Goal Setting.
Setting Goals.
How does it feel to read those words?? Goal Setting is totally a buzz word at this time of the year. There’s so much hype around goals that it can sometimes feel a bit daunting, intimidating, overrated and sometimes, totally pointless.
As a huge fan of setting goals and as an Enneagram three who finds value in achievement - goals keep me VERY motivated. However, I know this isn’t the case with everyone in the whole world.
So here are my top 4 ways to approach goal setting in hopes you might find one that aligns with you the most!
1. SMART GOALS
This is a pretty standard way that floats around the internet and in many workplaces. As
an art teacher, I had to do these many times a year for myself and students.
SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timebound. (Or iterations of those depending on where you are reading it) By making a SMART goal, it becomes something that you can say “Yes” or “No” to achieving in very clear terms. For example: “I will sell $10,000 in quarter 4 of 2022” That is easily something that you can measure and say that you achieved or not.
This sentence in itself really touches on the S, M, T of “SMART” - This is specific, measurable and time bound. But you need to do the work to make sure it is attainable and realistic to what you are setting out to do. To make it attainable and realistic, you now have to work backwards. Let's do it together:
If you want to sell $10,000 that means that you have three months or 12 weeks to sell that amount. So let’s break this down step by step:
Count the number of weeks you ACTUALLY have available to work.
Are you going on a vacation? Taking time off? Committed to an obligation or responsibility in other areas of your life? Take these out of the equation and be realistic about how many weeks you actually have.
Calculate the number of hours you have each week to work on your goal.
Think about the time you would like to set aside for other things that are important to you - or that you are obligated to do. If you have a full-time job, those hours are unavailable. If you have small children, you may not have until after bedtime. Be realistic about your hours per week on a regular basis.
Divide your revenue goal by the total number of weeks you have available to do so.
Remember to count the ACTUAL number of weeks you have available and block off your calendar to find the number of weeks you have available. If you truly have 12 weeks, then to achieve that goal, you must sell $833.33 per week. BUT if you only had 8 weeks because you were taking time off and had other obligations, and that one week has already passed before setting my quarterly goal - I now have to make $1250 per week to attain that same goal.
Analyze this information.
Do you have enough time to create that amount of inventory and sell that amount of inventory? What are your sales channels or streams of revenue? (More on this in another blog post coming soon)
Now that you have analyzed your actual time available, is this attainable and realistic for you?
If so, keep the SMART goal as written: “I will sell $10,000 in quarter 4 of 2022” If not - make it realistic and attainable by starting with how much you think you can sell each week and what that adds up to! Then try to stretch it a little!
This SMART way of getting to the attainable and realistic portion is a true CEO mindset that all businesses have to undergo when setting revenue goals and plans for their giant companies. Why not start now!?
2. WORD OF THE YEAR
I love word of the year and have had one for the past three years and I have found it really helps me. This might be a great way to set a goal without needing the measurable or time-bound factor. Answer this for me: Do you get super bored and lost in all of the mambo-jumbo above!?
If so, then a WOTY might be for you. In this case, it can be word of the month - of the quarter or of the day for that matter. I find that I use them in many capacities and often choose a word of the year for all aspects of my life, and then I choose a business word per quarter - and even a personal word per day or week. It helps me stay aligned in my decision making.
For a word of the year goal, you simply set a word that resonates deeply with you and influences your actions to keep you on track with your overarching goals.
A word of the year feels like a vision in the distance. Something you are striving for but don’t have quite yet. But it’s something you so desperately want. All you need to do is walk closer to that vision to see it become clearer and clearer. By the end of your day, week, month, quarter, or year - the goal of your “word” is to feel you have stepped into the power of that word and now own that word with everything in your being.
Choose a word that feels like something you want to BE. Something you want to embody. Something that you want to own but don’t have yet. Then make a plan to get there. What will help you feel that way? Is it reading more? Is it eating less junk? Is it working less? Is it prioritizing time for your faith? Family? Friends? Is it setting aside one hour a day to do the hard and scary things you’ve been putting off for months?
Remember, running a marathon starts with putting on your shoes. Take one step at a time and make time for what will get you there - and inversely - be sure to take away things that do not align with your word.
Word of the year examples:
Balance
Strength
strong
Courageous
Brave
Energy
Momentum
Elevate
Abundance
Compassion
Grace
Peace
Forgive
Fearless
Vitality
Vibrant
Conquer
Magical
Giving
Renewal
Family
Enjoyment
Empower
Confidence
Calm
Joy
Jubilee
Grow
Bloom
Lead
Plan
Systemize
Align
3. BUCKETS
Instead of setting revenue goals or goals surrounding business only - you can look at your ultimate goals in these 5 buckets that encompass a lot of a person’s life - the 5 F’s.
Faith
Family
Finance
Fitness
Friends
Fun
Future
By setting goals for these five buckets, you start to keep in mind your personal values and goals as a human being, not necessarily as a business owner.
Make goals for these 7 buckets in any way you see fit - they can be as simple as “I want to…….” this year. (Or timeframe of choice)
By finding what Family goal you have - you can start to make small daily changes that add up to one big, successful, meaningful accomplishment.
For example:
Family
I want to have family dinner around the table 5 nights a week.
Finance
I want to save up $10,000 on top of my regular income this year.
Fitness
I want to move for 30 minutes a day.
Faith
I want to attend my local church/synagogue/temple each week.
Fun
I want to take a vacation to Disney this year.
Then you can see how those goals align with your day to day and what changes you need to make in order to do those things! (And analyze, do they make sense together? Is one contradicting the other? Are you going to be able to save $10,000 if you go to Disney? And so on)
4. DITCHER LIST
This list comes directly from Bethany Clemson, author of “Ditching the Dream”. In her book she talks about designing a life you love and living life on your terms. She encourages you to make a ditcher list of all of the things that you have let go in your life and reflecting on the direct results and feelings that you experienced when you let something go - or ditched.
Instead of making your “what I am going to do this year” I encourage you to go rogue and flip the script. What are you going to NOT DO!? What are you going to let go of?
Marie Forleo also talks about this in her webinar she posts when she is launching her “Time Genius” course - and she says how starting a sentence with “I don’t do” and filling it in with that thing that really gets in your way. She says that by doing this - you are FAR more likely to believe it into the biology of your brain. Your brain literally responds more strongly to saying directly what you will not do instead of what you will do.
So switch “I will earn $10,000 in 4th quarter” to “I won’t make less than 5 figures this quarter”
Or “I am going to stop procrastinating” to “I don’t procrastinate”
Or “I am going to move for 30 minutes everyday” to “I don't miss a workout”.
See how the wording literally shifts your mindset and beliefs and makes those goals so much more attainable, and your self-talk so much more empowering!? It's just simple shifting that makes a huge impact.
I am a big fan of all of the goal setting techniques listed above and use them in different respects in my life and business on a regular basis. I would absolutely love to help you find what works best for you. Feel free to contact me anytime if you'd be interested in walking through the goal setting process and accountability with follow-through to support you! That's totally my jam.
Will you tell me which of these have you tried, and which will you try next? Does one speak more to you than the other? I can’t wait to watch you crush your goals!
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