Monthly Archives: February 2018

3 reasons that is preventing you from achieving your enrollment goal

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As a long time Admissions Manager, I know first hand what it means, and what it takes to meet or exceed an enrollment goal, or meet budget.  I can remember in the good old days, like the early 2000’s, and in 2007 through 2010, the excitement and fun we were having meeting our goals and kicking butt.  I was also in my late twenties, and early thirties, as well, so I am sure that was part of the fun.

But today it is different.  Everything is different.  The competition is different.  The way you enroll a student is different. The way a student decides to go to school is different.  The staff you are hiring is different.

I honestly, can’t think of one thing that is the same, other than some of the major reasons why a person decides to go back to school or not.  And the process on how and why a person chooses one college over another is still the same.

I don’t think the industry will ever go back to where it was.  It is just too different in all the ways I stated above.  However, I do know a school can increase their chances of meeting and exceeding their budgets by implementing a few of the suggestions or processes I describe here.

You don’t have a process:  I have gone into school after school, after school.  And I have spoken to leader after leader, and owner after owner of schools for years. And they all say the same thing. “Our Admissions teams know how to enroll students.” And what I inevitably find, is that if they have ten Admissions Advisors, they will have two that do know how, five that are winging it, and two that are about to be fired, and one that should be fired.

Just because a person delivers results, it doesn’t mean they know how they are doing it. If they don’t know how to do it, then they definitely can’t train others how to do it.  This is what I find in school after school.  The leaders are leaving the training up to other Admissions Advisors who may or may not, even know what they are doing.

Secondly, the process is not a process on how to appeal to motives of prospective students and help the student understand themselves better and why they want to go back to school.  Nope.  The process is an application, a financial aid appointment, maybe an assessment, and if the student does these things, then the institution will allow them to start school.  And maybe the student will start school.  If they do, they may actually attend a few semesters or quarters.  But when the going gets hard, the student usually gets going.  Right to the withdrawal process and out the colleges doors.

The solution is to work with a reputable company that has a history of creating an effective Admissions process that helps Admissions teams get results, while keeping the students best interest in mind. I know most institutions these days, always have what is best for the student in mind.  But it is important to also have a standard process that not only helps the Admissions advisors, but also helps the student.

Old school leadership:  I have found myself using the term old school leadership more often this past week than I ever have before.  I guess, because I keep seeing it so much.

What is old school leadership?
Here are a few examples: 
My people don’t need any training. 
I do the training myself. 
People will just show up and do a good job. 
We are just fine right now. 

When I hear any of the above things, I just roll my eyes and laugh.  Because this is closed-minded thinking and this is obviously not what is best for your school.

First of all, there is never a good time to conduct training.  There is always another start.  I get it.  But, everyone needs training.  Ask the greats.  Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, and you name it athlete.  They train three times more than they ever play their actual sport.  I am sure you have heard this comparison before, so if it wasnt convincing then, I am not sure it will be now.

Most people will show up and want to do a great job, but they might not know how.  Or they might mostly know how, but there could be one or two things that they could learn that could change the game.

Secondly, training is not only about the actual material that is covered, it is about the camaraderie that is created amongst the team.  And when in the right kind of training environment, where people are stretched and pulled out of their comfort zones, this could be huge confidence boosters that can significantly impact the results of your team.

You don’t even know what they are saying:  Here it is. Yes.  I am pitching my product to you.  Under the Trump Administration every one has gotten really excited and are optimistic about the future.  By the way.  I am as well.  However, let’s be honest here.

This train is way on down the tracks here. We had eight years of increased scrutiny and more and more regulations.  All of that is not going to be overturned in a year or even four years. And this is really not the reason, you would even consider buying my product anyway.  My product is for helping your team, your people, and your processes to get better.

Sure you can use it for compliance and verification as well.  But, our product is for developing people.  When you run a secret shopping campaign at your school, it is to find and eliminate things such as inefficient processes, bad language from your Admissions teams, and then lastly even validation and proof of what you do well.  Contact me at the info below if you want to schedule a free complimentary shop.

