We will soon be entering the final quarter of 2012. This means crunch time for many home business owners, me included. This is when we start looking at the goals we have set for the year and how far we have come. And we make new goals for these last three months.
Many people are great at setting goals; they are not so good at achieving them. They have high hopes to start and go nowhere once the gate opens. As I created my goals for the final months of this year, I began thinking about where things go wrong. In most cases, it is the type of goals one sets.
There is a big difference between shooting for the moon and creating actionable goals. “I want to make x amount of dollars” sounds great, but it isn’t actionable. There is too much room for speculation and procrastination. Goals should be realistic, doable and provide a clear path to completion. Your objective should answer the following:
- What Do You Want to Accomplish?
- When Do You Want to Do It?
- How Are You Going to Carry It Out?
Now you have a success plan. If I want to make x number of dollars by the end of the year, I need to work x number of hours, make x number of affiliate sales, sell x number of eBooks, fill x number of advertising spots, etc. Each one of these pieces is actionable and accomplishable. They also aren’t as stressful as a huge, seemingly insurmountable amount of cash. Break it into $100 bills if necessary.
A little change in strategy can go a long way towards success. There was a great example of actionable goals in yesterday’s Savvy Blogging post from Dan Morris, How Can Your Site Generate $2,000/Month.
Are you a good goal setter?
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About Angie Nelson
I really struggle with setting goals. I do think it’s important though. I like your idea of setting goals in increments of $100. Seems achievable and not overwhelming.
I get discouraged easily, Lisa. The $100 bill thing makes it almost like a game.
I’m horrible at setting goals although it is probably a task I love to do (LOL). I love making lists, writing in planners, etc. I think my main problem is setting too many goals and then trying to achieve everything at once. I feel like if I have too little goals for one day, then I am not being successful. I’m sure I’m not the only one who suffers from this madness (sigh), lol.
It takes a lot of dedication and might I say confidence to set goals and to achieve them. I usually fall back on them if I don’t succeed and this is definitely something that needs to change. Thanks for the inspiring post!
So true. Positive thinking is one thing – and it has incredible value in helping us get closer to reaching our goals. However, if we’re too vague or don’t have a plan for how to get where we want to be, we set ourselves up for frustration. It’s amazing how small steps can add up to become an accomplishment that once seemed impossible to achieve!