GRAB the Secret Formula for Success

There are many recipes for success out there. Entire books have been written about it. We like a simple formula*, which delivers results – consistently.

Here is the secret recipe:

Goal + Roadmap + Accountability + Bring it on! = GRAB Success.

Let’s look at the different components of our success formula:

1. Goal
As we’ve written before, New Year’s resolutions and mere wishes hardly ever work.

You need to refine your goal. You may have heard about SMART goals. We prefer SMARTER goals. Your goal should be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Action-oriented
• Realistic
• Time-based
• Exciting
• Rewarded

This works for goals related to your health, your practice, your personal life, bad habits, good habits, your debt load, anything!

Here’s a financial example: let’s say you want to save $5,000 to go on an amazing trip through South America.

Sure, saving $5,000 seems daunting if you are already struggling financially. But what if there were a way to do it?

2. Roadmap
As the saying goes, “a goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Any worthwhile goal doesn’t happen overnight. So like eating an elephant, you need to chunk it down into mini-goals.

You can’t run a marathon overnight. But you can train daily or weekly to get there.
You can’t lose 50 lbs in a week. But you can make a plan to lose a pound per week.
And you can’t save $5,000 with no plan. How could you do it?

Well, you can divide $5,000 by say 50 weeks. If you’re a practice owner or employee, that gives you a little bit of slack. If you’re an independent contractor, that allows for 2 weeks of unpaid vacation.

So $5,000 divided by 50 weeks is $100/week. Do you think you can save that amount weekly to go on an amazing trip?

If so, here is the roadmap: “Over the next 12 months, I will save $100 each week, or $200 out of every paycheck, and put it in a new savings account in order to take the trip of a lifetime through South America.”

This goal is definitely SMARTER. It’s specific. It’s easily measurable. It’s action-oriented. Whether it is realistic or not definitely depends on your income, your expenses and your discipline. But when there is a will…

Our goal is also time-based. You know exactly what to do on a weekly basis. It’s definitely very exciting. And obviously the goal is rewarded since the reward is an amazing trip!

Of course, you can adapt it to any goal you want: a different destination, a different type of goal, a down payment on a home – you get the idea.

3. Accountability
We’ve written about it before. Having an accountability buddy will more than double your chances of reaching a goal. Like a faithful coach, your partner will be at your side every step of the way.

This is the reason why every attendee of the Veterinary Financial Summit will leave with an accountability buddy.

Accountability buddies will motivate each other to reach their goals through regular check-ins. Weekly meetings, physically or virtually by phone or video, are very powerful motivation to help you achieve your goals.

4. Bring it on!
Now that you have a very clear plan of action, it’s time to take a few steps to put it into action.

If you have a physical goal, how often will you run or practice or exercise?
If you have a nutritional goal, how will your meals and calorie intake change?

For our financial goal, here are the steps:

• Open a savings account tomorrow.
• Set up an automatic transfer from your checking account (or wherever your paycheck goes) to your savings account for every paycheck.
• Stop or decrease certain expenses to redirect the money toward your top goal.

That’s it! All you have to do now is be disciplined and watch your balance grow!

So be kind to yourself and create your own plan of action:

You can do this! Even if you need more than 1 year, it’s OK. So what if you need 2 years to reach your goal?

And if you GRAB success once, you can do it again!

Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS
Meredith Jones, DVM
Co-Founders of Veterinary Financial Summit

* Loosely adapted from management guru and dentist extraordinaire Dr. Mark Costes.