Everyone Has A Plan Until They Get Punched In The Face! Goal Setting and Planning | Ep 59

Welcome to another insightful episode of Paradigm Playbook! In this episode, David and Steve dive deep into the interconnected realms of goal setting and planning. They discuss how these two crucial aspects of business and personal development are not just sequential but also highly intertwined. Drawing on real-world examples, including a poignant reference to Mike Tyson's famous quote, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face," they explore the importance of adaptability and resilience in planning. 

They also touch upon the critical role of decision-making in planning, the concept of SMART goals, and the need for clarity and focus in setting realistic targets. The episode is a treasure trove of advice for entrepreneurs, business owners, and anyone looking to align their goals and plans effectively. 

Don't miss their discussion on the power of adjusting goals and plans in response to changing circumstances, a lesson highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tune in for these and more valuable insights on goal setting and strategic planning.

Book Mentioned:
The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals

Where to Buy:
https://www.amazon.com/Disciplines-Execution-Achieving-Wildly-Important/dp/145162705X

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Transcript

Hey, everybody. Welcome back, David. Steve, how are you? We are. This is Paradigm Playbook, the podcast. So last time we talked a lot about goal setting, and in talking about goal setting, we sort of got into the subject of planning, right? So I think I think they're they're very interested, but separate. Right. So, you know, is it a chicken and the egg cart before the horse?

00;01;20;10 - 00;01;37;02
Unknown
Which which do you do first? How do you do it? So I think a natural progression here is to start talking about the planning process and where the goal setting and then actually backing into the execution.

00;01;37;05 - 00;02;01;19
Unknown
Yeah, everybody's got a plan to like get punched in the face. I, I think part. Yeah. I mean, do you think about military operation? Do you think about airlines? You're thinking what's the contingency what's a contingency plan. Right. And the other thing I also really like in plans is redundancy. Right. But without wasting time, redundancy, you don't want to just waste time.

00;02;01;20 - 00;02;30;07
Unknown
And so the I think the biggest moment for me in my career to date reflects back on Mike Tyson. Right. Which is, yeah, everybody's got a plan till they get punched in the face. So you can go through your goal setting, you can go through your plan execution planning, your strategic management planning your operations, planning your process planning.

00;02;30;09 - 00;02;46;26
Unknown
And all of a sudden something can happen that throws that way off. And I don't think there's a clear example of that. Then what we all dealt with in COVID, I think about it you own a gym, you own a facility, you own an athletic complex, and all of a sudden you're told, nope, you're not allowed to do that anymore.

00;02;46;28 - 00;03;49;19
Unknown
But at That's certainly a punch in the face at that time, right? I was having problems. So for real? All right. That's okay. So we go back four or I'm not for four, but five. And the one other thing that I think is critical prior to really getting into the how you do this is the idea that decision making is critical in planning.

00;03;49;22 - 00;04;36;28
Unknown
And no decision in its own right is a decision. Right. So meaning, particularly in the instance where you get punched in the face, you got to make decision and you got to go, right. You can't be crippled by it and make no decision on it. And expect the outcome to be positive. But that's a broad goal. But so why are four that you have to one be the focus of both right?

00;04;37;00 - 00;05;34;03
Unknown
Having All right tell about providing for service was about class or been part or all of that to help right okay how all of smart one gets to the end somewhere in the draft. Yeah. So there's another aspect that I think as business owners, the larger you get, the more complex the business, the more distorted clarity becomes.

00;05;34;06 - 00;06;06;04
Unknown
Right. And I think it's, it's, it's not that you, you in your own right don't have clarity. It's that the entrepreneur has so many things that tie into it that you start to worry about too many things and you start to worry about too many things. You you become focused on too much and therefore you don't come back to that which matters.

00;06;06;06 - 00;06;35;17
Unknown
Right. And Steve, your own quote is that which gets rewarded, gets repeated. Right. So all of a sudden, if you're not getting the reward for the the number one thing, but you're seeing progress in all these other areas, you can become sort of distracted towards that end result. I'll give a personal example of this. We went through the iOS model, created our scorecard, and we found it, I mean, virtually impossible to get down to the limited number of things that we should be tracking.

00;06;35;17 - 00;07;01;22
Unknown
You can't KPIs, key performance indicators, some people call them key metrics. And of all these things right on the scorecard, you're supposed to pick out like really, you want three things and that dictate overall business health. And because three things is easy to to look at and manage right? Our scorecard to this day probably still has 20 things on it, right?

00;07;01;24 - 00;07;37;24
Unknown
In going through my planning process this year, I've identified the two that matter. Everything else is a secondary. indicator, not the primary indicator of business health. And so I'm rewriting the book on all of our businesses to these two things, right? And for our business, it is the amount of people that attend or events. And the second, everything is the amount of people that click point and buy our direct to consumer services.

00;07;37;27 - 00;07;57;13
Unknown
And if those two things are happening at the rate they need to happen, which I'll talk about how we got to what the rate that needs to happen, everything else falls in line. But you can be worried about, Hey, we've got all these people. How quickly are we getting them through the process? How would you use our focus on all these subsequent downline things?

