I advised you last month to do a year-end review of your business. I suggested you take stock of all your financials, marketing materials and products you created in 2010. The purpose of the review is to figure out what areas you did well in so you can repeat those actions and do even better in 2011. You need to see where you’ve been so you can see where you want to go next.
This is the week to take the information you gleamed from that review and use it to make plans for you and your business in 2011. I’m sure you’ve thought about some new year’s resolutions you want to accomplish. What aspects of your business do you want to improve this year? Do you want to make more money? Improve customer response time? Make new contacts? The biggest mistake you could make is to not establish goals for your business this year. Setting a goal is the first step towards achieving success.
Goal setting is an art form. It requires work and dedication in order to stay on track. The path will be fraught with obstacles that can block you from attaining your goals. Achieving your goals, whether they are personal or business related, is easier if you keep in mind the following four strategies for effective and successful goal setting and resolution accomplishment.
First, define your goal. Take a piece of paper and write down a goal you want to achieve this year. Explain to yourself everything about this goal. Detail all the ins and outs. Ask yourself the following questions about your goal.
> Why do you want to achieve this goal?
> How will you measure your progress?
> Is the goal realistic?
> Is it feasible that I will accomplish this goal?
The goal of this first exercise is for you to fully explore your goal and shape it into perfection. You can’t be vague in your goal setting. You must be specific. For example a vague goal is to want to make more money this year. A specific goal is to want to make $25,000 or more in 2011. Ask yourself these questions for each goal you set for you and your business.
Next, ask yourself how you plan on achieving this goal. Using the previous example of wanting to make more money this year, articulate how you plan to accomplish this. What will you do to make $25,000 or more in the next 12 months? You need to come up with a series of small actionable steps that lead up to you accomplishing your goal. If you goal is to make more money than you did in 2010, then set monthly sales figures to make the bigger goal more attainable. Tell yourself you need to make an additional $2,100 a month to achieve this feat. Each goal you set should follow this goal setting formula: “I will (specific goal) by (specific actions to achieve goal) before (measurable date or time)”. For example, I will make $25,000 or more by creating three new products before December 31, 2011.
It is not necessary to plan out actions you will take in all 12 months. The point is to figure out what the next few steps are. Once you establish those, start working on them. If you realize after a month or two you are not taking those specific actions then you need to reevaluate what you are really willing to do to accomplish what you want. Go back and start again from the beginning!
Once you’ve got your 2011 goals defined and you know how to achieve them, you’ll need to set aside time each day or week to work on accomplishing them. One technique I use is to block off chunks of time to work on specific projects and goals. Essentially what you are doing is scheduling 30 to 60 minutes in your work day or week to spend on a given task. You do not work until the task is done. You only work on it during the allotted time period. I like this method because it really helps me avoid procrastination and forces me to focus on achieving my goals. This strategy is best when you have several goals you are working on at any given time. It sidesteps that burned out feeling that can come when you have a lot on your plate or several tasks to work on.
There are other time management strategies you can employ to help you achieve your goals. The methodology doesn’t matter as long as you are continually moving forward towards accomplishing your goal.
During your mission it is important to review your progress and acknowledge the mini victories you have accomplished. Reviewing what you’ve accomplished so far is very motivational. The goals we set for ourselves are never easily accomplished. They require ongoing effort and determination. You should review your progress every two-three months. Think of it as a mini check-up. Remind yourself of the actionable steps you came up with that would ensure you achieve your goal. If you’ve taken those steps then you can reward yourself. If after three months you’ve consistently increased your monthly sales figures by $2,100 or more then reward yourself. You can reward yourself by going to marketing conferences to learn more techniques and meet more people in your industry.
One thing I see people do is to punish themselves when they don’t meet certain benchmarks. This is a mistake. If after three months of work you’ve only increased sales by $500 a month instead of $2,100, you can begin to feel hopeless and desperate. Both of those are not motivational feelings that will help you stay on track towards achieving your goal. Some people punish themselves by increasing the monthly amount they want to make. In my experience, punishment is a bad idea. If you miss your monthly sales goal again will you keep promising yourself to make higher and higher monthly sales figures? These new and ever increasing figures can quickly become unattainable. Unattainable goals are a sure fire way to knock yourself off the path to successfully achieving your goal.
This is why mini check-ups are important. You can evaluate your progress thus far and make adjustments. Maybe your first goal wasn’t as attainable as you initially thought. Stay positive and remind yourself of the benefits of accomplishing your goals. These actions will ensure you stay on the path to success.
Good luck!
Ethan Warrick,
Editor & CEO
