It might sound counter-intuitive to spend time setting goals when you’re already buried neck-deep in your business. Who has time?? But the irony is, goals will simplify and clarify your business operations, maximise motivation, avoid wasting time, money and effort, and free you up to use your talents to their fullest.
Let’s focus here on your business goals of achieving a certain level of success (as defined by you). This includes your quality of life, finances, work/life balance, growth, continuing education and contribution.
How about taking just 10 minutes a day to work on goal setting? Steps 1-3 are essential – don’t skip them. In fact, don’t take one single step in building your business until you have completed them!
1. Decide exactly what you want. Don’t spend time wandering around in circles trying to move your business toward some nebulous, ever-changing goal. What do you want out of life? What do you want your business to do for your life? For the lives of others? WRITE IT ALL DOWN. I can’t stress this enough.
2. Prepare yourself. Do your research! Develop an understanding of what it takes to achieve what you want (talk to people who already have – most love to help!). This includes how long you can expect it to take; the resources needed; the time commitment needed; and the best business practices, including marketing. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Do your research before you start, and modify your approach as needed rather than having to backtrack to learn essential skills. Know what’s necessary to achieve your goal. It may be more than you think – or less. This may influence your commitment level to your goal.
3. Reality-check your commitment level. How badly do you want this? Some business owners go into it thinking, “I’m the boss, I’ll work my own hours and plenty of free time.” This usually brings about laughter from people who have been putting in long hours to make their business thrive. Yes, you are the boss, but how badly do you want to make it? You know there will be sacrifices necessary (usually time away from family, more money than you anticipated, etc.). And there will be struggles and frustrations. So don’t waste your time and energy on goals that don’t light up your eyes and make your heart sing!
Okay – all of this can be accomplished in very short chunks of time that you set aside each day for goal-setting. This lays the groundwork. Without these three elements, you can expect the road to success to be longer and rockier than if you had prepared yourself mentally, emotionally and physically.
Once you’re clear on all of the above, here’s how to make it all work:
4. Set intermediate goals. In business and in your personal life, there are always distractions, interruptions and URGENT EMERGENCIES. That’s why doable, achievable, realistic and manageable milestones or intermediate goals will give you flexibility and let you deal with life’s crises while at the same time marching you directly toward your bigger goals. Again, setting these intermediate goals can take just a few minutes of planning and preparation. But more importantly, the achievement of these milestones is manageable. These are the small steps that add up to massive results.
5. Prioritize and say NO. Finally, when you’re taking action on these goals, learn to say NO to “urgent” things that are not “important.” Don’t let the squeaky wheel get your grease if the squeaky wheel isn’t attached to the wagon that’s hauling you to success!
Inspired by Michelle Connoly’s blog post on www.smartgoalsguide.com