Setting Goals: The rudder to your ship

Setting goals should be one of the critical elements of anyone’s life who wants to be more successful, whether that be in competitive sports, education, travelling or of course business.

To start on a journey to anywhere, would you just jump in the car, on your bike (sorry bit obsessed with cycling at the moment!) or get in a sailing dinghy without having looked at a map or taking some navigation system with you to ensure you stay on the right path? There might be one or two people who would do that & if you’ve got plenty of time and you’re not bothered about when you get there then it could well be an option for you.

However, for many of us, especially in terms of business we want the end result, the vision, the success and we want it in the quickest possible way!

So to set up a business without goals no matter how big or small would be like a boat without a rudder; drifting along, no particular direction, no destination in sight and you’d probably never get to where you wanted to go in the first place.

So setting goals is crucial – setting them and reviewing them regularly. They don’t need to be a beating stick, they can be adjusted as you go along but to make sure your efforts are being utilised to the max, some direction is needed.

Now the other element to this is writing those goals down. Many people think having your goals in your head is fine. But if you think how much the brain has to process every second of every day, your goals are not likely to be at the forefront of your mind, they will lack clarity and will probably change every time you think about them.

By writing them down, and ideally looking at them every day, you can be focused on where you are driving your business and what it is going to give you in the longer term, professionally and personally. Because let’s face it, we’re not in business just to feel good (although that might be part of it), we’re in it to better our lives and/or earn income from it.

And so what should these goals look like? Well that’s up to you. However they do need to have some parameters to them so you can review and adjust them. They maybe to do with the number of paying customers you want within a set period, the number of events you have been to to expose your business, or even how many of a certain thing you have sold. Pick a few (not too many!), make them specific with a measurable element, give them a time frame so you have focus (have you read my blog about focus? If not, click here to read more!), make them achievable and realistic (you don’t want them all ‘pie in the sky’ or you’ll end up getting despondent) but also so they will push you to challenge yourself a little and diarise (not in your head!) when you will review your progress and your achievements in reaching these goals.

And then actually review them! Don’t let your timeline pass and not go back over what has happened. Even if you haven’t achieved any of them, look at the reasons why, what could have been done differently, did you do all you had set out to do?

And when you have ticked off achieving one, some or all of your goals, celebrate!! Reward yourself with something really special. It doesn’t have to cost a fortune, it might be a day off with your loved ones, dinner out, a weekend away or something you’ve had your eye on for a little while.

And then … get your foot back on the gas. Set your next goals or adjust those ones you haven’t reached yet and keep that boat sailing in the direction of success.

If you want to read more about goal setting I would highly recommend you read ‘Goals’ by Brian Tracy which will add clarity to how to set your goals up and keep them on the path to success.

Are you struggling to get your goals and strategy in place? I can certainly help you, just get in touch and we can see what we can do together to build your stepping stones for success.