Alissa Finerman

Los Angeles Executive Coach, Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, Facilitator and Author

Dive In

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This post was featured on Positively Positive

Dive in
Jump in
Take a big step
Take a small step
Say hello to fear
Say hello to uncertainty
Say hello to your uncomfortable zone
Say goodbye to thinking too much
Say goodbye to talking without doing
Say goodbye to wishing you could
Because you can!

Perhaps you don’t have enough knowledge, money, time, support, creativity, or belief in yourself. These are all good excuses, but none of these are show stoppers to get started on a great idea, project, or living your truth.

Newsflash: there will always be people who doubt your idea and think it’s silly or even crazy. People thought the Marathon Goddess was crazy to run fifty-two marathons in fifty-two weeks to raise money and awareness for Pancreatic Cancer. They said it was impossible. Well, she’s looking pretty fabulous right now raising close to $200,000 completing her “impossible goal” and being featured on the Today Show and CNN. Congrats for achieving this amazing accomplishment and for reminding all of us that it’s ok to have dreams and go after them, especially the crazy ones!

It doesn’t matter what other people think. It matters what you believe for yourself. This is critical and not to be overlooked, especially in times of uncertainty (which comes up any time you create or make a change). It’s worthwhile noting that the words “diving in” may have a different meaning for each of us. For some, they may mean changing jobs to a new industry, and for others, the words may simply mean putting together your resume. For some, diving in will mean walking one mile, and for others, it will mean running a marathon or fifty-two! The most important part is to get started with a step that resonates with your heart and your truth NOW rather than later.

One truthful and heartfelt small step is better than ten big steps that don’t fulfill you.

What can you “dive into” today to start sharing your authentic self with the world? There’s no reason to wait!

About Alissa

Alissa Finerman is an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, speaker and author of Living in YOUR Top 1%. She works with managers, C-suite executives and teams to leverage strengths, shift beliefs and achieve meaningful goals. Alissa has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked with Ross Stores, Petco, BNP Paribas, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Brookfield Property Partners, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dress for Success. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

 

7 Strategies For Success When Setting Goals

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I firmly believe that everyone wants to live his or her best life. The question is what does “best” mean and how do you do it. Oprah made the phrase living your best life popular but what’s the first step in the process?

It’s important to realize there is a process and setting goals is just one part of this process. Meaning, if you set the “perfect” goal but then have a negative mindset or get derailed at the first small obstacle, achieving your goal will be tricky. It’s not what we know but rather what we practice. We all need a toolkit or set of rituals. In my book, Living in Your Top 1%, I share nine rituals for success. This blog focuses on Ritual Four: Go For The Goal.

One note before we jump in:

  • Don’t worry if your goal seems crazy to others, just get them out on paper and take a small step. The process of writing your goals is very empowering and helps to generate great ideas. Often, the crazy ideas are the ones that change the world.

HERE ARE 7 STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

1. Start with the Ideal Situation

This is your chance to dream. Imagine you have a blank slate, and you can be and do whatever you choose. No obstacles just pure potential. Start with this image of possibilities and then work backwards to see what’s doable right now. Don’t focus on the obstacles when you are getting started. Yes, I am encouraging you to leave the mortgage, kids, and other responsibilities alone for right now. Think about what the ideal vision is for you. Then figure out what you need to do to make it happen.

2. Write Down Your Goals

When you write down your goals, you start to see where you want to go and it’s easier to make decisions because you have a destination. Many people like to keep everything in their mind instead of put it down on paper. Well let me tell you a little secret about these folks, they are also the people who are more likely not to follow through on their goals. Clarity can emerge from writing your dreams on paper.

3. Determine Why the Goal is Important?

Be very clear why you are setting this goal. Is it because your family wants you to do something or does the goal matter to you? Please leave the “should” goals behind.

Is losing weight really important to you? Are you willing to make other sacrifices to make this goal a reality? Or does work really take priority over relationships? Often, we have to make difficult choices when setting goals. Yes, that’s part of the process as well. When goals are important to you, they will align with your values (ie, adventure, respect, honesty, connecting, humor etc).

The question is will you feel a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment when you achieve the goal? If not, it’s not the right goal. For example, you may have a great goal to be the market leader in your business. But if you really want to be connected to your daughter and coach her soccer team then achieving your business goal may or may not leave you feeling fulfilled. These are the questions you need to consider.  Yes, they are tough!

