Goal Setting Mastery (Part 3 - Building "The How" Bridge)

Summary

The Advanced Selling Podcast: Goal Setting Mastery (Part 3 - Building "The How" Bridge) – Detailed Summary

Release Date: November 18, 2024
Hosts: Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale
Duration: 16 Minutes and 31 Seconds

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1. Introduction to Episode

In the third installment of their "Goal Setting Mastery" series, hosts Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale delve into the critical phase of building "The How" bridge—translating vivid goals into actionable steps. This episode focuses on actionable strategies and tools to achieve sales success, emphasizing clarity, organization, and adaptability.

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2. Recap of Previous Parts

The hosts begin by summarizing the series progression:

• Part 1: Taking inventory of current skills and resources.
• Part 2: Defining clear, vivid goals for future success.

"We've talked about where we are taking inventory. We've decided where we're going... now we're gonna talk about how to get there."
— Bryan Neale [03:45]

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3. Building "The How" Bridge: Strategies Discussed

a. Start, Stop, Continue Exercise

Bill introduces the Start, Stop, Continue framework as a foundational tool for defining actionable steps toward goals.

"Start, stop, continue. This is the how exercise. It really takes these things and puts them into a behavioral sense that says, okay, as I look forward, how am I going to achieve these vivid goals?"
— Bryan Neale [05:49]

Key Points:

• Start: Identify new behaviors or actions necessary for achieving goals.
• Stop: Recognize and eliminate ineffective or counterproductive practices.
• Continue: Maintain and enhance successful strategies.

Bill emphasizes tying these actions back to the initial goal assessment to ensure alignment and effectiveness.

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b. Leveraging AI Tools in Planning

Bryan advocates for the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools like Claude AI and ChatGPT to enhance strategic planning.

"Use AI... put into the instruction, here's where I am currently. Here's where I'm going. Be vivid with your explanation... you will be shocked. You will be."
— Bryan Neale [06:42]

Key Points:

• AI can generate innovative frameworks and strategies that may not have been previously considered.
• Treat AI as an assistant to brainstorm and refine plans.
• Bryan and Bill plan to dedicate future episodes to exploring AI's role in sales strategy.

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c. Time Management with Entrepreneurial Time System

Bill introduces Dan Sullivan's Entrepreneurial Time System, highlighting the importance of structured time allocation.

"I use Dan Sullivan's entrepreneurial time system, which includes Focus, Free, and Buffer days."
— Bill Caskey [08:04]

Components:

• Focus Days: Dedicated to intensive work and delivering results.
• Buffer Days: Reserved for planning, recording podcasts, and other preparatory tasks without engaging in sales calls.
• Free Days: Completely free periods for rest and personal activities.

Implementation Tips:

• Schedule these days at the beginning of the year to ensure balanced time management.
• Avoid overfilling the calendar with appointments that can lead to burnout.

"Part of that bridge is going to be taken up with buffer days... how you organize your time, how you care for yourself."
— Bryan Neale [13:14]

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4. Importance of Buffer and Free Days

The hosts underscore the necessity of buffer days and free days in maintaining mental clarity and preventing burnout. These days allow professionals to recharge, reflect, and plan without the pressure of constant sales activities.

"If the how becomes too overwhelming... just look at it again. There's probably a way to pare it down and say, you know what, if I just did these two things and did them better, I don't need to do these other seven."
— Bill Caskey [14:35]

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5. Balancing Actions and Foundation

Bill and Bryan discuss the balance between taking concrete actions (like making calls or sending emails) and building a solid foundational system that supports these activities. They emphasize that a well-organized foundation allows actions to become more effective and less stressful.

"The actions will take care of themselves. If your mind is right... you're clear of all the baggage and garbage that sometimes stacks up, then your mind will know exactly what to do and how to get there."
— Bryan Neale [12:10]

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6. Flexibility and Pivoting Plans

Adaptability emerges as a crucial theme. The hosts encourage listeners to remain flexible, allowing for adjustments in plans as unexpected situations arise.

