Getting Started with Goal Setting
You have just set out on your entrepreneurial journey, or a new project at work, or even a new home improvement project around the house.
You might have a vague understanding of your end goal. Something like, “I want to get promoted at the end of the year,” or “I want to start a business that provides babysitting and personal shopping services to bring in some extra income.”
Maybe you’ve made it a little more real by setting a specific and measurable goal for yourself. This might sound like, “I will get promoted by December 1 by delivering a 25% increase in product sales and arriving to work on time 95% of the days.” Setting specific goals is one of the biggest challenges that new and experienced entrepreneurs face! It is admirable that you’ve gotten this far, as, goal setting is often perceived as so difficult that most people abandon setting goals altogether, proclaiming that goal setting “doesn’t work.”
Believing that “Goal Setting Doesn’t Work” is a HUGE error in judgment. Goal setting is critically important, but not the whole picture.
Going from Goal Setting to Goal Achievement!
I was recently asked by a fellow entrepreneur: “Why do people experience so much trepidation when setting goals?” I replied that stress often stems from setting goals without a goal achievement plan.
Goal setting and goal achieving are two distinct skill sets. What follows are 3 effective goal-achievement strategies that I’ve gleaned from personal experience and from observing others.
Goal Achievement Tip #1 - Sharp Iron Sharpens Iron
The quip that “Iron sharpens iron” is a lie. Only sharp iron sharpens iron. People are either tempering and challenging you, or they’re dulling you. There is no in-between. Surround yourself with others who are building, doing, achieving, and fiercely focused on continual personal and professional growth. Cultivate a network of people who inspire and challenge you, fostering an environment where collective achievements drive individual accomplishments.
Goal Achievement Tip #2 - Turn Goals into Mini-Tasks
Get granular with it. Eat the elephant one bite at a time, or else you’ll choke on feeling like you’re not making enough progress. Write down your goal and then list all the insignificant and significant steps that your goal requires of you (or team members). It may feel boring and unnecessary, but sometimes you have to slow down to speed up.
As you complete each task, you build confidence and momentum, transforming initial challenges into attainable milestones. This approach is akin to the accumulation of snowflakes forming a snowball, gradually gaining size and strength. Small victories will compound into large injections of confidence. Creating increased competence and speed.
Goal Achievement Tip #3 - See Your Goals Everywhere
The power of visualization cannot be overstated when striving for success. Make your goals visible around the clock.
Set calendar reminders to do “mini-tasks”
Set a desktop background that reminds you of your goal
Place sticky note reminders where you frequently look (E.g. bathroom mirror)
Incorporate your goals into meditations, counseling, coaching, etc.
Make a vision board
The idea behind this is to immerse yourself in your goals and trigger your reticular activating (RAS) system as much as possible. I’ll cede some of my time with you and let Mel Robbins facilitate a deeper dive into RAS.
Sticking with Your Goal Achievement Plan
Let’s face it. Lots of people quit on their goals. Oftentimes, surviving and thriving as an entrepreneur is simply outlasting the folks who started alongside you but have since given up.
Let’s make sure you DO NOT give up on your goals, by overcoming the following blockers to effective goal achievement:
Entrepreneurial Freedom AND Responsibility: There are so many voices clamoring about the freedom that entrepreneurship can provide, and far fewer voices discussing the responsibilities associated with being an entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneurs understand that you have to do what your goals require of you 100% of the time, rather than caving into what you want to do, or feel like doing.
Who’s Coming With, on the Climb? There is a price to be paid. In the beginning, you’ll do a lot of work you’re not compensated for, in order to be compensated for work you no longer have to do long-term. There are some tough conversations you may have to have with family about shared sacrifices. You may have to distance yourself from friends who aren’t willing to make the climb.
The Old “Comfortable” Self: Before you became an entrepreneur… you weren’t an entrepreneur. There is an OLD VERSION of “pre-entrepreneurship you” that resists change. Before pursuing lofty goals, introspect and ask, "Who must I become?" Acknowledge that significant achievements demand personal growth and change. Embrace the initial friction that often accompanies progress. You’ll have to earn it. But you CAN grow and change.
Bold Goals Drive Execution: Your motivations will need to be bigger than your excuses. We all get our turn with some form of calamity in our lives: death, disability, divorce, sickness, betrayal, disappointment, failings, car accidents, and general malfeasance on the part of human beings. Are your goals big enough to distract you from life’s dramas, or rather refocus you on what’s important when it’s your turn?
The world around us wasn’t built by the exceptional. It was built by everyday people who were willing to do exceptional things. Go build something.