This can be a hard question to answer, Specially in 2020, let’s face it. But it is also very important. There is no point in planning your year if, during the year, you aren’t aware of your progress or making sure you are on track with your plan. Things happen, and plans need adjustments, now maybe more than ever before. So how do you know if you are on track to reach your goal?
Why is goal setting so important?
Let’s start from the beginning. Setting a goal is the first thing you need to do before anything else. You can’t grow what you don’t measure. And most definitely you cannot measure if you don’t know what it is that you are measuring. And you also can’t make a plan without an end in mind.
Now we all know that 2020 has been rough and has thrown many plans right out the window and made many of our goals for the year no longer applicable. This has meant changing plans, setting new goals and reinventing ourselves. Nevertheless, It is better to set a goal and not achieve it than not set one at all. Even when you don’t achieve your goal you learn from the process, you measure what went wrong so then you have more knowledge to make adjustments next time.
Goals help us to grow and stretch our business. Being able to work consciously towards something gives you more awareness of your actions and results. Instead of random trial and error, you will make thoughtful decisions and meaningfully analyze the outcomes. Ideally, we would set goals at the beginning of the year and plan the year accordingly. But if you didn’t, or if something tripped you up and affected all your plans, that’s okay. Set your goals now for the rest of the year, it doesn’t need to be something huge.
It is also important to write down your goals! It is scientifically proven that you are more likely to complete things that you write down. This is because when you write something down your brain processes it as more important which in turn makes it more likely you remember it. On top of that, having it written down somewhere you look at often, like a whiteboard or your planner, also helps to keep you motivated and remind you what are you putting the effort in for.
How do I write a goal plan?
When you set goals, think of them as long term. Goals aren’t a one-step and done type of thing. Let’s say, for example, you set a goal to make 100 sales, then what? You can’t simply get 100 people to buy your product out of thin air. But you CAN create content for your blog, channel or social media, start an email campaign, give people a freebie so they subscribe to your newsletter, run an ad, etc. You need to break your goals into steps so that you actually know what to do next.
Set smaller targets so that you don’t lose interest. Following the previous example, you could set a target on a number of subscribers to your email list, or a number of followers on your social media. You can use data analysis to see how many leads you are getting and how many of those are converting. Then you can set better targets on how many people you need to reach to get your 100 sales, and you can adjust your content to get higher conversion rates. That’s how you grow, by measuring and adjusting.
Working on smaller targets weekly is much easier than focusing on large goals that take more time to reach. When you are trying to achieve something big, every little step matters. No one runs a marathon before running 100 meters. Acknowledge your small victories knowing you’ve chosen these small targets as pieces of something bigger.
How can I achieve my goals fast?
Even those smaller targets can be further broken down into the specific tasks you need to do to accomplish them. Breaking your smaller targets down into easy to do tasks makes the work so much easier. Continuing with the example, if you were trying to get subscribers for a list you could make tasks like creating a freebie, set up a landing page, set up CTAs on your website, check your results. Then break them down even further so that each item is as small and doable as possible. For example, you could make a task to create your freebie, or you can create tasks such as research the freebie topic, write an outline for the freebie, create the content for the freebie, etc.
You are less likely to procrastinate if you know exactly what your next step is. Most of the time when we procrastinate it’s because we are missing something we need to actually get it done. Either we are focusing too much on the things that are overwhelming or there’s something distracting us, or we don’t have what we need to complete the task and as we go look for it we lose focus. If you know exactly what to do, and you have all you need to get it done, it’s easy to just do it.
The best way to go about this is by having a good planner where you can lay things out and correlate your yearly goals with your quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily targets and tasks. You can build out a plan starting with your yearly goals and slowly breaking it down until you get to days. You can then track your progress, check-in and adjust your plan as you go. We usually have a tendency of incorrectly estimating the amount of time tasks and projects take to get completed, and that’s okay. As you get used to planning, estimating gets easier, but adjusting will always be needed and a robust tracking tool can help prevent “fires” well before they happen..
If you ran into trouble getting stuff done, did you reach out for help? It is okay to need help. In fact, it is perfectly normal! You don’t have to be amazing at everything and figure it all out on your own. Reaching out for help, getting insights from people who have had similar experiences or taking courses doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It is actually smarter to save time by learning with others than going in circles for way longer than you’d need to just so you can figure it out by yourself.
Why is it important to celebrate success?
What rewards have you given yourself? Acknowledging your own efforts and your accomplishments, even if they are small, is important to keep you motivated. You aren’t supposed to work non-stop and never get anything back because you haven’t yet reached this big thing you are aiming for. Don’t wait for the “finish line” to reward yourself. I’ll tell you a secret… there is no finish line!
Celebrating your small successes is one way to keep the momentum going. The hardest part of any project is getting it started. Have you ever tried to light a fire? At first, you have to arrange the kindling and the wood just so, and maybe fan it a little bit to make sure the fire catches and stays lit. But once it is lit all you have to do is keep putting more wood on the fire from time to time to keep it going. Your business is the same way, the hardest part is getting it started and once you do you want to make sure you don’t let that fire die out, or you’ll have to start it all over again. Celebrating your small successes is like putting in some more wood from time to time.
How will you choose to celebrate your next milestone? Now that you know why celebrating is important, you have to decide how you’ll be doing it. Think about the things that you like doing and help you replenish your energies. Maybe getting your favourite take-out food or buying a new book. Pick something that brings you JOY!
How can I stop being so hard on myself?
You are too hard on yourself! Be honest. We have this tendency of thinking if something doesn’t work out that it’s because somehow we aren’t worth it. When that isn’t at all the case. It is okay to let go of perfectionism and stop putting yourself down when something doesn’t go to plan.
Stop comparing yourself to others. We are all unique. What works for one person and one business doesn’t necessarily work for others. If someone did something that was amazing and when you tried to duplicate that same thing it wasn’t so great, don’t think that the problem was you. That solution just isn’t the right fit for your reality, and you can go and find something that is. Go after what makes you happy, and always be aware of how you are feeling. That is the best gauge, not what others think of you or what success looks like from their perspective.
If you find that your goals aren’t really yours, it’s okay to change them, even if it is a goal you told other people about. It’s your business, your life, you deserve to be happy and enjoy what you build!
If you want a great tool for setting goals, planning, tracking and succeeding in your business in 2021, the new Rockstar Business Planners are ready!!! The Rockstar Business Planner is a well-tested system. I created this powerful business planning and tracking tool in 2015 and have been listening to the planner users, to enhance it every year since.