"You gotta be able to pivot your behavior and your plan midstream. It's okay if something pops up, just let it be and don't fight that so much."
— Bill Caskey [15:09]

Example:

• Balancing work commitments with personal life, such as choosing to spend time with family over extra sales calls.

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7. Concluding Thoughts

Bill and Bryan wrap up the episode by reinforcing the importance of structured yet flexible planning. They highlight that building "The How" bridge involves both strategic actions and personal well-being, ensuring sustained success without burnout.

"As you build this bridge from where you are to where you want to be, part of that bridge is going to be taken up with buffer days... building a real solid bridge to the destination."
— Bryan Neale [13:30]

Final Quote: "It's all part of the process."
— Bill Caskey [15:27]

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8. Additional Resources and Promotions

• Insider Program: Bill and Bryan promote their Insider program, offering live coaching and business planning sessions.

  "If you haven't joined the Insider program... you'll get a big discount from what the general public will pay."
  — Bill Caskey [16:00]

• Future Episodes: Teasers about upcoming content, including a potential series dedicated to AI in sales.

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Key Takeaways

1. Start, Stop, Continue: A versatile framework for identifying actionable steps towards goals.
2. Utilize AI Tools: Leverage AI to gain fresh perspectives and develop comprehensive strategies.
3. Structured Time Management: Implement systems like the Entrepreneurial Time System to balance work and personal life.
4. Buffer and Free Days: Allocate time for planning and relaxation to maintain mental clarity and prevent burnout.
5. Flexibility: Stay adaptable to navigate unforeseen challenges without derailing progress.
6. Foundation and Actions: Build a strong foundational system to support effective and sustainable actions.

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By integrating these strategies, sales professionals can create a clear and actionable pathway to their goals, ensuring both professional success and personal well-being.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome everybody to the advanced selling podcast, the longest running sales training podcast in the history of podcasts. My name is Brian Neal.

[B]

My name is Bill Caskey.

[A]

We are here every week for your listening enjoyment. If you watch us on YouTube, you'll see that Bill's dressed very nicely today. Looks great in studio. I am hunkered down in my basement. I have kind of a work from home day, which is good.

[B]

I'm trying to level up. I'm trying to level up my wardrobe just a little. That's right.

[A]

All right, that's good.

[B]

Oh, I went out and got a 16Amazon Essentials button down, which I. I like their button downs, to be honest with you. This guy. Yeah, because they're two. They're two finger button downs versus three. I don't like the wide.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Looks like I belong in a leisure suit from the night.

[A]

Oh, it looks really good. And I'm rubbing a hat from our good friend. Oh yeah, read that table. Tay Bronson, local singer, songwriter here in Indianapolis. Happened to know Tay. Don't know the Tay's a listener, but now we'll have to tell him.

[B]

He's. Well, we're going to try to get some of his music on. I used to see him at Starbucks and he has a little. What would you tell. What would you say? The style. A little bluegrass, little country.

[A]

A little country storyteller. Songwriter.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, songs about his life, his family, growing up in Indiana. Kind of guy. Real salt of the earth. Just a human being and a really good singer, songwriter and a guy that just, you know, he just plays music for. On his side, I think. I don't think it's his full time job, is it?

[B]

I don't think. No. I think he works for an audio sound engineering or something, you know. You remember Scott Nelson?

[A]

Of course.

[B]

Did you know he's with his band?

[A]

Oh, no. Is he really?

[B]

Yeah. That's great. Because he. I went to the concert and I saw a guy playing the bass and I'm like, God, that would pass for a second for Scott Nelson. But he's lost weight. He looks great. And afterwards I'm like, it is you. And Scott was a client of ours for a long time, but musician. All right. The only story I have you ever had pneumonia?

[A]

I have not. Not that I know of. I don't think so.

[B]

Yeah, well, you would know it. And I don't think it's something that just goes away. It's almost like you have to breathe in some way. But I had. I started getting a cough about a Month ago. And every time I would breathe, you know, I would, it would get that tickle and that, that wheeze and a cough and oh my God. So finally, finally I, like, if I, if this doesn't get better, I gotta go. So I went and she says, oh, you got walking pneumonia. Walking pneumonia always sounds like walking dead. Like, well.

