The $1,000,000 Goal

"Of all the things I've done, the most vital is coordinating the talents of those who work for us and pointing them towards a certain goal."
-Walt Disney

There is great power in goals and dreams. "A study was done on Yale University's graduating class. It asked seniors a long list of questions about themselves, and three questions had to do with goals. They were, "Do you set goals?" "Do you write them down?" and "Do you have an action plan to accomplish them?" Only three percent of the class answered yes to those questions. Twenty years later, a follow-up study was done. It turned out that the three percent who had said yes to goals reported that they were more happily married, were more successful in the careers they had chosen, had a more satisfactory family life, and had better health. And listen to this. Ninety-seven percent of the net worth of that graduating class was in the hands of that three percent!" (Lou Tice, Personal Coaching for Results, (Nashville: Nelson, 1997) p. 93)

You have to have dreams and goals to make progress and achieve greatness. "Your progress toward success begins with a fundamental question: Where are you going? Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement, and its lack is the stumbling block for ninety-eight out of every hundred people simply because they never really define their goals and start toward them. Study every person you think of who has achieved lasting success, and you will find that each one has had a definite purpose. Each had a plan for reaching that goal, and each devoted the greatest part of his or her thoughts and efforts to that end." (Napoleon Hill, Keys to Success, (New York: Penguin, 1994) p. 1)

Many people live life backwards. They take what life gives them. Many people achieve little in life simply because they never decide to achieve something. Mark Victor Hansen wrote, "It grieves me to watch individuals squander their lives because they have neglected the process of writing down their personal goals." "Most of us would like to make a positive impact on the lives of others and on our world. If we do not feel that this is in some way happening, we tend to experience a sense of emptiness, low self-worth, futility, and sometimes even depression." (Herb Miller, Money Is Everything, (Nashville, TN: Discipleship Resources, 1994) p. 19) Football coach Lou Holtz taught, "If you are bored with life, if you don't get up every morning with a burning desire to do things-you don't have enough goals."

Everyone is born with a God-given mission he or she is to perform. We were not sent to earth by God to be born, pay the bills and die. God sent us here for a purpose. You should define your ideal life and then go out and get it. Dreams and goals inspire us to achieve our full potential. Defining your goals and dreams will help you discover and live the purposeful, joyful, abundant life you were meant to enjoy.

The Million Dollar Goal
"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."
-Thomas Edison

At the end of 2000, my first business venture failed, leaving me with thousands of dollars in business debt. I was newly married and I had no income. My wife was working earning $10 per hour but her income was not even enough to cover our $1,800 a month in debt payments. I now joke with her that she married me for my money, but the truth is I had less than nothing because of the burden of debt. I was forced to put my entrepreneurial efforts on hold to look for a job. I graduated with honors from business school and applied for dozens of jobs that were a good match for my skills, experience and degree, but I received rejection letter after rejection letter. I even applied at a call center that seemed to hire nearly everyone for a $6 per hour job and was rejected.

I now joke with people saying, "I had to start a business because I was the only person who would hire me." In 2001, I started a new business and one of our goals was to do $1 million a year in revenue. At the time this seemed like an impossible goal, but I knew that the goal was the starting point. I knew if I did not set a goal to do a $1 million in revenue with the company, then I would never figure out how to do it. I started with the goal and then everyday went to work on moving the company toward this goal. The company grew and developed and in our second year in business, we achieved the goal of doing a million dollars of revenue in one year.

At this point, we set a new goal of doing a million dollars in revenue in one month, and each day I went to work to move the company toward this goal. This was another lofty goal and it took another year of hard work and development for us to reach this goal.

It was now time for a new goal. We discussed what our new goal should be and the idea of doing $1 million in a single day was presented. That one sounded fun and exciting, so we set the goal to do $1 million in a single day. The exciting goal was set and now we had to figure out how to achieve it.

To go from a million dollars a year to a million dollars a month, we were able to expand and leverage what we were currently doing. To achieve the goal of doing $ 1 million in a single day required new approaches and models, as what we were currently doing couldn't be expanded enough to do a million dollars in revenue in a single day.

Our first opportunity to reach $1 million in a single day was in the fall of 2004 in New York City. It appeared that all the pieces were in place to do $1 million that day. The day ended and we weren't even close to our goal. We only did $177,555 in revenue. The day was still profitable and we were pretty happy. We learned a lot and we saw the potential to do a $1 million in a single day with a few adjustments and changes.

The next opportunity to reach our goal was in the spring of 2005 in Los Angeles. Everything was in place to do $1 million that day but would it happen? The day came and went and we again were not even close to our goal, but this time is a very, very good way. We exceeded our goal by $1.7 million-doing $2.7 million in revenue that day.

The size of your question, the size of your goals and dreams, will determine the size of your answer. If we would have never asked the question, "How do we do a $1 million in a single day?" we would have never found the answer. If you never ask the question "How can I build a multimillion dollar business?" "How can I become a best-selling author?" or "How can I earn a certain amount of money each year?" you will never find the answer. The goals you set will determine the type of life you build.

When you are building a house, does the house usually turn out like the blue print? Of course it does. If you design a house to be 1,000 square feet, the house should be 1,000 square feet when you finish. Before building a house, you first ask yourself, "What kind of house would I like?" You then design the house, create a blue print and then build the house. We should use this same process in our lives. "What kind of a life do you want? What do you want to accomplish?" Once you have determined the answers to these questions, create a blue print for your life and follow that blue print until you have built the life that you desire.

Questions to Help You Write Some Goals
"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts,
liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes."
-Andrew Carnegie

Things I would like to accomplish?
Today
This Week
This Month
This Year
In the Next 5 Years
In the Next 10 Years
In the Next 20 Years
Before the end of my life

If I had 1 year to live, what would I do?

What problems in my family, community, nation and world most concern me? What can I do to help?

What books will I read to help me renew and grow spiritually, socially, intellectually, and physically?

What would I like said about me at my funeral?

Write down the 3 people you most admire and respect and the 4 attributes you would use to describe them.
Person 1. _______________
Attribute 1. _______________ 2. _______________
3. _______________ 4.________________
Person 2. _______________
Attribute 1. _______________ 2. ______________
3. _______________ 4._______________
Person 3. _______________
Attribute 1. _______________ 2. ______________
3. _______________ 4._______________

What attributes do I desire to possess and exhibit? (i.e. charitable, humble, thrifty, responsible, industrious, honest, virtuous, etc.)

How would I like others to describe me?

Describe my ideal life. Describe specifics. What would I do? What would I have?

What vacations would I like to take with my family?

Whom would I like to help? What causes would I like to contribute to?

What income level would I like to have?
1 Year
2 Year
5 Years
10 Years
20 Years
40 Years

Where would I like to live? Describe my ideal home and surroundings.

Other Goals