Goal setting is a great way to keep you and your business on track. Think big goals, small goals, new directions, new habits, and dreams/wants. I love planning and goal setting, it’s my favorite activity 🙂
This post is about different approaches to setting goals. A goal is just a dream without a plan of action. Dig in and figure out what you need to do to make your goals happen. What actions to you need to take to reach these goals? It is important to have actionable items as part of your goal setting; once you decide your goals make sure to figure out what you need to do to make them a reality.
Some Questions To Get You Started
Before setting goals in certain areas I like to evaluate what is working and what could be improved, what I want to do more of, and what I want to do less of. How do I set myself up to best reach those goals I set? An important part of this process is setting goals in all areas of my life. How do the pieces all fit together to support my goals personally and professionally.
Think about:
- Big picture
- How you feel in your business
- Are you doing the work you want to do
- What kind of personal development might you explore in the the new year
- How will you push yourself
- How will you develop or strengthen new/existing skills
Use S.M.A.R.T Goals
S=Specific
M=Measurable
A=Actionable
R=Realistic
T=Timely
Keep these 5 principles in mind when setting goals. For example: “Increase Twitter followers” would not be a SMART goal. Instead, try: Increase Twitter followers by 25% in 1 month by spending 30 minutes a day engaging, posting, and following new accounts.
90-Day Plan
The 90-day plan is my FAVORITE way to keep my business goals on track. While I usually have bigger goals for my business in a year, I prefer to tackle those goals by working on a detail plan for the next 90-days. You can read about how I approach my 90-day planning in this post. Trying to plan for the whole year is just too overwhelming for me, mainly because I like a very detailed action plan when facing goals.
Financial Goals
Financial goals should always be part of your goal setting for your business. Know what your profit is and know what you need to sell to reach your money goals. It’s important once you set these numbers to then work backwards and know exactly what you need to sale to reach the goal. Ask yourself how many clients or how many products/packages you would need to sell to make this number. This should prompt you to think about what activities would support you reaching those sales.
Realistic/Dream Goals
I love using realistic goals and dream goal. This is especially true with financial goals, setting a higher and lower goal can be a good way to keep from getting too discouraged or for aiming too low. You aim/plan for the dream, but the realistic gives you a safety net. It’s a good way to push yourself in goal setting. Anyone who has an avoidance of goals should try this method.
Vision Boarding
Vision Boarding can be a great way to keep your WHY in mind or in front of your face. Why you are working so hard, why you keep going, why you keep showing up. Vision Boarding can be about physical products you might desire, lifestyle, or overall feel you want in the coming year.
Some people use vision boarding as a way to reach bigger and visualize what success will look like for them.
Personal & Business Mix
As a solopreneur it’s important to think about how your business and personal life mix. What habits impact the two sides? Now is a good time to evaluate your work life balance and how you approach your work days.
It’s also important to make sure you plan on how any personal goals might impact your work day or time.
Guided Workbooks
There are a lot of guided goal setting workbooks on the market. I’ve only started trying these out the past few years. This year I purchased the Lara Casey’s Powersheets Goal Planner. From her website, “PowerSheets® help you uncover purpose-filled goals and plan action steps to make what matters happen.”
In 2016, I did not purchase one. I was really focused on starting Bloom Hustle Grow and was mostly business focused. I also had just read Gretchen Rubin’s Better Than Before, and was focused on building habits and being intentional. Coming off the motivation of Rubin’s book and starting the business I felt like my plate was full and I was pretty focused on my own.
The year before (2015) I tried Leonie Dawson, Shining Year Workbook. Plenty of people like this workbook, but it just was not for me. It arrived late and then I just couldn’t really make myself get into it. I wasn’t over the top about the way it progressed.
Here are a few other guided planners I thought looked interesting:
Conquer Your Year: The Ultimate Planner by Natalie MacNeil
Your Best Year 2017: Productivity Workbook and Creative Business Planner by Lisa Jacobs
More Resources All About Goal Setting:
Podcasts
Creative Empire Podcast: How To Create Good Goals For Your Online Business with Lisa Jacobs
All Up In Your Lady Business Podcast: Vision Boards, Episode #92
#CreateLounge Podcast: Goal Setting For Creatives with Indigo Colton, Episode #15
Blog Posts
9 Ways To Get Serious About Your Goals and Start Seeing Real Progress
The Ultimate Guide To Goal Setting
How To Outline Goals + Be More Actionable
How To Set Big Goals For Your Blog & Business
How To Keep Your Business On Track Through The Holidays
I hope this helps you to get started in setting some goals for you and your business.
When it comes to your business goals, it’s really important to know what actions will help you effectively reach the goals you are setting. Make sure you have a solid plan to attack those big goals you are setting. If you are stuck on how to make that plan of action, then you came to the right page. 🙂 Check out The 90-Day Treatment Package. With The 90-Day Treatment, I will work with you to establish your goals for the next 3 months, create a strategic action plan to break those goals into steps, and be there each week to keep you on track and help you along to reaching those goals faster. You have big dreams and I’m here to help make those a reality.