[A]

And I. What's the opposite? Of what?

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Pneumonia. Is it prone?

[B]

It used to be that with pneumonia they would say, oh, go home and rest. Don't do anything that kind of gets that bile or whatever. But I asked her, I said, what can I, what should I do? She goes, carry on activities. Just don't be around people. You're not all that contagious. You'll be. And within three days of, you know, Z pack, you're, you're fine or you're better, a lot better.

[A]

But oh my gosh, is not all that contagious. Is an interesting phrase to me.

[B]

That's what she told me.

[A]

I know, it's pretty binary. You either are or you're not. I'd love a medical professional. Help me and Bill. Help Bill and me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, Bill.

[B]

And I think what she meant was if you're like breathing on each other and swapping, you know, moisture, then it probably is. But if you're just in the same room, it doesn't. It's not an aerosol kind of thing.

[A]

So you didn't wear a mask?

[B]

I wore a mask over to babysit my 18 month old granddaughter because I was in the throes of that. And I've been to the doctor actually today.

[A]

That's good.

[B]

And it freaked her out, so I took it off. Plus I couldn't breathe.

[A]

Yeah, she's.

[B]

Her immune system is probably better anyway.

[A]

That's funny. Okay, episode three. We've talked about where we are taking inventory. We've decided where we're going. Very vivid, vivid, vivid imagery there. And now we're gonna talk about how to get there.

[B]

This has been a good series, man. I think this was a great idea on my part. I'm just kidding. Because we both, you know, Brian brought up we should do a series because sometimes series we get a chance to get into the detail a little bit more than just flying through it in a 15 minute podcast. And, and then we talked about what time of year is it. It's a good time to reflect, to look at where you are, where you're going. So as he said, we're going to talk today. Gonna, we're gonna talk today. About how do we get to this destination that we've just been vivid about imagining? So.

[A]

Okay, let's start with the how.

[B]

Okay. Since that's the title of the episode, that's a good.

[A]

Just like I couldn't remember my favorite Beach Boy song. You ever get brain overload like that? Oh, in periods of time, I'm in one of those. I'm just in one of those modes where just stuff's not clear. I got too much going on in my head. Filter some of it out. The how part. This I'm gonna steal from our last episode. And I talked about this a little bit. I think your how should be vivid like you're. Where. Where are you going? It should be vivid like that. The how you should be very, very crystal clear. And the first little tool I'll mention, old cliche corporate tool called Start, Stop, continue, Start, stop, continue. This is the how exercise. It really takes these things and puts them into a behavioral sense that says, okay, as I look forward, how am I going to achieve these vivid goals? I just wrote down for myself, what am I going to have to start doing that I'm not doing? What am I going to have to stop doing that I've been doing? I need to quit. And what do I need to continue doing? And there'll be little lists in each of those columns of Start, stop, continue that are behavioral by their nature.

[B]

What filter do I use to determine whether I start, stop, or continue? Because I've got to pass. So if I'm. If I'm making a hundred cold calls a day, what filter do I pass that through to determine start, stop, or keep going?

[A]

Yeah, I would go two episodes back and I would say we did an analysis, and if you listen to our episode two episodes ago about when we did the reflection back of where we are, we. We said examine how you got. We. We. We talk. Use the word composition. So what I would do, bills is just what you're saying is I would go back and say, okay, I. My. I go back to my episode one. My first page of my assessment said, gosh, I got all these things and I got none of them through cold calling. So. But I make 100 cold calls a day. Not one deal came. So there's an answer like, maybe I should stop doing that is not working. That. That's. That's. You got to tie all these things together. That's my.

