Today’s topic of discussion is all about the 5 Tips to Setting Realistic Business Goals. Most people think that setting goals are easy, and they are, but you need to get down to the specifics. Just what kind of business goals will help you create a successful business?
When it comes to setting your goals, it can be tricky to find that middle ground. If you set goals that are too high, you might get discouraged. If you set them too low, you may end up bored or complacent. You might even become disillusioned with your business. So how do you strike a balance?
The 5 Tips To Goal Setting
The tips below should help you to make your decisions.
1. What do you want?
First, you need to determine what you want. Go ahead and brainstorm – make a list as you do. Put it down on paper and don’t hold back.
2. Assess your list
Now, take a look at your list. Make a sub-list of steps you have to take to reach each of those goals and dreams. Are there some items on your dream list that involve steps you can’t take? If you cannot take the steps necessary to achieve that goal, then it needs to be modified or removed from your list.
What Comes Next?
3. Strategize
As you are making your sub-list of steps, you need to develop definite strategies for those items on your dream list that are achievable. Being able to see what is necessary to achieve that dream can help you decide whether or not to pursue it. Because the strategy may in fact be doable, you might be unwilling to take those steps for personal reasons. That is fine; it’s your list and your goals.
Go ahead and don’t judge yourself – if you can’t/don’t want to adopt a certain strategy for your own reasons, then cross that goal off the list. The point is to narrow things down.
Determine a timeline for your goals. Do you need to make more money right now, as in this month? Or do you have more long-term goals, such as eventually quitting your day job? On your master list, write down your timeline. This will help you further narrow things down – if the goal can’t be reached within your allotted time, then it doesn’t belong on your list of goals.
Being 100% Honest
5. Know yourself
So, one of the keys to succeeding is to be really honest about your strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes we think we can do it all, or do anything…and other times we think we can’t do anything. Neither of these extremes is likely to be true! If you can, ask others what they think they can see you doing. Once again, break out your pencil – list things you like to do and abilities you feel confident about. Just about any skill or attribute can be channeled into helping your business succeed.
These list-making exercises can help narrow down your goals and keep them realistic and reachable.
Need help figuring out how to create your goals? Let’s set up a time to do that. Here’s my booking link to make it easy for you to schedule a time to get together. → Calendar Link I would be more than happy to help you.
If you missed the SMART GOALS WORKSHEET you can get it here →Worksheet
I hope you enjoyed today’s article on goal setting. See you next time!
Why it’s important to set goals for your business is today’s topic of discussion. Why do you think they are important? Bet you can’t guess what mine are!
The Importance of Setting Good Goals
Goals are very important when it comes to the success or failure of your business. Why are they so important? Goals act as a roadmap for you to follow. They let you know where you are going, and if you are getting there on time. You wouldn’t get in your car and start driving without having a destination planned out. So why would you approach your business that way?
I know I always get out my phone and pull up Google Maps and put in my destination before I even drive out of my driveway. Do the same for your business, you need a real destination before you get lost.
Targeting your Goals
All goals should have a few things in common. A goal should define what you are trying to accomplish and when you want to accomplish it. Goals should be realistic and there should be a way to measure them. All goals should be written down and available for viewing on a regular basis.
Simply writing the goal down will significantly increase your odds of achieving it and having it displayed as a visual reminder will also help motivate you.
Even if you have never taken the time to set goals for your business, you are actually very familiar with the process. At some point in your life, you have more than likely taken out a pen and paper and mapped out a plan for accomplishing some type of task.
Writing out goals for your business is no different than writing out your grocery list.
Mapping out the Process
By clearly defining your goal, you are telling yourself where you are going. Instead of having a goal of “I plan to spend more time promoting my Virtual Assistant business”, clearly define the goal as “during the next three weeks, my goal is to spend 10 hours per week promoting my Virtual Assistant business”.
The second goal tells you what you are going to do and for how long you are going to do it. This is mapping out the process. Creating a roadmap for you to follow.
Once you know where you are going and when you want to be there, you can figure out how you are going to get there. Using the example above, you know that for the next three weeks, you need to be spending 10 hours per week promoting your business.
Now you can start defining mini-goals. Do things such as writing articles and submitting them to reprint directories. Try emailing past clients and letting them know you are accepting new projects. Send press releases to the media, and so forth. You get the idea now right?
Your Intent of Creating Goals
Goals can also serve as a great way to challenge yourself. Are there some things you have been meaning to do, but keep putting off? Start setting weekly challenge goals. Do things such as blogging one post each day for a week straight.
