I don’t know about you, but I’ve been walking around the first few weeks of this year in a kind of haze, thinking about all the things I want to do in January and then realising… it’s February!
And that’s something that really applies to our businesses too. So often we have these vague and nebulous ideas of what we’d like to do or achieve for the quarter or the year, but they remain just that – an idea. And then we get to the next quarter or the next year and the cycle starts again.
There are so many reasons why we do this – we might not know where to start, we might think we’re just way too busy, or if our goals are a bit ‘blue-sky’, we might feel sheepish about putting them out there.
But it is so important to just get those ideas out of your head and onto paper – that’s really the first step to setting your goals. A great way to do this is simply to ‘brain dump’. Don’t worry at this stage about how realistic, quantifiable, or even coherent your goals are – just write them down and when you read back over them, you’ll find a general idea of what you want to achieve.
This is a great starting point that you can expand upon in the next step. What we’re really trying to do here is narrow down your focus and refine your goals into something tangible and achievable, so I thought I would give you some questions to answer that can really help with this.
- What is the purpose of this goal?
- This one seems basic – the purpose of a goal is to achieve it, right? But what you’re really asking here is why do you want to achieve this thing – do you want to increase profits, diversify your services, get more name recognition, become more sustainable, or something else?
- Do I or anyone on my team have experience that could help achieve this goal?
- This really depends on what you’re trying to achieve, but be sure to bear in mind the skills and past experience your employees have that are related to your goal. This could be something like social media, fundraising, or even experience using a certain software.
- Is there any technology, software or online platforms available that could help me achieve this goal?
- There are so many amazing apps available these days for nearly anything you can think of – try searching online to see if you can find anything relevant to your goal. For example, if you want to start doing digital marketing, you can look into graphic design platforms such as Canva to make designing your ads easier.
- What are some obstacles that could prevent me from achieving this goal, and how can I avoid or overcome them?
- If you’re prepared, you’ll be much better positioned to tackle any challenges that might pop up. Think about things specific to your industry – e.g. adverse weather conditions, COVID venue capacity restrictions, supply shortages.
- What would success look like for this goal on a monthly or quarterly basis?
- Think of your ultimate goal as the big picture, and your monthly or quarterly goals as the smaller pictures that will let you know if you’re in the right direction. Try to make this numerical – e.g. gaining 20 new customers for this month, or earning $x this quarter.
These are just some basic questions to get you started, but I think they will really help you come up with some great goals to accomplish this year! The main thing to remember with goal setting is the acronym SMART – you want your goal to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. I’m sure you’ve heard that 1000 times before, but it’s a classic for a reason!
I’m honestly so excited to see what you’re going to achieve in your business this year! I love hearing from all of you so please keep me updated with how you’re going! Email me at karen@latituderecruitment.com.au or check out my social links below – I can’t wait to hear from you!
Ready to smash some goals this year? We can help – let’s chat and get you in the right direction!