[B]

No, I like that. Here's a thought I had. This is going to be a thought that I would not have had a year ago when you're determining the how you're going to get from where you are to where you want to be. Use AI, go to. We use Claude AI or you can use chat. You know, there's a lot of them. Perplexity. There's a lot of them. But put into the instruction, here's where I am currently. I'm currently at this income level. Here's where I'm going. Be vivid with your explanation. I'm in the business of selling, you know, dental supplies. And then ask it to come up with a 10 part framework on how should I think about getting to that destination. You will be shocked. You will be. And we should do a whole episode or series on AI. We're starting to use it more and more. It's kind of scary and it's kind of like, oh, this is good. It's really good. But the first place I would go for something like that is not Google. Or to sit in a dark room for six nights trying to figure it out. I would go and just start the process. Have AI help you because it's going to come up with things that you never thought about.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Weren't even on your radar. Like, well, wait a minute. That alone would do. Would get me to.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So use the tools, use the technology. I know people are reluctant to do it. I'm not sure why anymore. How much technology have we adopted? And now we're, now we're going to be resistant to artificial intelligence. Come on. So that's a place I would begin.

[A]

That's fantastic. And just yeah. Say we are going all in with chat GPT the other thing you can do. And I'll add on Bill's thing that I've. People don't think about this. You sort of Google something then you, then you do the work. So people Google things, then you do the work. Google does the first hit, but then you do all the other work. ChatGPT does all the work for you. You just keep asking it, keep pushing back on it. Say, be more specific. Tell me something I like. Answer number two. I'm struggling with answer number three. Find a different way to say that. Just keep talking to it. And it's unbelievable what it comes up with. Unbelievable. You know, my Indiana Hoosiers are really good at football this year. I'm so excited. I went down to the game and college game day. A big program that espn. Oh yeah, sure was on campus for the first time ever. And people make signs for this thing. So I was trying to think of a sign and I'm like I'm gonna just ask Chat GPT and I got this conversation with Chat GPT and the first signs were very. Just like silly, like Indiana football is really good, you know.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

And I just kept pushing it, pushing it. And we got to some really clever, you know, like Signetti can beat Saban and Tic Tac toe. You know what I mean? Just like we're. That it's a old backstory of those two playing Tic Tac. You know, it's like, that's really clever. So just an endorsement there. And again, a convo. Getting a conversation with Chat GPT.

[B]

Don't you really have to. You really have to treat it like a, like a, an assistant, because it is. I always. They were. Some of my clients were laughing at me the other day because I showed them some of my prompts and, and I always start every prompt with, hey, I need some help on something. And it comes back and says, hey, Bill, I'm glad I'm here to help you. Anything you need, just tell me what you need. And then I always thank it at the end, hey, thank you, that was awesome. I may come back to you later. And then it comes back and says, oh, you're welcome, Bill. I'm really. You. You start to develop a little relationship and it's not weird, it's just you got to treat it that way. And I don't know if it helps, but we're getting some amazing results. We use. We don't use chat. We use Claude AI, which is a. They're all. We like Claude only because it allows you to create projects and assistance. And so if I want to, like, if. Well, let. Let's think about doing a whole episode on that.

[A]

Yeah. So use Chat GPT, do a start, stop, continue. That's narrowing in on your how. And then the scheduling back to the calendar thing. This is part of the how. I'm a big fan, so I use Dan Sullivan's entrepreneurial time system, which includes Focus free and buffer days. Focus days are hard work days, delivery days, buffer days, when I'm planning, recording podcasts, things like that, free days or 24 hour free periods. Put your free days on your calendar for 2025. Now that's the first step. And what most people do is they start to plan their travel. Well, I'm going to be in, you know, I'm going to travel to Boston the first week of January. I'm going to be in Tucson. And you know, and then they travel to the trade shows and they start to fill their stuff up. With a bunch of stuff and there's no time for breaks. And then they get so burnt out. So try that backwards this year. Try to how plan time for both. Three days and then before that, then. Or right after that. Then do your buffer days next. So these are where we're planning away from work, planning days. But we're working. So you're not delivering work. You're going to take no sales calls on these days. You're going to coffee shop stuff. You're going to listen to podcasts. You might record your podcast. Those are buffer days and try to designate days. That's a how to get to where you're going next year. And that leaves space for some of these other activities. Like when am I going to use chat GPT? We'll just put a buffer day on there. And that's when I do my chat GBT work or my.