Or adding a new message each day to your autoresponder or even writing an article each day and submitting it to a reprint directory.
Rewards for your Goals
Have fun with your goals and reward yourself with a gold star when you accomplish one of them. Once you have collected 10 gold stars, treat yourself to a spa day or some other indulgence.
By setting and achieving goals you will find your business taking off and will feel a great sense of enthusiasm and accomplishment.
One of my goals is to help other women in business reach their goals.
I offer one on one mentoring services, so if you’re looking for help with your goals reach out to me. Use this link to check out what I offer and let’s set up a meeting to discuss. Meet with me here.
Today’s topic of discussion is all about the Five Things You Can Do Today to Achieve Your Goals. There is a lot more to achieving any goal than just having the goal. But it is the first step.
You may wonder how some people seem so great at achieving their goals while other people aren’t so good at it. Part of the reason why some people fail is that they do not have a specific goal, one that is clear and focused. In addition, they do not have a schedule of action to actually work toward achieving the goal.
In order to meet any goal, start with these 5 things:
Clear, Specific, and Doable Goals
Each Goal Needs Set, Actionable Tasks
Schedule Everything
Take Action on Each Goal
Rinse and Repeat
How To Create Clear Goals
For any goal to be achievable it must first be clear and very specific. It also must be possible. You do want to challenge yourself a bit and set the goal high. But you want to ensure that any goal you set is possible. Therefore, you will need to do a little research in order to set a goal.
For instance, let’s say your ultimate goal is to lose 50 pounds. Obviously, anyone who needs to lose 50 pounds and sets their mind to it can do so. But they can’t and shouldn’t do it in one month. So an unreasonable goal is “I want to lose 50 pounds in a month.”
Instead, a more reasonable and doable goal is to state “I want to lose 50 pounds in 30 weeks.” This is in line with health recommendations not to lose more than 2 pounds per week and gives you a little cushion for plateaus and other issues.
Being Specific With Your Goals
Any goal that you really want to meet needs to have the “why” and the “how” included with the “what” of the goal. In the example above you want to lose 50 pounds in 30 weeks, which will be a little less than 2 pounds per week. You’ll need to look at your diet, compute the number of calories you should consume and the amount of exercise you need to see those results.
Thankfully, today there are online calculators to help you determine this easily. But let’s say that you determine that if you consumed 1800 calories a day, and walked for 20 minutes each day, you would achieve the goal that you set within the time limit.
So, now you need to include planning your meals and fitting in the exercise necessary to reach your goal. But because of the research you did, you know exactly what is needed to be successful with the goal you set.
Planning The Tasks
You can see a clear path to success just by going further and adding these actionable tasks:
* Eat 1800 calories a day * Walk fast for 20 minutes per day
Seeing that in black and white you can see that it’s very doable and achievable. But, there are a few more steps necessary to achieve your goals.
Scheduling Your Goals
Do not leave anything to chance. Instead, schedule the work necessary to reach your goals into a real calendar. Writing a list isn’t good enough – you need to schedule everything so that you don’t miss a single day due to losing track of your schedule. You’ll need time to eat healthier, which requires more chopping and cooking. And you’ll need time to fit in the exercise, which is going to really take more than 20 minutes due to prep time and recovery time. You need to be realistic about how long each thing will take and schedule them into your day properly.
No goal will ever be achieved if regular action isn’t taken each day. Each morning, look at your calendar and follow through on the plans that you’ve made and the criteria you’ve set for yourself to get things done. All you have to do is the minimum necessary each day to reach your goal. When you get through each day having done the minimum, you’re a success – each and every single day. There is nothing else that can be the result of daily activities other than success when you think of it this way.
What’s next?
Finally, you’ll need to repeat these steps every single day. When you make very specific and clear goals with very specific steps to achieving the goal, you will soon discover the secret to success that seems to escape so many people. The real secret is in the doing. It’s like going on a long hike – if you take one step at a time, moving in the direction of the map that you’ve planned out for yourself, you will get to the end and you will be a success.
Reaching your goals is just a matter of setting reasonable and realistic goals, and then setting up a schedule of actionable tasks and steps that bring about the end result you want.
You can start today to achieve your goals. I hope you enjoyed today’s article on the Five Things You Can Do Today to Achieve Your Goals.
Remember, I am always here for you if you need help with creating your goals. I offer one on one mentoring sessions that will help you create, plan and execute your goals.
Just sign up by using the link above. Pricing starts as little as $55.00, yes…really!
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