00;07;57;16 - 00;08;36;00
Unknown
It really don't matter because metrics sit here, but accurate up to the two drivers. They drive, not communicate. But I have someone else that's out there so that our buyer. Yeah it's like we're not even right and I think sometimes I sit in a meeting and I'll, I'll gripe and him and Hall and I like but we, we, we, we, we got these 47 people through the system in three months.

00;08;36;00 - 00;09;20;23
Unknown
That was the target. And I'm going well dadgum they did but the number one indicator wasn't there. It should have been 75 people. Right. And so through no fault of their own, that distraction can be real right back in order for something that's working, no doubt about it. But it might or you would get that you have target.

00;09;20;25 - 00;10;12;13
Unknown
So it humanized itself, but I find that is that there's yeah at the level work both were not aligned but that the other great headline headline that but it's that exact time deadline Yeah well exactly it's bad as well and I think I think another thing that we get into in planning is the analysis paralysis. And I you know, the quote I think is most impactful there is George Patton, General George Patton, who said a good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan, executed tomorrow.

00;10;12;16 - 00;10;34;06
Unknown
We'll spend a lot of time trying to get to that perfect plan. And reality is, you had it. You had you had it 80% and you could have done it last week or last month. And you you delay and delay and delay until you believe it's perfect. And if you couple that with the Mike Tyson version of everybody as a plan to get punched in the face, you're going to get punched in the face.

00;10;34;08 - 00;11;33;07
Unknown
It's going to happen. So get the plan where it's mobile and movable and then proceed right in front of the expert. Push at the story. I made it put out loud by the really fast forward, should I happen, both of which I have a bit of that's where you start your time based on. So let's talk the health right.

00;11;33;10 - 00;11;56;14
Unknown
How do you plan. I would what do you have a right to see. We talked last time and you said all right I like to get a 30 day head start. So you like to get a 30 day head start on your goals. Your goals are established and then you have to put the plan in place. How does that process sort of come together?

00;11;56;17 - 00;12;15;04
Unknown
So pointed out a digital effort. So how for people that it sounds like a covey title,

00;12;15;04 - 00;12;21;04


00;12;21;04 - 00;14;11;21
Unknown
so this will work. But number one is focus so part of what we're running of this book both like what's your focus? What atrophy, what what if that's your pull out the book to teach for this? Plus the focus is one number to do it is act processes that drive that that that if you're doing more or good but what is the lead four ways that have a bit more on what what what do you have five that were both there not important so that that we're given so maybe you have to figure out a way to best

00;14;11;23 - 00;15;23;29
Unknown
like right that's that's the part that's where we already hit them is we're caught up to that. So be it. Okay, but that's it. Yeah. It's a first important guide that you maybe that it should be what in fact, rather than what? Yeah. Or plus your whole biggest clients. You know that only if you write that for your app that it's got to get that active.

00;15;24;01 - 00;15;57;16
Unknown
Yeah. So I think there's a there's a myth here that needs to be broken, which is you you set the goals, then you do the plan, then you execute the plan. I think goal setting and planning are a organic and mutual process that you have to run sort of simultaneously. And the and while you're doing that, you're sort of brainstorming the execution of those.

00;15;57;16 - 00;16;11;07
Unknown
And so it's it's all sort of happening at the same time, right? It's not you don't just get to go into a goal setting meeting and then go, okay, here's the plan to hit the goal and then, okay, here's the here's what we have to execute to do it. I think you have to you have to look at the goal.

00;16;11;08 - 00;16;26;12
Unknown
You have to measure it against reality. Then you have to come back and say, okay, if that's really the goal, how would we plan to get there? How are we going to execute it? When are we going to start it? When we do, it's a it's a full blown sort of cluster of things that you have to take into consideration as you're creating it.

00;16;26;12 - 00;16;47;06
Unknown
You don't just step in and go like, I give you an example, I want a hundred new clients. Well, in your entire history, you've never run on 100 new clients and you just set a mark that is arguably unachievable. Your highest year to date has been 20 and you're going to five exit. How are you going to five exit?

00;16;47;08 - 00;17;02;05
Unknown
And so and then you get a you've got to go taper it and say, okay, well let's just go for a 100% lift or a 50% increase. But you 50%, where does that put the outcome? And then you look at the you look at the numbers on the back side, and then you come back and say, okay, that seems more reasonable executable.

00;17;02;05 - 00;17;32;17
Unknown
Now, the plan to get there, I'm going to double everything I did. Okay. So if I double everything I did, what's the spend on it? What's the And so you're you're running this process simultaneously. You have to have your own mental checks and balances as a business owner to what is tangible and realistic and what does it take to get there and then who the who of it's huge to buy if you're a max capacity and you're the one that's done all the recruiting in your business, whether it's new clients, new customers, whether it's new selling, new widgets, whatever it may be.