[B]

So that's really good. And I've. I'm familiar with Sullivan's time system. I don't use it, but I think it's. It's really good. The quest, the, the thing I would. The lesson I learned from that is that sometimes when we're in the how mode, how are you going to get from where you are to where you want to go? We tend to fill it with actions like I got to make, you know, I got a. I got to appear on 75 podcasts, or I've got to send out 40,000 emails over the year, we immediately go to actions. And what you're saying is the actions will take care of themselves. If your mind is right, if you're building the foundation with buffer days and free days, and you're clear of thought, you're clear of all the baggage and garbage that sometimes stacks up, then our mind will know exactly what to do and how to get there. But if we're clogged up because we're burnt out and we're, we're. We're beating ourselves up and we're judging everybody and thing around, then we're not going to be clear enough to find the hows that are really going to work.

[A]

Right. Like, yeah, create healthy space for yourself for your.

[B]

For the how to emerge.

[A]

Yes. How to emerge part. Yes. And it's just blocking days with types of activities. That, that's, to me, the, that's the tactical side. It's really, really helpful.

[B]

So as you're building this bridge from where you are to where you want to be, part of that bridge is going to be taken up with buffer days. How you organize your Time how you, how you care for yourself. I'm not talking spa days. I'm talking about, you know, do you spend time in meditation? Do you write things down? Do you use AI? And then part of the bridge would, might be actions like hard, hard hitting actions, Making a certain number of calls, reaching out to five strategic partners a month, direct messaging a thousand people a month on LinkedIn with a video or whatever those things are. Then now you're building a real solid bridge to the destination.

[A]

Yes. Don't let your territory and your goals run your life. That's what I think happens with people.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Your territory and your, your chase of the goal runs your life and it's not fulfilling. Then, then you're running around and you might even, you might even be the number one, number two person. But it's just, you're so toast at the end. It's not fun. You be in charge of it.

[B]

Yeah. But I think as you get more vivid and you start to understand the how and the, and the how starts to emerge from some of this other foundational work. You're going to have an awesome year next year. And sometimes if you, if the how becomes too overwhelming, it's like, oh, the how is like, I got to make 10 calls and do this and do that. If it seems overwhelming, just look at it again. There's probably a way to pare it down and say, you know what if I just did these two things and did them better, I don't need to do these other seven. So it's all part of the pro. That's what I was getting to. It's all part of the process.

[A]

And my last thought is that you gotta be able to pivot your, your behavior and your plan midstream. It's okay. If you had plans to do something and something pops up, it pops up and let it be and just don't fight that so much. Well, I've gotta do this, I've gotta do that, and I've gotta do that like. No, you don't. There's very, very little in the world you have to do.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Very, very little that you have to do.

[B]

And when you operate from the clock is ticking.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You don't have unlimited time on the planet. And so if you're 7 year old daughter says, daddy, I want to go get an ice cream cone. And you're like, but I've got to make cold calls. You say, cold calls can wait. Let's go, hon. Let's go, darling. Where are we going? Where are we going, let's do that. And then let's go to a movie and then let's have some popcorn and then let's get sick.

[A]

So what you do if you can't get it on there? You got to wear a mask to.

[B]

Your granddaughter and wear a mask. Yeah, that's right.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

If you haven't joined the Insider program. Yeah. Join the Insider program. It's an awesome program. It's the best bang for the buck. You can get live coaching with Bill first Friday of every month. Business planning session coming up very shortly. Maybe after this episode.

[B]

No, it'll be before. We're still before the actual planning session. So go to advanced selling podcast.com insider. You can sign up there. You'll get a big discount from what the general public will pay. We'd love to have you in. It was a good program.

[A]

Okay. Got a great way to start the year. So. All right, that's it.

[B]

Three part series over.

[A]

Talk to you next time. Bye.