The most important step in success is having a plan.
Most successful entrepreneurs will tell you that they utilize a goal setting method of some sort to keep their businesses on track. This is even more important when you have several streams of income and several different companies to keep aligned.
Goal setting is an important part of success because it gives you a way to stay accountable to your aspirations.
It creates a reminder that you have goals to Slay. But most importantly, goal setting helps you remain adaptable. Having a plan is important so that you can structure a path to success. But, as you know, obstacles will always try to derail your best plans. You have to be able to PIVOT around them so you can still Slay.
Being able to revisit your goals on a regular basis – whether that is daily, weekly or monthly – will help you track your progress and make those small tweaks along the way, as hurdles arise.
Here are some tips on getting your goal-setting skills up to par so you can keep up with and surpass other successful individuals in your industry.
Start by creating a list of all the areas you’ll need goals for. This includes all streams of income you have, especially if there are self-sustaining companies. This will give you a lay of the land to ensure you are goal setting for each organization or project you have on your plate.
Next, make a list of categories of personal development. This might not seem intuitive. But what you often forget is that you bring an energy to your business. If your personal life is a mess, you will bring that chaos into your companies or any investment you touch. When your personal life is in order, you can start firing on all cylinders and really make an impact on your companies.
You will need a goal sheet for yourself as an individual with some personal goals outside of your business, such as travel, fitness, or other aspirations you haven’t quite achieved yet. If you are married or have significant relationship of some kind, that should have its own goal sheet. And if you have a family, then add a third sheet to that personal arena. These are all separate parts of self that need some TLC, so put them on the list!
Once you have the map of your life laid out in front of you, tackle one list at a time. Sit with it. Marinate in the juicy goodness of each part of your life. Be thoughtful and purposeful in each goal you write.
The MOST important thing to remember as you brainstorm is to set goals that challenge you, but ones that you can actually attain.
Creating a set of overly ambitious goals for each area of life will only leave you feeling overwhelmed. If the goals are too far out of reach, you will won’t be motivated to push towards them. Instead, you’ll feel defeated and lose the stamina it takes to reach them.
How you actually record your goals is a matter of preference. Personally, I believe in the power of the pen. While this may seem antiquated to you, hear me out.
When you are making decisions in life or in business, you feel the right answer in your physical body before you feel it anywhere else.
Most of us refer to this as your gut instincts or intuition. There is power in the physical, so it can be really impactful to write down your goals in some kind of physical form, rather than typing them out in your phone. This can mean a notebook or whiteboard or both.
I personally use both. Initially, I use a notebook to write down my goals for each area of my life. I write them out in full sentences so I can be really specific about what I want for each. It helps me dial into the details and the details help me envision what the long-term results of achieving that goal will be.
For example, if I have a financial goal in one business to gross $200,000 for the year, that is a good and attainable goal. The result would be that I have another source of income that adds to my bottom line. But what does that result mean on a deeper, more long-term level. That is the juicy stuff I want to write down in my notebook.
What will that extra revenue really give me long term: An extra opportunity to travel? More flexibility on the daily to be home more with my family? More time freedom so I can be the visionary CEO of my company? A down payment on a rental property that will create a new revenue stream? Dial in on the details so you can see the greater vision for your life and businesses.
Once I get all of these amazing details written down in my journal, I revisit them once a month during the last week of the month. I have a meeting with myself where I read the goals out loud and take notes on what I did during the current month to inch forward toward that goal and what steps I will take in the next 30 days to keep the goal on track.
The problem with only looking at the goals once a month is that it’s easy to fall behind or let a month slip by without any movement in a certain area. So I take one additional step in solidifying my goals – I write the goals on a whiteboard with post it notes (sort of like a FBI investigation). On each post-it note I write each high-level goal without the details.
I keep the personal goals by my bed side & then business goals by my desk. This forces me to see it every day and be aware of my goals at all times. It keeps the goals at the forefront of my mind. When I wake up, I remember what my personal priorities are and I start my day with an eye towards aligning my personal life to meet my goals. When I sit down at my desk to work, I see my goals and I act with intention & purpose. I am on a mission to inch forward towards the goals on the daily. To me seeing the whiteboards is an important reminder that I have to keep moving the needle.
Find the goal-setting technique that works best for you and start carving out your path to success.
Don’t procrastinate.
Don’t worry about it being perfect.
Start writing down your initial thoughts on what you can achieve in the next 12 months and detailing what that can look like.
Let it be imperfect. As you move along and continue to revise & revisit them, you can perfect the details; you can alter the path you’ll take to achieve them; you can Pivot.
But for now, Start Starting!
