I am writing this post as I fly back to Sacramento from Detroit. This trip was the fulfilment of one of my goals to connect with a solid insurance agency that represented products that had an approach to business that parallels my own marketing philosophy. An extra bonus was meeting down-to-earth people that share my world view that greater rewards will be reaped by helping out our neighbors.
Thank you to Stacey Powell and Crystal Say of Creating Answers for the wonderful experience. If one of the unwritten goals was to stretch my mind and expectations, working through the 21 Day Challenge succeeded on that part.
When I first talked to Stacey after I had been selected for the challenge I told her she didn’t
Writing my 21 Day Challenge blog post on my return flight from Detroit.
know how much I needed this. After the first of the year I had hit a real road block for my 2012 marketing path. I had some vague ideas and direction, but I had not committed anything to paper. I am doubtful that I would have made as much progress as I did without the 21 Day Challenge.
What Did I Learn?
There are more hours in the day than you think. With the exception of one goal, which I will talk about later, the challenge of working towards meeting my goals expanded my day. There were certainly times after dinner that I wanted to sit and relax. But my game plan called on me to study and work. I hesitate to call it work. These goals were about me and getting off to the right start in 2012. Most of it was real fun.
While I wanted to really meet all my goals, the backup plan was to continue to make progress, stay focused and not give up. There were even surprises that I had not counted on as I worked on each goal.
As I engaged in my goal to expand and fine tune my social media I was asked by Twitter follower if I would speak during a teleconference for patient advocates on health insurance. I was contacted by another Twitter follower to write an opinion piece on healthcare reform from an insurance agent’s perspective.
My goal of blogging three times a week helped me to become more proficient in writing and break out into video blogs. Some of my video blogs are getting more views than my written blogs. All have contributed to increased visits to my website.
I truly thought that completing three professional videos for my website was going to be a real stretch. As it has turned out it has been a piece of cake. I am working with great people at The Studio Center, the videos are looking just like I thought and I really have not had to spend much time on them at all.
The goal of a 1,000 piece direct mail campaign has been a different story. I really thought I would punch this goal out in an evening. Even though I have done large mailings in the past, which I created, this mailing is like climbing Half Dome with out the view. It seems as if I have a creativity block. It is so important to have the piece correct that I second guess my work. I suppose I just need to turn it over to a professional to finish.
After 21 days my experience has confirmed and reinforced my perceived strengths and exposed some weakness. There have been unexpected rewards and a few frustrations. The biggest reward has been reminding myself that I can set “stretch goals” and put the time in to achieve them.
Thanks to everyone who has commented on my blog posts, followed me on Twitter, and generally supported me on this journey. I now have one favor to ask of you; Tell me how can I support you to achieve your goals?