4. Craft Clear-Cut Goals That Add Meaning to Your Life
Many of us think vague goals are our friends but actually they just derail us in our mission. If you’re planning to get better at golf, be a better leader, or exercise more in the new year, you will need to be much more specific. Say your goal out loud and honestly ask yourself if it’s clear what you are trying to do. Once you have a clear goal, you need to double check that it’s something you really care about (rather than your family, friends, or partner).

Many goals appear specific but they are not. Examples of common vague goals:

1. Get in shape = does this mean lower your blood pressure, have consistent energy throughout the day, lose 15 pounds by your college reunion, or run your first 5k race?
2. Build my business = do you mean open a second store, be featured in Success Magazine, increase revenue by 20%, or get five new clients?
3. Spend more time with friends = do you mean have dinner once a week or schedule a four-day ski trip?

Things happen when you are specific. Vague goals = vague results!

5. Pursue a Goal that is a Tier One Priority

You probably have many things that are important in your life. Write down all of your goals above and then check the three goals that are most important to you (this keeps the process manageable). Your tier one goals are the ones that will make the biggest impact in your life. They are not necessarily the goals that help you make the most money or make you famous but rather the goals that add a deeper sense of fulfillment to your life. Tier One goals can be big or small. Perhaps you want to finish your degree, be debt-free, or change jobs by the end of this year. Whatever is meaningful to YOU is best to pursue.

6. Set a Target Date: This is a tough one but it needs to be done. Just saying that you are going to write a book or lose weight is not really saying anything. Does that mean you are going to write a book in the next five years or lose weight sometime in your lifetime. If you just started working at a new company, it’s probably not realistic to say that you will be promoted tomorrow but it might be reasonable to set a goal to be promoted within six months or the year. You will have to decide what’s possible given everything else going on in your life. Either way, it’s helpful to have a date that you are working toward. Please know, it’s OK to revise the target date as you move forward with your goal. The process is dynamic.

7. Take Small Steps
Slow and steady is a great strategy. Once you have a goal that speaks to you, break it down into small steps. If you want to start a business, perhaps the small step is registering a domain name or ordering business cards. Move away from extreme all or nothing strategies. Too many people think the goal setting process is over once you declare your goal — that’s when the fun starts. Train your mind to take one small step a day and you will make amazing progress. It’s a process; it’s not magic.

TOP 1% BOTTOM LINE: One of the best ways to make a difference in your life and our society is to embrace the practice of clarifying your goals/intentions/vision. Goals serve as a road map or GPS to the next stop on your journey. And there will be many stops on your journey.You will find it most helpful to continue to fine-tune your process each year (think Kaizen = continuous improvement). Now is the time to Live in YOUR Top 1%.

About Alissa

Alissa Finerman is an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, speaker and author of Living in YOUR Top 1%. She works with managers, C-suite executives and teams to leverage strengths, shift beliefs and achieve meaningful goals. Alissa has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked with Ross Stores, Petco, BNP Paribas, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Brookfield Property Partners, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dress for Success. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

 

How To Get In The Game For The New Year

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* This post was featured on Intent.com.

Happy New Year!

Here’s to a wonderful year filled with love, abundance and many more top 1% moments for all!

You’re motivated…

You’re excited…

You’re ready to have a great 2013!

Now what? How do you get there? What would a “great” year mean to you?

For those who are open to investing in themselves and doing the work, here’s an empowering and helpful exercise to get you started. This is when you want to think big rather than settle. If you settle when you dream, you will settle in your life. Have the courage to believe in yourself!

A few key things to know before you jump in:

– Any starting place is a good one (whether you had the best year or the most challenging one, just start)

– Leave the shoulds behind. Forget about what society and your friends think you should do with your life and pursue only what speaks to you on an authentic and heart based level

– It’s not a competition. You are striving for YOUR personal Top 1% (and this will mean something different to every mom, CEO, entrepreneur, professional athlete, and college student).

– Align your goals with your values to stay motivated. Your motivation will ebb and flow on your journey, that’s perfectly normal. You have the greatest chance of success when you connect your goals and values.

– Realize that “success” is a process. Oprah, Richard Branson, and Roger Federer didn’t start at the top, they worked very hard and built a team to be where they are today. Starbucks started with one store and now they have over 15,000 locations. Enjoy the process.

– And most importantly, leave the negative self-talk behind. Yes, we all have it, but your work is in minimizing the interference factor so you can let your potential walk through the door.

Give yourself 15 minutes to write out the questions below.

1. Define success? What will a successful year mean to you? Is it about connecting with people, inspiring people, making a certain amount of money, reading to your kids every night, changing jobs to do what you enjoy, or believing in yourself?

