Wedding Business Solutions

Are You limiting yourself with your goals?

September 11, 2024 • Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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Are You limiting yourself with your goals?

Have you ever wondered if setting goals is actually holding you back? Are you capping your potential by aiming for a target? How can you break free from this mindset and achieve more? In this episode, I explore how to rethink your approach to setting goals and challenge yourself to go beyond your perceived limits. Learn from my experience and discover strategies to maximize your growth and success without feeling restricted by traditional goal-setting.

Listen to this new 7-minute episode for ideas on how to set goals that motivate and challenge you rather than limit you.

If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or visit my website Podcast.AlanBerg.com 

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Episode Summary: 

In this episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast, I delve into the concept of goal setting and how it might be unintentionally limiting your potential. Drawing from advice my late uncle, who was a life coach, gave me, I share insights from my career in sales and consulting. I emphasize the importance of setting targets that challenge rather than confine you. I discuss how focusing solely on meeting specific goals can cap your growth, while aiming higher can lead to greater success. I also talk about balancing a packed calendar with leaving room for unexpected opportunities, and how maintaining a positive, less desperate approach can attract more business. Join me for thought-provoking strategies to stretch beyond your current limits.

View the full transcript on Alan’s site: https://alanberg.com/blog/


Want to see about having me come for private sales training, or a mastermind (bring together some industry friends to have me spend a day with you all)? Reach out to me at Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or text or call +1.732.422.6362

I'm Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you'd like to suggest other topics for "The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast" please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.

Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:

©2024 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com

Are you limiting yourself with goals? Listen to this episode. See what I'm talking about. Hi, it's Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast. This goes back to something from my uncle who actually passed last year at 93 years old and was a life coach until the day he died. And he'd also written some books and things. It was funny because I never tried to follow him, and I ended up a lot like him there. So one day, many years ago, we were talking, and I mentioned to him something about goals.

I was talking to a client about goals. He said, don't use that word. It's like, don't use the word goals. Why would I not want to use the word goals? He said, because goals, by their nature, are self limiting. You're setting a cap, you're setting something to target, but you might be capable of more than that, and that goal is limiting you there. So it sets this artificial target that we shoot for. Now, when I was publishing wedding magazines and I was regional sales director and I was vp of sales at the knot, and I had some sales reps that would work towards their target number. So I'd give them a number and they'd work towards that target number and maybe get within 5% plus or minus of that number.

Then I had other people, my top reps, who would just sell as much as they could possibly sell. That's what they would do. They would sell as much as they could sell. And wherever the chips fell, that's where they were. In their case, they were usually above their targets because they were not limiting themselves by that number and saying, I'm going to try to hit that number. They were saying, I'm just going to sell as much as I can possibly sell. And whatever the number is, it is. That's actually the way that I acted as a salesperson.

I had the I need to know number. I need to hit this number. That's what pays the bills and things. And then it was, but don't stop there. It's just know once you've hit that, the bills are paid, but let's keep going. And now what I do in my business is I actually leave space in my calendar because I have overfilled it in the past. That would be like your 2022, when your calendar was overfilled and you have to do all those events that backed up. That was 2019 for me.

I actually ended up being away 178 nights that year. Now, my p and l profit and loss statement looked amazing. It was the highest gross and net that I've ever had. I actually don't anticipate ever hitting that number again because to hit it, I had to be away 178 nights, and that was the price I paid for that. And then, of course, with COVID I was away 16 months after that. So I went from being away half the year to being home for 16 months, realized I don't like either of those things. So when I'm looking at my p and l, profit and loss, do I compare it to last year? Yes, obviously I do. But I'm okay if it's in the ballpark because I'm okay with that number.

And it's not that I'm slacking off. I'm leaving room that, and it's already happened a few times this year where somebody's come to me and say, hey, I need you to come. I need you to come soon. And had I already filled my calendar, I wouldn't be able to help that customer. So I'm leaving that room and letting it come. And that was another thing my uncle taught me. If you're doing the things you're supposed to do to get the word out, now, for me, that's this podcast. That's my books, that's my speaking, that's my consulting, that's my social media.

That's the emails that I send out. If I'm doing those things, then let it come to me. Instead of having a negative energy where, oh, my gosh, I need to fill this in. There's a desperation energy in there which actually works against you. He was very much in tune to the energy of the world and how we're all connected. And it's kind of like the secret. If you read the secret or watch the video, the secret. And he said, I didn't make this stuff up.

The laws of paternity traction and things, they've been around for millennia, it's just his way of talking about it. So you don't want to have that negative energy that I need the business. Need the business. Because people feel that whether you think you're projecting that or not, they do. And then people actually don't want to do business with you because they want to do business with people who want the business. But if you need the business, there's a negative undertone to that energy. So your goals, if you're going to set them, I would suggest know the number you have to hit because that's what pays the bills. And then have a number that you want to hit and then have a pie in the sky number and say, hey, maybe I could get to there.

Stretch yourself with that. And would that mean raising your rates? Would it mean doing more events or maybe doing the same number with a higher average profit? Right. Would it be upselling more or taking on more people or taking on more products and services? What can you do to get to that number? That doesn't necessarily mean doing more events. You can be more profitable on the events you do and hit a higher gross and net number. Thats another way to get there. But have that pie in the sky. When I was vp of sales at the knot, the first year, my first full year, they had given me the number we had to hit. And then a pie in the sky, which meant a different kind of a bonus for me.

And my predecessor had never hit their pie in the sky number. And it was up there. My first full year as vp of sales, we hit that number. Me and my team hit that number. And yes, they had to write me a big check. Now, they didn't expect us to hit it, and we did. So that was a pie in the sky. We were able to get there.

Now, of course, the number got raised for the next year because that's what happens, especially when you're in a big company. But you have to say to yourself, am I okay where I am? Do I want to go up in gross and net? What is my goal? Am I trying to do more events? Is that the goal? Or is it the better goal to be more profitable on my events? I work with people all the time in one on one, consulting for that kind of thing, trying to decide what's right for you. Times more isn't better. That's what I found out in 2019. More was not better. It looked great on the calendar until you had to live it. So don't limit yourself with goals by having them too low. Right? Stretch yourself, but have the number you know you need to hit.

This is the number I need to hit. But it would be nice if I hit that number. What do I need to do to get there? And then challenge yourself on that. So the goal actually becomes something that motivates and challenges you. Instead of limits, you hope they gave you something to think about.


I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or you can  text, use the short form on this page, or call +1.732.422.6362, international 001 732 422 6362. I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.

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©2024 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com