When we run a secret shopping camping with one of customers, it is first and foremost and opportunity to use it to coach and train employees to get better.

Let me ask you.  Do you have a process that helps students discover their own desires for going back to school?  Do you have “old school leadership” in place that is preventing you from reaching goals and budgets because of their mindset?  And lastly, do you even know what your staff is saying to your customers?  I mean prospective students?

As the owner of MPACT Group Inc. and a long time Higher Ed executive, I know the challenges your Admissions teams faces and I take a new approach to training and developing todays current admissions workforce to get the most out of them.

If you are interested in learning more. Reach out to me at bwillett555@gmail.com

To your success and your future.

 

 

For 35 years, all of my decisions came down to these two words. Not now!

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The great Napoleon Hill said: “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” 

The first question you have to ask yourself is:

Do you believe this statement/quote is true?  If you do or you don’t I would encourage you to continue reading.

Through out my life.  I have had to decide to do one thing or the other.  All decisions were an “either”, “or”.

Here are a few of my examples:

  • I had to decide that if I wanted to buy a house.  Than I would have to get rid of my car payment.
  • I had to decide if I wanted to put in more hours at work, than I wouldn’t workout as regular.
  • Growing up, my parents would tell me that if I wanted these really expensive shoes than I couldn’t get as many clothes.  Because there was only so much money.
  • I had to decide instead of getting the new car with all of the bells and whistles, I would have to just get the older version or the newer one with less bells and whistles.
  • I had to decide if I wanted to go away for the weekend, than I would have to give up eating out dinner for several months in advance.
  • I had to decide if I wanted to take a vacation, than I would set aside a certain amount of money for a period of time, before taking that vacation.
  • I had to decide while on the vacation, between eating out for dinner or cooking something back in the hotel room.

I could come up with numerous examples of where my decisions throughout my life came down to these two words “either”, “or”.  For 35 plus years I had to live with these decisions.

It wasn’t until I made a decision, and I am recommitting to this decision right now.  That I no longer want to make “either” “or” decisions.  I instead want to make decisions on “all” or “everything”.

I want the car that I want, not the one that I can get. I want the vacation that I want.  Not the one I can get. I want the, “you name it that I want, not the one that I can get.”

I no longer want to say, I can “either do this”, “or do that”.  I want it all and I want everything that I decide that I want.

When you spend your entire life making decisions this way, it is hard to change your mentality and your decision making overnight.  But if you commit to seeking abundance in your life and change your thinking, you can change your life.

I am coaching hundreds of people right now in the area of changing their approach in how they do everything in their life and in their business. If you think this is something you want to do lets connect and see how my program might be able to help you. email me at bwillett555@gmail.com

Remember, you are capable of accomplishing anything you decide to commit to. You just have to make a decision and commit.

To your success and your future.

Why Power only exists in Truth

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I am sure you have talked to someone before about a job, a relationship, or some other situation, where that person was receiving less than they deserve.  And what that usually means is that you, as their friend, colleague, or family member, believe that they are doing more and giving more to that relationship, job, etc., than the other party is giving.

But what if that wasn’t true.  What if there was more that the person could give.  What if this person was you and not someone else that was feeling this way. And you kept telling yourself that you are giving everything and not getting anything in return.  You are not getting what you deserve.

Everyday I work and see people that feel this way.  They believe that they are owed more. They believe that they deserve more.  They believe that they have done everything that they could do to improve their situation, but none of it has worked.  The relationship is still bad.  The pay on the job still sucks.  They didn’t receive the promotion.  They didn’t get the next assignment.

If you feel this way, or no someone who does.  I want to share this with you, because someone shared it with me, and it changed my life.  First of all, the market pays for the value that you or someone else brings to it.

My mentor told me this story once about how he went to his mentor and told him that the job wasn’t paying enough.  His mentor asked him this “Are there other people at your place of employment who make more money than you do?”  The answer was yes from my mentor.  Than his mentor shared these very remarkable words with him.

