Improve Your Strategy for Raising the Bar

Raise Your Bar Strategically

 

You set yourself aggressive goals, else why launch your own business in the first place? Ideally, you never reach one goal before you’ve raised the bar higher, to incorporate a new goal even loftier than the first. Why? Because you learn and grow as you go until the original goal is too easy; too minuscule; too beneath your capabilities. When your goal becomes more of walk in the park than a challenge, you take what you’ve learned to reach higher.

If you’ve learned your initial lessons well, including those regarding goal setting, you’ll set the new goals such that they’re challenging but achievable. Yet often, you get discouraged because in the glow of success over nearing those original goals, and when the momentum to achieve the challenge has waned, you set the bar too high, and reach for Pluto instead of the Moon. You forget how many baby steps it took to reach your current level, and, in some ways, set yourself up for failure.

Not that you’ll fail to surpass the original goal, and achieve the new one, but you might neglect to build in the milestones that kept you inspired and moving forward with the last upgrade. You forget you need small successes in order to maintain the momentum that keeps you moving forward, keeps you striving for greater heights. What you might not see is there’s no shame in backing those goals up a little bit to prevent discouragement and frustration from setting in.

Don’t Let Frustration Stall Progress

I’m reminded of when my daughters were in Middle School. My eldest came to me with math homework she was struggling with. Instead of trying to follow my explanation, she became upset and stormed off to her room in tears because I wasn’t explaining it the way the teacher did.

It wasn’t the explanation that stalled her, but the frustration over the difficulty she was having understanding a new concept. Because so much came easily to her, she’d unconsciously raised the bar on her expectations too high, not allowing for a longer learning curve.

Once she backed away from it for a little while, she was able to clear the debris in her mental road, so to speak, and follow the breadcrumbs leading to understanding. In a way, she lowered her expectations of herself a bit to allow the steps along the way to lead her to success.

When you reach the point where you think you’ve tried everything but nothing seems to be getting you closer to your goal, it might be time to back away, not only to reassess your goal, but to get out of the endless do loop of failure to alter your perspective. In other words, adjust the bar so you can better see progress instead of constant failure.

No Path is Engraved in Stone

Perhaps the goal you set was too lofty and ignored important goals you needed to achieve first. Or maybe you’ve left a few steps out of your plan, and need to back away and look at the bigger picture to figure out what’s missing, or where you might have set the bar a little to high. Either way, staying mired in frustration is never the answer.

Over the years, I’ve tried a few ideas to turn my passion into a livelihood. Some carried me further along my path, and others simply frustrated me. I recall a copywriting course that asked me to develop sales copy for one of three products. The only one that resonated with me was for a pet food, but when I started researching, I found there were already several products in their niche, and nothing I could think of would make them stand out.

It wasn’t that there weren’t elements I could have used, but my own frustration, and frankly, lack of motivation to write copy designed to trigger an emotional response from a potential buyer. I looked at the demographics for the target audience, but couldn’t relate on any level. I finally gave up on the course, deciding it wasn’t for me, and even now, I believe writing sales-oriented copy is a bar I’m unmotivated to reach. I don’t rule out getting there at some point once my skill set expands, but for now, it’s not on my radar.

It did teach me a few things though. I learned more about the kinds of response advertisers seek to gain from their target audience, and more, I learned to recognize ads for which I’m definitely not the target audience.

Awareness is a Powerful Tool

In fact, in the last few months, I’ve noticed I’m becoming more observant, and am making critical assessments of many of the ads I see. Will it alter my belief and direction regarding sales-y emails and web copy? Maybe not. It has made me a more aware consumer, if nothing else.

However, if it does lead me to set a new goal years after I gave up on it, it’s because I’ve gained new tools, and a new understanding of the market, and the purpose behind some versions of web copy.

In this age of consumer privacy, and opting out, sellers are less likely to create material aimed at cold prospects. Time and effort goes into enticing those who’ve opted in by providing their email address voluntarily.

Granted, there are plenty of times you aren’t consciously asking to be deluged with emails. You’re simply ordering something online. I’ve also learned some vendors like Home Depot and Sears don’t have an adequate opt-out system. I’ve opted out of their emails several times only to continue receiving them because they keep changing the sending address slightly. In frustration, I finally resigned myself to deleting anything I saw with their name on it, or creating a rule that deletes anything with their name on it.

Learn From the Mistakes of Others

Others like Kohl’s and Amazon are tolerated because I order from them regularly, and once in a while, their emails contain something of value to me. Even there, words like “lowest prices of the season”, or “best sale of the year” are no longer worth opening since I know the prices won’t be as great as touted, or the offerings aren’t even close to anything I want or need. They may instruct their copywriters to target a certain demographic, but from what I can see, it’s pretty broad.

From those advertisers and others like them, I’ve learned to narrow my own focus but also to broaden it when I find it’s so narrow the market is both tiny and saturated. This, in and of itself is part of the goal setting process. Frustration can set in whether the bar is too high, or too low. The trick is recognizing which it is, and adjusting accordingly. It’s an on-going, and ever-changing process.

If I’ve learned nothing else, it’s the world is in a constant state of flux, and those who attempt to follow business as usual will get left behind. Those who learn to adapt, adjust, and reassess enjoy opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive. Will they also be frustration-free? Not a chance!

 

About the Author

Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income.

If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author.

Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.