00;17;32;20 - 00;17;56;23
Unknown
You done all that, Who is in the seat that can take on the workload? That would be a doubling of that. And that's where you start to get into the strategic part of executing the plan. Right. I think a lot of a lot of people set whimsical goals. They don't go through the smart goal process. And in going through the smart goal process, I think you have to do the planning simultaneously.

00;17;56;26 - 00;19;12;03
Unknown
Let's at it not deal with single goal that that but but at the what is our effort. So I follow up but every public execution ever put at doesn't have the fact that that's part that well the guy that jumps out of the parachute. Yeah it's like that's going on all the time but I get out so I did both right?

00;19;12;06 - 00;19;38;15
Unknown
Yeah. No, I 100%. No, listen, if, if you are setting goals and sticking to them like they're the Ten Commandments written in stone, you're missing the whole issue that Mike Tyson brings to the table in that quote, Everybody's got a plan until they get punched in the face. Right? If you if you have a plan that is good for the business, good for you, good for the bottom line, it's good across the board.

00;19;38;17 - 00;19;58;15
Unknown
And you hit it and you hit it quickly and more than once on a weekly or monthly basis, reset the target. Right. Hey, I've got this. I beat this level. I've achieved this. Mark, let's go, let's let's jacket. And you also have to have that. I think that's a cultural thing to see. We go back to some of our older conversations on business culture.

00;19;58;18 - 00;20;31;14
Unknown
But if you have if you have a culture, a business which is, hey, I hit the goal where you're asking us, you asked me to do and I did, I think it's possible that we could go back. But one of our very early podcast, I don't how many I spoke on whiteboard said you know but yeah so the back seven.

00;20;31;17 - 00;21;17;04
Unknown
Okay so in there there I thought okay yeah without question. So we're going to, we're going to try and stick to our timetable today so that it's at least a chewable bite size podcast. The couple of sort of summary points to me, I think in, in the way I operate, I'm constantly looking at the next time right? So the next time I revisit this goal, this model right throughout the year, let's say, and I typically am, I'm a pretty year oriented goal person, right?

00;21;17;04 - 00;21;41;13
Unknown
I usually go on the calendar year if I get to June and I'm not happy with the result at this point. I'm already thinking forward to the next year more thinking about how I would do it differently. So be malleable in the in the planning. Don't be afraid to pivot if it's if it's not broke, don't fix it.

00;21;41;13 - 00;21;59;25
Unknown
But if it is broke or it's not running according to what you how you saw it going, don't be afraid to change. Right. That's one of the beauties. I think, of being an entrepreneur is you're okay with change. You you've become comfortable being uncomfortable. Right. That is that is one of the keys I've noticed in every entrepreneur Thurrock taking the risk there.

00;21;59;25 - 00;22;18;24
Unknown
Okay. Leap in there. Okay. Making the jump until they get to a certain point and then they're like very cautious of like, well, we've always done it this way. And, you know, it's been a good business. But I think that's the that's the pinnacle. The downside of that mountain is how are you selling? How are you closing, How are you transferring it?

00;22;18;24 - 00;23;15;28
Unknown
What what are you doing? So that's the beginning with the end in mind part of it, I'll close out the front part of your for all your part, but or some about. yeah. And to that same point like transparency is is a it is certainly a learned skill. It is not something that just naturally like you it was a business owner at times just expect and I used to talk with my current business partners in and say you know they'd be disappointed in somebody's performance or somebody's production or somebody disciplined to a particular thing.

00;23;16;01 - 00;23;35;06
Unknown
And I'm like, Well, you have to teach them what it is you expect. You can't just say, do this and then you get it back and it's not in the manner or that you get it back in, whether it's showing up to a meeting, whether it's like whether it's an actual thing you do, it's okay. I expect it to be done this way.

00;23;35;06 - 00;24;02;08
Unknown
So the more transparent, the more clarity you can give at the front, the less disappointment you have on the backside. And I think that's part of that transparency thing as well. So that's just food for thought that you kind of hit a nerve with me on that one. okay. Why don't we act to address this? We have all the components of all the.

00;24;02;10 - 00;24;26;01
Unknown
But I think another another one in close proximity is the transparency conversation they get getting deeper on that and the how of that and that kind of, you know, leader vision culture piece that the transparency creates. So everybody I know we threw a lot at you. We didn't we didn't dig real deep into how you plan. I think that's got to be individual to the business.

00;24;26;01 - 00;25;02;04
Unknown
But I think we gave you good parameters to think about sort of like the guardrails of planning and goal setting in these last two episodes. So I hope you liked it. Please subscribe, like share our podcast to anyone that's, that's, you know, and an entrepreneur thinking about being an entrepreneur. I think this is this is just great information I wish I had when I started start looking part by maker here, but I'm so excited that Berkeley may want to be involved with Buddy.

00;25;02;07 - 00;25;04;22
Unknown
All right, everybody, that's it. Okay.

00;25;04;22 - 00;25;11;03