Knock-knock…
Do you hear that? It’s 2016 knocking on your door because it’s right around the corner.
You may be thinking “OMG, Amber! It’s only October. I need to get this week handled, I can’t even think about next year yet.”
It’s easy to let the goal setting go until we ring in the new year, but then it becomes easier to let more and more things slide by. If you want to rock 2016, NOW is the time to set goals.
In this post I talked about visioning your goals, but how do you take that and make it all practical? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. Here are three easy tips to make your goal setting totally doable. (And if you’re really ready to go – join us for the 2016 Planathon in November where we’ll spend a whole week on planning!)
Goal Setting Tip #1: Use an Annual Goal Card
Every year since 2008, I’ve documented my annual goals on a goal card. A goal card is a note-card like card where you document a few key details related to the goal you are working toward.
When we document our goals, we can look back to them throughout the year and confirm “is what I’m doing right now supporting my goals?” If not, you’ve got an opportunity to get yourself some time back and cut something from your to-do list!
I recommend keeping the goal card handy so you can revisit it regularly and ultimately memorize it. Once you memorize it, your subconscious will also rally to support you and it will take some of the load off!
I do an Annual Goal Card. You might decide to have baby goal cards to go with your baby visions. Have an Annual Goal Card at minimum.
Here’s what to put on your goal card:
- What goal are you focused on working towards right now?
- When do you intend to meet this goal?
- What will you give or what effort will you put forth to attain this goal?
- What is the financial or monetary target associated with this goal?
That’s it. Get your goal card ready and you’ll have one major part of making your goal a reality out of the way.
Goal Setting Tip #2: Set a Goal You Believe In
With your annual goal set out, now you need to make sure you actually believe it.
Do you REALLY believe you can reach that goal?
Sure it may make you a bit uncomfortable, but if your goal seems completely unattainable it’s going to be easy for you to bail at the first sight of anything challenging.
Stretch yourself, but if the goal is way over the top, take some time and reset it a bit.
If you believe your goal, you’re all set, if you’re hesitating, rework things slightly. And if you’re literally laughing because your goal seems so outlandish, give it a major adjustment until it’s not so “out there.”
For the goal to happen, you need to believe it in whole-heartedly. You may not be entirely clear on how exactly it will happen, but if you believe it, you’re well on the road to success.
Goal Setting Tip #3: Ditch the Perfectionism & Get In Action!
Perfectionism and goals don’t go together. So if you’re prone to perfectionism, and you’re driving towards a perfect and flawless future when your goal is accomplished, I want you to STOP right now.
Yes, you want to do your best, but you don’t want to drive yourself into the ground trying to meet goals perfectly. There’s another way to go about this that will help you get where you want to go, and best of all, it’s much faster than making everything perfect.
You’ll accomplish your goals faster when you’re taking action – however imperfect it may be. It’s better to see your dreams coming to life than to be spending hours, days or months waiting for things to be perfect.
Especially if you’re bringing something new to market. Which is why I encourage you to see goals in three tiers – Good, Better and Best.
Going for the “good” goal enables you to get feedback. It lets you create a better product or services with the thoughts of your customers in mind. And it ensures that what you think is better or best for your customers is actually what they want to buy.
No sense in putting loads of money into creating a product or service that no one will buy, right?
So get it to good, then go for better and best later!
For example, let’s say you’re launching a new service. You could easily apply the good, better, best model to your first three months of sales:
- Good = booking 10 packages
- Better = booking 15 packages
- Best = booking 20 packages
While best is the ultimate objective, having a good, better, best structure sets us up to NOT be disappointed. It gives us checkpoints to rally around and milestones to reach as we work toward our goals. And that progress helps us build momentum and ensures we keep going, which is key to making that goal happen!
Does all this goal setting talk have you ready to get into 2016 planning mode?
The 2016 edition of the Plan-a-Thon is coming.