He said “Than it isn’t the company, it is the value you are bringing to the company. If you want to change your pay, you have to increase your value.”

The only way any of us can get paid more on the job, is to increase the value we bring to the job.  If you are a manager and you can manage a group of six or seven people to perform a job.  The company will pay you more.  If you can learn how to manage six or seven managers, which is a different skillset, than they will pay you even more money.

If you are a customer service representative and you are really good at taking calls on problems and solving those problems. The company will pay you a certain dollar amount for that.  But if you can not only take those calls, but you can train other people on how to do it as well, they will pay you more money.

Most companies have more money that they can pay you.  However, you just have to figure out a way to show them that you are worth more than what they are paying you.  Most people spend their time complaining about what they deserve instead of showing how they are worth more.  Stop talking and start showing.

One of the things most of us are in dire need of in our lives, is someone who can speak truth in to us.  Tell us something that we don’t really want to hear.  You may have heard the old saying that there is “Power in Truth”.  Why do you think that saying exists?

Because, until you hear the truth, you don’t have the power to change anything.  If you want to change your situation, you have to first understand your reality and the truth of where you really are.  Finding someone to give you this truth is very hard.  It usually requires someone who isn’t associated with you in any way to come in to your life and  help you assess where you are and then provide you the truth.

If you want to get to a different place, you have to understand where you are.  Not just your belief on where you are, but the actual truth on where you are.  Most of us don’t have the people in our lives that can or will provide us this truth.

If you are a person who wants truth and wants more than you currently have, than I would encourage you to reach out to me, and if it isn’t me, than someone else that can provide you the truth you need to hear.

email me at bwillett555@gmail.com for more insight and possibly partnering together.

To your success and your future.

 

 

 

Implementing this one activity every other day has been a game changer for my life.

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There are certain things in life that all of us must do every single day.  Things like brush our teeth, eat, drink water, and… If you have children you have to make sure they do these same things everyday as well.

Now you could say that you have to go to work every single day, but that isn’t true.  Most of us have weekends off.  And if you don’t, you probably have vacation time. So what are the things we have to do every single day?  There probably aren’t very many things we must do every single day unless we choose to do it.

About a year and a half ago, I learned from one of my mentors to do this one thing every single day.  And it has been a game changer for me. My mentor said that I should write down my 10-15 biggest goals every single day.  Yes.  He said I should do this every single day.  He said he does it as soon as he wakes up and he does it again before he goes to bed.

Maybe he does or maybe he doesn’t.  He is wildly successful, so I am not going to question him. I like to try to do what really successful people do, so I gave it a shot.

First of all, for me, I have found that I don’t do it every day.  Hence why the title of the blog isn’t, “Implementing this one activity everyday has been a game changer for my life.”

There is really no reason why I can’t, but looking in my journal over the last year, I just didn’t.  I just looked at my journal and I counted 298 days that I wrote down my goals.  Not bad, but I could do better. Again, doing anything for 365 days a year is hard.  I can do better though.

I have been a very aggressive goal setter for the last ten or so years of my life.  I have accomplished so many things that I would have never dreamed of accomplishing, just because I wrote it down and made a plan to accomplish it.  I consider myself to be in the top one percent of goal setters and goal accomplishers.  This consideration is purely from my observations of hundreds, if not thousands of people, that I interact with in my business who don’t set goals. It is not a common thing.

All of this to say, that I know a lot about goal setting and I have helped a lot of people accomplish more in their life by becoming better goal setters.

So when my mentor told me to write down my goals every single day, I thought that this was a silly idea.  I said how will this help me.  I am already doing a really good job at setting and accomplishing goals.  I have a document that I write down all of my current year goals on, and included on that document is some long-range goals as well.  They all kind of go together.

But because of his challenge to me, I decided to take on this challenge of writing them down every day.  And in my case, I did it the last 298 days of my life. I didn’t write down every single goal.  I just wrote down the 10 to 15 bigger goals that I have in my life.

For example:  I turn forty next year.  I am not worried about the forty number, but one of my goals is to be in the best shape of my life, backed up with test results, when I turn forty next year. That is one of the goals I have written down the last 298 days of my life.

