Just Missed Meeting Your Goal? Get Support on Self-Storage Talk

I'm a big believer in setting goalsor after this past weekend, I should say I'm still a big believer in setting goals.

Why do I add "still" to that statement? Quite simply, I recently set a goal, worked for months toward reaching it, and unfortunately, didn't quite meet it. I just completed my second half-marathon (13.1-mile race) with the goal of finishing it in less than two hours. This goal originated after finishing my first half-marathon in 2:05:02 in January. Sadly, after running 10 miles at the pace necessary to meet my goal, my legs turned into concrete pillars. I finished the race, but it wasn't pretty, running the last 3.1 miles at a fairly slow pace. In fact, I even went backwards by a couple of minutes from my January time. I trained all summer, peaking at about 27 miles of running a week, and yet, it wasn't meant to be.

It's a bit demoralizing when you set a goal, put in what you think is the necessary preparation, and still don't meet your goal. I'm sure this is a fate many professionals, especially in self-storage, have faced. Discussion of goal-setting has been ongoing on Self-Storage Talk , the official online forum of Inside Self-Storage. On this thread , MisterJim444, an industry expert, points out the benefits of clearly enumerating goals for your business. 

He says businesses must have ways to measure your success, which can't always be determined by a profit margin. Respondents generally agree, pointing out the importance of setting reasonable but still ambitious goals. If a facility has a goal to boost occupancy from 60 percent to 95 percent in two months, the goal might be overly ambitious. Unattainable goals are dangerous because when the goal isn't met, doubt and discouragement can creep in, having an adverse effect on the participants in the future. If you're an owner and you set ridiculous sales goals for your managers, you will only anger your managers, and your goal will probably not be met.

On the other hand, a well-crafted goal will challenge you or your employees but won't overwhelm or intimidate. Discussions about goal-setting are also occurring on the following threads: Owners, What Are Your Goals for This Year?, and Sales Goals: Meeting or Exceeding. If for some reason you or your staff adopt the attitude and work ethic necessary to meet your goal but it still doesn't materialize, you can take solace in a couple of facts:

1.) Even though you might not have hit a specific number, you probably did perform better than if you hadn't set a goal at all.

2.) Performing your job, which can at times be directionless anddare I sayboring, went by faster every day because you were working toward something.

3.) You're not the first person in the industry to fall short of a goal, so if you want to hear about fellow professionals who had to bounce back from failure, searching Self-Storage Talk is sure to bring up no shortage of results.

Theres no reason to make excuses, rationalize or apologize for failure. But if you learn from mistakes and recommit yourself toward a new goal, you'll most certainly be better off in the end. As for my fitness, I may take a break from half-marathons as the winter draws near, but  I'm going to set a new goal: complete a triathlon at the beginning of next summer. That means it's time to stop sulking and start working.

In the meantime, if you haven't already, you should join us on Self-Storage Talk. You must register a username to post, but don't worry. It's free and only takes a couple of minutes.