong.

Ultimately, he decided that he should interview the most successful agents in the area and take them to lunch to see what they did well and what he could implement. One woman said, “Well…it all comes down to cat food.” He was curious about that! She told herself that if she didn’t meet her daily goals then she would force herself to eat a can of cat food that night. GROSS!! Her incentive worked (because she enforced them) and she fulfilled her goals! My friend followed her footsteps with a different consequence, shooting himself in the rear with a BB gun if he didn’t finish his goals. He said after 4 days of not fulfilling his goals he finally started to do them and kicked his rear in gear (instead of shooting it!) Now he has a thriving business with several employees and tells them that creating consequences is a key to success.

Here’s Three Keys to Fulfilling Goals:

1. Build a Support System Those of you who read Wendy Piersall’s blog know that on Mondays she does “Monday Motivation” with a similar consequence…if she doesn’t clean out her emails then she has a consequence, such as she’ll have to cut her hair, give up coffee for a week or give away her favorite jeans. Wendy is essentially asking her readers to support her goals when she blogs about what she is going to accomplish and then she asks them to do the same. Wendy’s support system is the eMom at Home readers…who is yours? Your spouse? best friend? business partner?

Ask someone to support you with your daily, weekly, and monthly goals. One way that has been effective for me is to email or text a friend (whom I’ve previously arranged to be my support system) and tell them what my goal is and then before bed I just email or text Y for “yes” or N for “no”. No excuses!!!
2. Reward or Punish Yourself Here is where cat food, BB guns, or hair cutting comes into action…you decide what will motivate you into action! Maybe you work better on a reward system than a punishment system. I motivate myself to clean my house by planning a big party with friends on the weekend as my reward, and then after they leave it’s still relatively clean for the next week. I’m a big deadline girl…give me a project with a deadline it’ll be done in time. I usually tell myself “when this project is done I’ll do…” (call a friend, read a magazine, etc.) If you punish yourself, do it immediately upon the deadline, don’t postpone it a minute further.

3. Set Realistic Goals for Yourself as you “eat the elephant, one bite at a time” Recently I ran a 5k and it was a giant “elephant” for me—I could hardly run to the stop sign on my street! I decided it was time to get in better shape. The month before the race I set daily and weekly goals and by the day of the race I was able to sustain a jog for the entire race with 12 min. miles and I felt like a champion! I truly felt like an “empowered woman” because I stuck to my goal and had a support system in place (my family), they knew I was going to run because I was training everyday, and ultimately they were there to cheer me on as I crossed the finish line.

You too are a champion of your dreams…as I always say, Make a Wish, Make it Happen!

Kelly King Anderson is the Founder of Start Up Princess online community, blog, and organization for women entrepreneurs. Start Up Princess was started a year ago and has since gained recognition in Costco Connection and Entrepreneur as a “Top Resource for women entrepreneurs.” Kelly believes every woman has “every gift, talent, and ability to make all her dreams come true…she just needs a great network and some Fairy Godmothers (mentors) to guide her.” Kelly is also a busy wife and mom of three young children and they try to live happily ever after in Utah.

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Posted on September 1st, 2007 by Ponn Sabra
Filed under: Entrepreneurialism, Home Office, Online Networking