2.Write down three or more wins for 2012 that you felt good about accomplishing (ex: writing your first blog, taking a photography class and showing your work, launching a new product, completing a half-marathon, buying your first home)

3. Write down 3 core values (ex: respect, learning, honesty, adventure)

4. Write down three of your strengths (ex: positive outlook, determined, humor)

5. Write down three areas of your life/business that you would like to improve or focus on (ex, health, career, finances, relationships, fun/creativity, personal growth, marketing, business development)

6. Write down at least two goals in each area, be as specific as you can, when will you complete the goal, does it speak to your heart, why is it important?

7. Put a star next to the three goals that truly speak to your heart

8. Focus on one goal at a time and write down three small steps you can take today/this week to start the process rolling (perhaps it’s signing up for a class, calling someone to get more information, registering a domain name etc.)

9. Repeat the process for each area of your life/business with each goal

These are essential exercises to get your creative juices flowing and open to new possibilities. Please share your thoughts or one of your goals in the comments section. It’s empowering to share!

Here’s to a “top 1%” 2013. Wishing you all the best, Alissa

For those who want to dive in deeper with one to one coaching, email top1@alissafinerman.com.

About Alissa

Alissa Finerman is an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, speaker and author of Living in YOUR Top 1%. She works with managers, C-suite executives and teams to leverage strengths, shift beliefs and achieve meaningful goals. Alissa has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked with Ross Stores, Petco, BNP Paribas, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Brookfield Property Partners, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dress for Success. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

 

Got a Goal, Now What?

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The beginning of the year is both exciting (with all the amazing things you want to accomplish in your life) and overwhelming because you have so many things you want to achieve and are not sure what to do first. So congrats on setting a goal. That’s a huge step and a big win. Now the question becomes how are you going to get from where you are to where you want to go?

Goals are a starting point and they help you step up to the plate and get in the game. The only way to stay in the game is by taking continuous small steps to make progress.

Here’s a simple process to get started AND keep moving forward (key word is simple):

1. Write down all your goals, just do a download.
In an ideal world what would you accomplish this year?
– Pursue goals that genuinely excite you rather than someone else
– Ask yourself why the goal is important
– Vague Goals = Vague Results. So be specific!

2. Prioritize the goals that need to get done first
Some goals you pursue to meet basic survival needs and others can be for pure enjoyment.
– Focus on goals that are both important and a priority to you (important is not enough, you need to narrow them down)

3. Identify your top tier goal and focus
The challenge is to identify the most important goal which becomes your Top Tier Goal. These are the goals that help you live in your top 1%! You can also refer to Ritual Four in my book which focuses solely on goal setting.
– The reason we get overwhelmed is because we focus on too many things at once. Choose one goal for starters. You can bring more goals into the mix once you are rolling.

4. Breakdown your top tier goal into small steps
Small steps help to build confidence by generating a series of “wins.”
– Write down all the small steps you can take to make progress on this goal.
For example, I have a client who wants to start his own advertising company. This is a big goal that can be overwhelming. But once you break it down and look at each of the areas of the company (financing, marketing, operations, sales etc), you can start taking small steps in each area.
– Take action on your small steps.

Small Steps = Big Results!

TOP 1% BOTTOM LINE: Setting a goal is a major part of creating something but it’s only the beginning. Growth occurs in the gap between saying what you want to accomplish and making it happen.

***

About Alissa

Alissa Finerman is an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, speaker and author of Living in YOUR Top 1%. She works with managers, C-suite executives and teams to leverage strengths, shift beliefs and achieve meaningful goals. Alissa has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked with Ross Stores, Petco, BNP Paribas, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Brookfield Property Partners, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dress for Success. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook

Power of Goals: 5 Strategies for Success

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Note: This is a guest blog I wrote for Virgin.com.

“A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder.”- Thomas Carlyle

In 1995, Andre Agassi became the No. 1 tennis player in the world. When reporters asked him how he felt, he told them: “I’m happy about the ranking, it feels good to be the best that I can be.” But in reality, it was a lie. That was what he expected to feel. What he really felt was empty and unsatisfied. How could this be?

In his book, Open, Agassi goes on to say that he needed a new goal: “The problem, all this time, is that I’ve had the wrong goals. I never really wanted to be number one, that was just something others wanted for me – I wanted to win the French Open.” He later shares that his most meaningful moments were using the prize money from winning tennis tournaments to fund his charter schools to help kids in need. That’s when his life changed (and when he met Steffi Graf).

