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Posts Tagged ‘achieving goals’

Setting and balancing goals will define your business and lifestyle strategy.

Here’s a question for you to think about: Do you run your business or does it run you?  Most people start out with a business idea thinking that when it’s successful they will have more time and money to do what they want, yet that is seldom the reality. Too many business owners get bogged down in the day-to-day running of their businesses and end up working ridiculous hours just to keep it afloat.

If you are smiling and nodding your head in agreement, perhaps it is time that you sat down and re-evaluated your business strategies and your personal goals. Maybe it’s time for you to get back in the driving seat and for you to run your business rather than the other way around.

Two Important Components of Successful Goal Setting

#1 Revenue goals form the backbone of your business strategy. They create a target for you to work towards and help you define budgets when implementing tactics to reach your goals. It is one of the first questions that I ask my clients: “What are your revenue goals for the next 12 months?” It is important that the figure you set is something that is tangible and achievable. Don’t imagine that you want to be a millionaire and that it will just magically happen on its own. Your revenue goals need to be a target that you think is possible.

#2 Lifestyle goals relate to what you personally want from the business or your working career. This could be something like you want to only work a three day week, or you want to travel less and spend more time at home with your family.

Now most people will sacrifice their lifestyle goals because they think that their business will suffer if they try to implement them. Yes, there may be a transition period where you earn a little less and have to implement the necessary changes, but most often, when you implement lifestyle and revenue goals together, you come out with a win-win solution. In my case I chose to relocate, move more of my business online and the results really paid off. Even though the transition was not without its challenges, I found I was more focused on my work efforts during my work hours and more motivated generally because I could see I was moving towards my lifestyle goals at the same time.

Things to remember when setting Goals

•  Quantify your goals. Put a figure to your revenue goals and clearly define what you want from your lifestyle goals. Don’t make it dreamlike, be realistic about what is possible to achieve. Also define your goals within a specific time frame.
•  Your goals should be tangible and achievable but at the same time you should look at all possibilities if it is something that you really want. When you define your goals you should already have some idea as to how you plan to achieve them.
•  Be willing to put in the effort to achieve your goals. Don’t just set strategies and expect them to materialize on their own.
•  Break your goals down into bite-sized chunks so that you can start implementing tactics to reach them.  Make sure each step you take consistently moves you closer to achieving your goals.
•  Your goals should be personally rewarding and meaningful as this will motivate you to work towards them. When setting your goals keep in mind the link and balance between revenue goals and lifestyle goals.

Setting goals is a way of defining your business and lifestyle strategy. They are absolutely essential if you want to feel fulfilled in your working career. Goals provide a meaningful framework in which you can implement short-term tactics.  They also help you to stay on track and keep you motivated though the tough times. Having goals provides you will a big picture to work towards and ensures you are consistently moving in the direction you want your life to go.

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. If you’d like to receive invaluable tips and advice on how to attract clients with ease, register at http://www.clientmagnets.com

Let’s say that you set a goal to quit smoking, or to lose 20 pounds or to make a million dollars. What is your very next step?

In any of those instances, the first step is basically the same. You need to make a decision. Whatever goal you want to achieve is the direct result of the decisions you make to achieve it. Everything you’ve experienced, in your career, your personal life, in your financial status, is a result of the decisions you’ve made.

And, if you don’t like the results, then you need to change the decisions.

In fact, I encourage you to take that even one step further. Don’t just change the decisions, change your decision-making process. The decisions you make are a result of your decision-making process, and you just might have a faulty process.

Only you know for sure if your decision-making process is flawed. How is your year going?   Are you living the glory days or just a mediocre existence?  Are you achieving outrageous success or is your business just full of challenges? You know because you’re living it.

Learn the three key questions you should ask that will help you to improve, not simply the decisions that you make, but the way in which you make them.

1.    “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” Consider the worst-case scenario when you make a decision. Asking yourself this will help you learn how to take risks in your business. It will toughen you against the possibility of any little thing going wrong, and will give you the confidence to move forward in spite of that possibility.

The thought of losing money holds a lot of people back from taking risks or making changes. But if you consider the worst that could happen, it’s impossible to lose money. If something doesn’t turn out the way you anticipated, you may not have received the expected return on your investment, but you didn’t lose. You learned. Consider it an education expense.

2.    ”What will it cost me if I don’t do (or buy) this?” If you ask yourself, “What will it cost me to do this (or buy this)?” instead, you are allowing the cost of something to be the prime motivator in your decision-making.

How much money you have or don’t have should not govern the decisions you make in your business. The key is that when you’re not afraid of losing money, you make different decisions about money and it no longer governs your business decisions.

3.    “What do I need to get an instant return on this investment?” When you invest in something, like a product or a mentor or even a virtual assistant, you want to know how to ensure that you see that investment back quickly. In the end, what you need is for that investment to not actually cost you money but end up making you money.

Notice that not one of the questions asks, “What’s the cheapest way to do this?” That’s not how I want you to think. That’s not how you should make decisions.

Apply these questions to an investment you’ve been considering – something that you’ve been thinking about doing in your business, something that you’ve been wanting to do and that you know would help you grow your business. Maybe you’ve been telling yourself you can’t afford to do it.

Approach that investment with these three questions and you’ll see what happens. These questions will lead to different solutions for you. These are some of the very questions that I include in my own decision making, and I know that they will open up some new possibilities for you.