How to Set Goals that Feel Good
It’s a new month and if you’re Type A like me, that means it’s goal-setting time!
I know not everyone loves goal setting as much as I do, and many people find it intimidating, but it’s such an important part of any business. Something I hear so much when taking my clients through goal-setting exercises is, “I hate setting goals because I never reach them, then I feel guilty about it.”
But you CAN set goals in a way that feels good, and in a way that makes you feel inspired to get started. Goal setting is not a one size fits all exercise, that’s why so many people hate New Year’s Resolutions because that type of goal doesn’t work for them.
Here are a few different approaches to setting goals you can try:
Set an intention for something you want to focus on
Create affirmations based on the outcome you want to achieve
Set micro-goals every day or week and update them as you go
Goal setting doesn’t have to mean you choose to set lofty monthly goals. Do it in a way that YOU like and you’ll be much more likely to achieve that goal. Whether you choose to set goals for revenue, profits, number of clients, creation of a new product or package, WHATEVER it is you want to accomplish in the next week, month, quarter, or year, it’s important to set goals. If you need help with knowing how to create intentions for your business, check out a recent blog post I wrote here.
Why?
Goals help us get specific on exactly what we want and how we’re going to get there
Goals can be a great motivator and source of accountability when you find yourself losing focus
Goals can also be great sources of information when you’re reviewing the results of your efforts
Setting and achieving your goals is about much more than just thinking about what you want than writing it down. How can you expect to complete your goal if you don’t think about what you need to do to get there? How can you achieve it with no action plan?
Usually setting the goal is the fun part, outlining how you’ll accomplish it is the hard part where many people drop off. But, without an action plan, how will you know if you’ll need more resources, or how long it will realistically take, or if you’ll need to re-prioritize certain goals to focus on the one you’ve deemed a priority? Just writing down a goal is a recipe for failure, while creating an action plan for that goal is setting yourself up for success.
Writing Your Action Plan
You can work backward from your end goal, this is called reverse engineering. Start by thinking of the last step that you will need to happen before accomplishing your goal, then what step has to come before the last step and so on until you get to the first step that you can do RIGHT NOW.
Or you can start with the very first step that needs to happen, then keep adding the next step and the next step until you reach your goal.
Both ways work, it just depends on which strategy you prefer to use. Breaking it down into bite-sized pieces like this will make it feel more achievable vs. overwhelming.
Analyzing Your Goals
When is the last time you reviewed the goals you set and reflected on why you did or didn’t accomplish them? I set goals last year that I never even got close to accomplishing. Yet I still added $150k to my business, grew my team, and increased my prices.
Because my goals CHANGED and EVOLVED.
Just because you set a goal, doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it. You can update, add, or revise your goals whenever you want. As a small business owner your priorities are likely to shift throughout the year, so why wouldn’t your goals shift with them? Give yourself the permissions to change or revise a goal that’s no longer serving you or your business.
It can be easy to just think “well, I didn’t hit that goal, time to move on to the next thing,” but pausing to think about why you didn’t achieve that goal can help you the next time you set a new goal.
Ask yourself these questions next time you’re reviewing your goals:
What resources did I put toward this goal?
Did I map out an action plan for how I was going to achieve this goal?
Did this goal remain a top priority?
Could I have dedicated more or less time and energy toward this goal?
Was the timeline for this goal realistic?
Do I still want this goal?
By asking yourself these questions for BOTH the goals you did accomplish and the goals you didn’t, you can start to look for patterns.
Do the goals you’re not accomplishing consistently not have enough resources?
Do the goals you achieve always have an action plan?
Knowing the commonalities between goals you hit and goals you didn’t can help you better plan for future goals.
If you’re looking for help setting goals, or if you’re ready to stop making excuses and put in the work to see real movement and growth in your business I’d love to work with you 1:1. Visit my coaching page here to learn more.