What about you? Are you still pursuing goals that others want for you or goals you think you should do? Throughout my coaching work, I’ve seen the importance of goals. I’ve also realized that people who make more money, have fancier titles, or additional education do not necessarily set more meaningful or effective goals. So if you are an aspiring entrepreneur, teacher, writer, athlete, mom, artist, or business owner, you can use goals to go as far as you want and reach your greatest potential.

My goal is to help you simplify the process. Let’s get a few things out on the table:

1. No goals = Leaving your potential on the table
2. Vague goals = Leaving your potential on the table
3. Goals without action = Leaving your potential on the table

By the way, there is tons of research to suggest that setting and achieving goals leads to a happier and more fulfilling life. I won’t bore you with the details but you can reference the books, The How of Happiness, Creating Your Best Life, and my new book Living In Your Top 1%.

The bottom line: Goals + Choices + Commitment = Your Results

Here are five strategies to get you rolling:

1. Write Down Your Goals
You’re probably like so many people who like to keep everything in their mind instead of on paper. Let me tell you a little secret about these folks – they are the same people who rarely follow through on their goals.

When you write down your goals, you start to see where you want to go and it’s easier to make decisions because you have a destination. Consider taking 15 minutes to write down your goals in each part of your life (i.e. Career, Relationships, Healthy Living, Fun & Creativity, Finances, and Personal Growth).

2. Craft Clear-Cut Goals That Add Meaning to Your Life
Many of us think vague goals are our friends but actually they just derail us in our mission. If you’re planning to get better at golf, be a better leader, or stretch more in the new year, you will need to be much more specific.

Say your goal out loud and honestly ask yourself if it’s clear what you are trying to do. It’s also helpful to share your goal(s) with a trusted friend. Once you have a clear goal, you need to double check that it’s something you really care about.

Many goals are clear. The question is will you feel a sense of accomplishment and meaning when you achieve the goal? If not, it’s not the right goal. For example, you may have a very clear goal to be the market leader in your business. But if you really want to be connected to your daughter and coach her soccer team then achieving your business goal may or may not leave you feeling fulfilled.

Examples of vague to specific goals:

1. Get in shape = does this mean lower your blood pressure, have consistent energy throughout the day, lose 15 pounds by your college reunion, or run your first 5k race?
2. Build my business = do you mean open a second store, increase revenue by 20%, or hire five new employees?
3. Spend more time with friends = do you mean have dinner once a week or schedule a four-day ski trip?

3. Pursue a Goal that is a Tier One Priority and WHY it Matters
Your tier one goals are the ones that will make the biggest impact in your life. They are the most important goals. They are not necessarily the goals that help you make the most money or get you promoted but rather the goals that add a deeper sense of fulfillment to your life.

You probably have many things that are important in your life. Write down all of your goals above and then check the ones that are most important to you. Perhaps you want to finish your degree, get out of debt, or change jobs. Whatever is meaningful to you is what you need to pursue. A great way to figure out if something is meaningful is to ask yourself WHY it matters? You have the greatest chance of achieving your goals when you are clear on your WHY.

4. Take Small Steps
Once you have a great goal, break it down into small steps. Too many people think the goal setting process is over once you declare your goal–that’s when the fun starts.

Train your mind to take one small step a day and you will make amazing progress. It’s a process, not magic. We don’t have control over many things in life but you do have control over setting a great goal. Why give up this option for no reason? There’s no excuse to leave your potential on the table because you did not even try. Please don’t let this year pass you by, step up to the plate and see what you can do. Small steps = big results.

5. Set a Target Date
This is a tough one but it needs to be done. Just saying that you are going to write a book or lose weight is not really saying anything. Does that mean you are going to write a book in the next five years or lose weight sometime in your lifetime?

If you just started working at a new company, it’s probably not realistic to say that you will be promoted tomorrow but it might be reasonable to set a goal to be promoted within six months or a year. You will have to decide what’s doable given everything else going on in your life. Either way, it’s helpful to have a date that you are working toward.

TOP 1% SUMMARY: One of the best ways to take yourself to the next level is to embrace the practice of goal setting. If you’re going to put yourself on the line, you might as well use your time and efforts wisely. Having clear-cut goals that excite you and add meaning to your life is one of the best ways to excel in your passion of choice. Now is the time to move into your top 1%.

About Alissa

Alissa Finerman is an Executive Coach and Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, speaker and author of Living in YOUR Top 1%. She works with managers, C-suite executives and teams to leverage strengths, shift beliefs and achieve meaningful goals. Alissa has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of California, Berkeley. She has worked with Ross Stores, Petco, BNP Paribas, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Brookfield Property Partners, Neutrogena, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Dress for Success. To learn more about coaching with Alissa, please visit her website and follow her on Facebook