Have you ever set goals but then found that maybe they were too vague? While vague goals may seem more achievable, they do not provide the inspiration that more specific goals do. For example, you might set a goal to sell more this month than you did last month. But what does that really mean? Do you want to sell $10 more or $1000? Either will make it seem that you have achieved that goal. But which one would be more preferable, right?
The better way to reach a goal is to make it measurable. The measurement doesn’t necessarily have to be a dollar amount. It could be a percentage increase to your profits by next month, or a number of website visitors or mailing list subscribers you would like to reach in a certain amount of time.
You Don’t Want to Get Stuck in Your Comfort Zone
It’s a great feeling to meet your goals, isn’t it? It’s even better to meet them regularly. But if you are exceeding each and every one of your goals all the time then it may be time to aim higher.
Some people will set themselves up with easy goals that they can attain so that they don’t scare themselves. But in doing so, they don’t motivate themselves as much as they could. And that may lead them to not working up to their potential.
Instead of setting goals that you know you can achieve, consider stretching yourself a bit. You know that saying, “Step outside your comfort zone”. Start out small if it makes you more comfortable but not too comfortable! If you meet the slightly loftier goal, make the next one a little more ambitious, and continue this pattern with each goal that is reached. Before you know it, you will be in awe at what you are achieving!
Give Yourself Time for Goal Setting
Running a business is hard work, I know. It’s not uncommon to get so caught up in day-to-day operations that we forget to make goals. But if we avoid this crucial step, we miss out on an opportunity to evaluate how we are doing and give ourselves new things to aim for.
Setting up time to determine our goals is well worth the effort. Adjusting long-term goals and setting short-term ones at regular intervals is time well spent. A good time for goal setting is at the beginning or end of each month or whenever it works best for your schedule. If you have a team be sure to get them involved in the process.
Setting new goals should be an ongoing process. It is important to reward yourself for reaching goals, but it is equally important to continue to set new, higher ones. The more goals you reach and the higher they are, the more you can reward yourself. Now that sounds like fun, right?