Another one is “I own 100 paid for rental properties”.  Yes a big goal.  I currently have five.

What I have learned from writing these goals down for the last 298 days, is that they are always in my head, they never leave.  I am reminding myself about them every day. This has helped me put in place certain habits and other things that are helping me work toward these goals.  Id dint have this before.  This has been really beneficial for me to doing what I need to do, every day to get closer to accomplishing the goals.

Most people never accomplish much because they never commit to accomplishing anything. That is why writing down your goals is co critical. But I have learned that writing them down every single day reminds me to do the things that I need to do so I can accomplish the goals.

This is not a to do list.  This is a reminder of the bigger things you want in your life. These are the big goals.  These bigger goals is where you get your motivation.

I can’t get too excited about running six miles a day, but I can get excited and motivated about being in the best shape of my life at the age of forty.

It is hard to get excited about making another sales call, or taking on a client that I know will be a pain in the ass.  But I know that I have to do it, to generate the money so I can get to my 100 rental properties.

These 10 or 15 goals set your task list for the day automatically.  The only difference is, the task list isn’t that exciting, but the goals list is.

As you can tell, I have some room for improvement in this area as well, but I want to challenge you to try this.  I consider myself to be a pretty self motivated person, but after doing this the last 298 days, I am even more motivated and committed to my goals and to my success and this has pushed me to do even more every day to get closer to accomplishing them.

If you want more information about my process, email me at bwillett555@gmail.com

To your success and your future.

Check out this blog for more information about the value of writing down your goals.

The secret to accomplishing everything you have ever wanted is here.

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Perhaps by now you have heard about the research study that was conducted at Harvard or Yale University on written goals?  You know the one.  Where so many people of a certain graduating class had written goals, and a certain percentage of the class didn’t have any written goals.  And after several years, they followed back up with those graduates to see what they had achieved.

What they found was that the 3% of students who had written goals, clearly defined, accomplished 10 times more than the students who didn’t have written goals.

Well, just so you know, that research was never substantiated.  Because it never existed.

As a person who has studied goals and speaks on goals a lot to others. I have to admit, I had actually referenced this fictional research myself.

Luckily, a professor of Research by Dominican University of California psychology, Dr. Gail Matthews actually conducted some research that supported this urban legend.

A total of 267 participants were recruited from businesses, organizations, and business networking groups. However, only 149 participants completed the study. The final participants ranged in age from 23 to 72, with 37 males and 112 females.

Participants came from the United States, Belgium, England, India, Australia and Japan and included a variety of entrepreneurs, educators, healthcare professionals, artists, attorneys, bankers, marketers, human services providers, managers, vice presidents, directors of non-profits, etc.

Participants were randomly assigned to one of 5 conditions (groups):

  • Group 1- Unwritten Goal;
  • Group 2- Written Goal;
  • Group 3- Written Goal & Action Commitments;
  • Group 4- Written Goal, Action Commitments to a Friend;
  • Group 5- Written Goal, Action Commitments & Progress Reports to a Friend.

Participants in Group 1 were simply asked to think about their goals (what they wanted to accomplish over the next 4 weeks) and then asked to rate that goal on the following dimensions: Difficulty, Importance, the extent to which they had the Skills & Resources to accomplish the goal, their Commitment and Motivation to the goal, whether or not they had Pursued this goal before and if so their Prior Success.

Participants in Groups 2-5 were asked to write (type into the online survey) their goals and then to rate their goals on the same dimensions.

Group 3 was also asked to formulate action commitments.

Group 4 was asked to formulate action commitments and send their goals and action commitments to a supportive friend.

Group 5 was asked to formulate action commitments and send their goals, action commitments and weekly progress reports to a supportive friend.

At the end of four weeks the participant were asked to rate their performance.

The results showed:

Types of goals: Participants pursued a variety of goals (in order of frequency reported) completing a project, increasing income, increasing productivity, getting organized, enhancing performance/achievement, enhancing life balance, reducing work anxiety and learning a new skill. Examples of “completing a project” included writing a chapter of a book, updating a website, listing and selling a house, completing a strategic plan, securing a contract, hiring employees and preventing a hostile take-over.

