Setting Goals & Crushing Them!

2019 is here, ready or not! It’s at this point each year that I begin to re-evaluate my businesses to see where they are headed and if it aligns with my vision of the future.

Creating goals is necessary to expand your business and to make sure that it is headed in the direction you envision. Goals can be short-term or long-term. Both are necessary to thrive.

Short -Term Goals
Your short-term goals are in the near future. It could be something like, I want 100 new Instagram followers by next Thursday or it could be a financial goal you need to make in order to keep business on track. Goals in the short-term are more immediate and can often be a helpful way point while working towards a long-term goal.

Long-Term Goals
Long-Term goals often require intricate planning and ability to stay on task. In many situations long-term goals are financially based or involved a business expansion. When planning out a long-term goal, be as detailed as possible and remember to find ways to break down the long-term goal into short-term goals that can be completed bits at a time.

Defining your Goal
Add some definition to your goal. For example, if you would say “I want to make more money next year,” you are not providing yourself with a defined goal. By not giving a specific amount and date, this goal does not have much potential; “More money” could amount to just $5 when you expected $5,000 – and technically that $5 would still be “more money”.

Define your expectations of your goal. Expectations will make sure you hit your goal and make all that hard work you put into it pay off. Using the same example as above, here is a well-detailed descriptive goal: “The goal of our business for January 1, 2020 is to increase yearly sales by at least 10%, in order to expand to a larger location.” This goal gives you a who, a what a when and a why. Now lets get to the HOW.

Reaching your goal is more than just saying it
Saying your goal doesn’t achieve your goal, it takes work. Getting to your goal requires motivation, timelines, and making notes of potential hurdles.

Keeping yourself motivated it key. Find ways to keep you on task and excited about your goal. I use sticky notes in my planner with motivational quotes that remind me about staying on-task.

Next, break down your goal (if you can) into way points or short-term goals. Use these points to achieve sections of your goal. This will ease the the process and you will be able to achieve more at a steady pace. Remember to set deadlines and hit them every time!

Finally, expect difficulties. You can’t account for everything that might happen during the journey of reaching your goal, but you can identify potential issues that might arrive. Identify possible issues and come up with a solution, should the problem arise. For example, if you need to hit $500 each month to hit your goal and one month sales were short. Be prepared to recalculate to divvy up that amount among the remaining months.

Hit your goal, then do it again
Congrats! You’ve reached that goal – it’s time to celebrate. But don’t stop there. You hit one milestone, time to look back and do it all over again!

Printable Worksheet
I created a worksheet to guide you through writing out your goals. Feel free to grab it by right clicking on the image below and saving it to your computer. Hang it up and let it be your reminder to stay on task!

Happy New Year!

XO,

Jessica