This coming week begins the official start of the 4th quarter.
I always know the end of the year is coming because that’s when we kick off the 100 Day Challenge and my phone literally rings off the hook with companies wanting to hire me to help them finish the year strong.
ARE YOU READY TO FINISH STRONG?
The fact is…3 quarters are now history and the ONLY that thing that matters now is your ability to finish the 4th quarter strong.
It’s my intention to show you how…so let’s get busy.
The good news is that there’s still plenty of time and opportunity to reach your goals, exceed your sales targets, and close any execution gap.
However, if after 3 quarters, you find yourself below target or unhappy with your individual, team or corporate year-to-date performance then you must wake up to the reality that your current mindset, choices, habits and strategies are not producing the results you want and need.
AND, there’s NO point in pretending that if you choose to discard this message, and continue playing the same game, that your results will somehow improve and you’ll miraculously finish the year strong.
They can’t and they won’t. Expecting to get better results from the same old behavior will only succeed in perpetuating your current situation.
So, how do you Finish the Year Strong, how do you crush it in the 4th quarter?
Well, if you think about it, the things you NEED to be doing in the 4th quarter are the EXACT SAME THINGS you should have been doing the previous three quarters. The only difference now is that you no longer have a time cushion.
What follows is a five-point game plan, five rock solid strategies for Finishing the Year Strong!
STRATEGY #1 GET SERIOUS
With a finite period of time breathing down your neck, you have no choice but to get serious, set crystal clear goals, raise the bar, step up your game and embrace a take-no-prisoners attitude.
One thing about successful people is that at some point in their life, each one has looked in the mirror and decided that once and for all they were done playing games, they were done settling for table scraps, and they were done living far below their potential.
The moment you decide to get serious, to raise your standards, and commit to finishing the 4th quarter with a bang… is the moment everything changes in your life to include the direction and trajectory of your life.
COMMITMENT always precedes action which means, you will make rapid advances towards your goals ONLY after you decide to get serious about doing everything in your power to finish the year strong.
STRATEGY #2 REFUSE TO DIE
Those with the character to do what it takes to finish the year strong, tend not to allow the indignity of a poor year-to-date performance to keep them down.
Every great achievement and comeback in history has been the result of the choices, the determinations, and the creations of the human will.
A comeback acknowledges that his back is against the wall, accepts the sins of past performance, analyzes both opportunities and obstacles, strengthens his resolve, and crawls to his feet again.
When you are down or below target other people will write you off. Do not let them define you – maintain your dignity, commit to the goal of finishing the year strong, and refuse to die.
STRATEGY #3 DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY OR DO DIFFERENT THINGS
A strong 4th quarter is dependent upon extraordinary execution skills. The better you execute, the better you perform, and the stronger you finish. It’s that simple.
Expecting to get better results from the same old behavior will only succeed in perpetuating more pain and digging a deeper hole. It will NOT get you to a superior level of performance.
Therefore, finishing the year strong necessitates new and better execution skills. In short, things need to change, and when faced with a need for change – YOU ONLY HAVE TWO OPTIONS, you can either do different things or you can do things differently.
This is a subtle but important distinction, and if you have any chance of closing your execution gaps, you MUST ask yourself…
“Do I need to do things differently or should I focus on doing different things?”
Getting the right answer – quickly – will be the key to a successful and strong 4th quarter finish.
STRATEGY #4 SPEED THINGS UP
The old rules no longer apply. It’s not the big who eats the small; it’s the fast who eats the slow.
Speed is a massive competitive advantage that you must utilize with great authority, speed is a demonstration of commitment, competence and clarity of purpose, and speeding things up is the key to rapid, ongoing, and transformational results.
You will achieve true greatness and finish the year strong only after you develop a sense of urgency about what you are doing — urgency to the extent that getting results and achieving your goals is a matter of life or death.
Before we move on to the final strategy, let me be perfectly clear, you MUST take massive daily action and turn the pursuit of speed into your primary weapon for finishing the year strong.
STRATEGY #5 BE RELENTLESS
By choosing to be relentless, you are demonstrating no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace, nor are you softening or yielding in determination.
Being relentless means that you have the type of spirit incapable of being overcome, subdued, or vanquished. If you passionately believe that you are up to the challenge and committed to finishing the 4th quarter strong, then it is your right and responsibility to cultivate an unbeatable mind and enforce your will over the world.
The rewards for those who are unyielding in their pursuit of a strong finish far exceed the pain that must precede the victory.
As you work towards the goal of finishing the year strong, you must understand that there will NEVER be a day that will not require dedication, discipline, perseverance, accountability and the opportunity to execute with bold conviction.
So, sweat the small stuff as each day counts, and everything, regardless of size or intent, has bottom-line consequences which move you towards or away from your goals!
And regardless of your year-to-date results, you and I both know that no matter how good or bad your results have been, you can always do better – much better, and I’d like to show you how by introducing you to the 100 Day Challenge!
The 100 Day Challenge is the world’s most powerful goal setting program that is built around two motivational tenets; a fixed period of time which is deadline driven, and a strong desire to fast track your results and finish the 4th quarter strong.
It provides you with an “unfair competitive advantage” and is the perfect solution for the biggest problem faced by everyone — the need for more, better and faster results in a highly competitive world.
If it’s in your best interest to finish the year strong, then sign up right now at 100 Day Challenge and I’ll show you how to crush it in the 4th quarter, and finish the year at the top of your game!
Everything Counts!
Gary Ryan Blair