Which Group achieved the most?  Group 5 achieved significantly more than all the other groups; Group 4 achieved significantly more than Groups 3 and 1; Group 2 achieved significantly more than Group 1.

76% of the participants in group 5 achieved their stated goals and only 43% of the participants in Group 1.

And groups 2-5 had a 50% higher chance of accomplishing their stated goals than did group 1.

So what do you need to do to achieve more in your life?  Very simply, do what the participants did in Group 5.  Write down your goals, and create an accountability system with someone other than yourself.

If you want to learn more about how to do this.  Please contact me at bwillett555@gmail.com

To your success and your future.

Pieces of this blog pulled from this link 

A new season

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Over 100 million people watched the Super Bowl this past Sunday.  The New England Patriots were the heavy favorite and rightfully so going into the game.  But, unless you have been hiding the last seventy-two hours you know that they didn’t win. They were beaten by the underdog, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now, I am not a NFL Football expert. However, the New England Patriots are considered to be one of the best teams ever, because of their long time coach Bill Belichick and their quarterback Tom Brady.  There has been a lot of speculation on whether they both will return next year to play and coach another year.  Or will they retire.  I believe all of the experts agree that Tom Brady will most likely be back in uniform next year, but most of them are unsure about whether or not Bill Belichick will be back as the head coach.

Regardless if they retire or not, they both have now moved on from the last season.  Last season ended on Sunday night after losing the Super Bowl.  For the last nineteen years,  with their eight Super Bowl appearances, five Super Bowl wins, and the countless other victories and accomplishments.  They both know that for them to have that sustained success, that they can’t dwell in the past too long, and they must move on to the next season and start preparing for the next season.

The sad part about a season ending is the fact that all of the hard work, sacrifice, and wins don’t carry any weight into the new season.  Well, at least not the victories.  For them to have success in the next season, they have to do it all over again.  They have to prepare, they have to be disciplined, and they have to sacrifice all over again.  And they have to start all over at Zero Wins and Zero Losses.

Even though starting fresh and new can be challenging and daunting, when you think about it.  It can also be exciting and exhilarating.  The fact that you get to start all over, in many cases with new team mates and new opponents.  They both will be another year wiser and more experienced.

In the NFL they have no choice.  A season only lasts so long.  I know the regular season is seventeen weeks, and when you include the playoffs, I believe the entire season, including the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, it is like twenty-three weeks.  The season has an end date.  Once it is over, it’s over.

Life for the rest of us is different.  It doesn’t necessarily have end dates for our seasons.  It isn’t that definitive.   Now, there may be a season where you work someone where for a period of time and then decide to move on to another employer.  Or there may be a season where you are living your life a certain way, like maybe when you were single or in your twenties.  Or you may be in a relationship with a person for a period of time, and then that relationship ends.  All of these situations could have been a season for you.

But in most cases, our lives are not that seasonal and defined with a begin date and end date.  When we need to be our best and when we can slack off some.  Nope instead we are left to ourselves to determine when a season begins and when a season should end. And from my experience there have been many times where I may have stayed within a season too long.

Here is my challenge for you.  Do you know what season you are in?  Have you been in your current season too long?  Maybe you have been complaining about this job for the last several years, but you haven’t taken the next steps to move on.

Maybe you have been in that relationship that isn’t going anywhere too long.  You just keep breaking up and getting back together.  Or maybe you have been together, but the relationship is not growing.  Maybe you have been thinking about going back to school, but you just haven’t pulled the trigger.

Regardless of where you are in life right now, it isn’t always going to be that way.  But you have the ability and the right to make it whatever you want.  You just have to decide to make a change and start a new season for your life.

Tom Brady , Bill Belichick, and the New England Patriots season ended on Sunday.  But they know the next one starts soon and they are already preparing for it.  In your case, you have to decide when your next season will start?  Are you ready for it?  Or are you going to ride this season out to the end?

To your success and your future.

 

New Year. New You. Or have you already quit?

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New Year. New You.  Does this sound like you?  Hey, I hope so.  I think the beginning of the year is as good as any to start a new thing.  Whether it is your health, your money, a bad habit you want to quit, or anything else.

But do you want to know what is even better than a new start or a fresh start?  To never quit in the first place.

I have been looking at my Facebook feed since the beginning of 2018.  Which is exactly 31 days ago from the time I am writing this blog.  Today is February 1, 2018.  I see a lot of people on there pursuing these new things, and many of them said the same thing last year.  And most of them quit by this time last year, and many quit before the end of the year on whatever it was they were doing. They are now attempting it again.  I am proud of you.  Stay with it this time.

Hey, I have been there before.  I am no different from anyone else.  Working out is a discipline that I just do.  I don’t have to think about it. I just do it.  I have been doing it for so long that it is just past of who am I.

However, where my opportunity for a fresh start exists. Is eating better. Just like many of the people in my Facebook feed, I have made some changes to my diet this year.  When I was younger, I always thought I could just exercise my way through a bad diet.  And what I have found the older I have gotten, that this has become increasingly more difficult.  So I had to make a fresh start as well.

In this blog I want to suggest a few ideas that can keep you consistent versus always having to start over.

A new year is a great place to start a new thing.  However, it doesn’t only have to be at the beginning of a New Year though.  In Daniel Pinks new book “When: The Scientific Secrets to Perfect Timing” He actually provides a list of 86 different days, dates, events, etc. that could be a great time for you to make a fresh start.  The first year being one of them and here are just a few more from his book:

  • First day of the month
  • Mondays (52)
  • Seasons (4)
  • Your birthday
  • Your anniversary of whatever
  • First day back from vacation
  • A Holiday

His goal was to get us thinking about the different days that we could use other than the first of the year to provide us a fresh start.

If you made a commitment on January 1, 2018, and have already quit, today would be a great day to start over again. You don’t have to wait until next year.  The first of the month is as good or better day to start than others.

Here is the good news.  If you are someone who quits and has had to start again.  Don’t wait until another year goes by before you start again.  Use another date and start your commitment from that date.   Today would be a good day to do that.

How else can you keep going?  As a runner, I have had a few injuries along the way. And I am the opposite of my most people.  If I don’t workout or exercise, I get very irritable, because it is breaking my routine. And I hate to break my routine. Over the years, as I have had these injuries, I would just have to modify my workouts. If my leg or calf is bothering me, then I would just do an upper body workout.  If my upper body is sore, maybe I just do a leg workout or run.

The key is to not stop.  But you may have to make adjustments and modify. What is it that you are trying to accomplish?  If you have already quit.  Why did you quit?  Were you trying to go all-in too fast?  If that is the case, don’t quit, make adjustments.

I had someone tell me one time, that you only have to get in shape once.  And that is the hard part. Once you do, then you just have to maintain it. Since then, I have never quit. Are there times where I more focused and disciplined than others?  Absolutely, but I never quit and that is the key to success when it comes to health and fitness and most anything else in life.

Another way to keep your commitment and not quit.  Is to remember why you wanted this in the first place.  And when I say remember it, I highly demand that you write it down.  By writing it down you put it to memory.

If you want to become healthier?  Why?  Is it because you want to look good in a bikini or without a shirt on if you are a guy.  If it is to quit spending so much.  Why is this so important to you?  Is it because you want to have a more secure future?  Is your job situation uncertain?  Or is it because you hate your job and you need to be prepared for an exit?

I have written about goals a lot here.  And if you are interested in taking your goal setting and goal accomplishing to the next level, then I would encourage you to reach out to me.  I have some resources that could be beneficial to you.

But I want you to do this one thing to increase the likelihood that you don’t have to start all over again.  And that is write down your goal, why that goal is important to you, and when you will accomplish it by.  Once you do this, you will be well on your way to accomplishing the things you want to accomplish.

To your success and your future.