Setting Goals For 2018

We are almost on the verge of 2017 and getting all geared up for 2018. I love the transition period because of all the festivities around, saying our gratitude for all the good, bad and ugly that happened during the year and making a fresh start. But most importantly, it’s also the time to set goals for the new year. If you haven’t already set your goals, it’s never too late to begin. In this blog post, I’m going to walk you through the step by step process of setting goals, breaking them down into actionable steps so they don’t seem too overwhelming or daunting.

Setting Goals For 2018

In this blog post, I'm going to talk about -

• Why you need to set goals?
• Understanding your Why
• What is your goal?
• Breaking them into smaller actionable steps
• Setting S.M.A.R.T goals
• Tracking your goals

Why you need to set goals?

“Setting goals is the first step in turning invisible to the visible.” - Tony RobbinsIf you someone like me who's never set goals and find the task, a waste of time, it’s time to think again! I used to think the same but I was wrong.  Setting goals help you to stay accountable. If you writing the goals down, means you are holding yourself accountable for accomplishing them. Earlier this November, I made a goal to launching my own course and guess what, I accomplished it well before time and not only hit my goal of the number of people I wanted to sign up, I had time to do extra marketing and get more people to sign up for it. That’s the power of setting goals.Secondly, when you accomplish the goals you set, you feel grateful which raises your vibes and encourages you to focus on setting and accomplishing more goals. Notice how it constantly keeps you in the loop of setting goal, accomplishing them, feeling good, setting more goals, accomplishing them, feeling more good and so on? Therefore, once you’ve finished reading the blog, take a pen and a paper, sit in silence, no distractions and think what you want to achieve in the year 2018? It can be opening your boutique and getting X number of sales or increasing your sales by 20% or selling your products instore. Whatever it may be for you. Get focused and think!

Understanding your Why

It’s easy to get lost or be overwhelmed when setting goals. Therefore, it’s important to keep a constant check on Why you want to set and accomplish these goals. Why are you starting/running this business? Do you want to be financially independent? Do you want to make more cash flow? Maybe you want to travel more? Or like me your why is more family oriented? Your family lives away from you and you want to travel to and fro without having to worry about the cost. Or perhaps you want to spend more time being at home with your kids? It’s important to understand why you do it because knowing your why will motivate you to work despite all the obstacles that would come your way. No matter how tired you are after work, your why will push you to stay an hour late or wake up an hour early to work on your dream.

What is your goal?

You have the why let’s talk about what goals you want to set by the end of 2018. Don’t get stressed, we are going to work together to setting the bigger and the smaller goals together.What’s your goal?

• Increase your income - Do you want to make a certain amount of money by the end of next year?
• Starting and making x number of sales - Do you want to start your boutique or have X number of sales each month? This can be a great goal to set up.
• Grow Social Media - You want to grow your email list or social media followers by a certain amount?
• You want to guest post or set up pop up shops - Guest post in a big magazine in your niche or do pop up shops in your local market can be some ambitious goals for the next year.

Some of the examples, you can use to modify according to your niche and business.

Breaking them into smaller actionable steps

It’s easy to write the big goals. It’s time to get into the nitty-gritty details of the bigger goal. Breaking them down into actionable steps so they don’t overwhelm you.Let’s break them down into 2-3 mini goals. Let’s say you want to do a pop-up shop in your local market but you don’t have the finances upfront to buy all the stock. With every sale you make, keep 20% aside into savings. This way, by the end of 6 months, you would have accumulated enough cash to make a down-payment to buy goods for the popup store. Make sense?To get a deeper understanding of your objectives, think about the following points -

• What steps do I need to take in order to achieve these goals?
• What would be the benefits of achieving these goals?
• What obstacles would stop me from achieving these goals?
• What people, group and resources I need to accomplish these goals?
• What do I need to know in order to achieve these goals?
• What would be my plan of action? How many sales do I need? How many posts I need to make or people I need to reach?

Set S.M.A.R.T goals

S.M.A.R.T stands for - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

• Be Specific on the details of what, why, when and how to(s). Get as specific as you can.
• Set goals that can be Measured. One of my goals is to help women start their own Online Boutique, but I have made it measurable by setting smaller goals ( i.e. coach 5 women every month).
• Have realistic attainable goals. It’s absolutely great if you want to dream big and shoot for the stars but don’t aim too high if you don’t know how to fly. If you don’t have a boutique set up, don’t aim to make $10,000 in your first month or if you have no course, don’t expect people to come and ask you to teach them. It’s utter BS and unrealistic.
• Have Relevant goals. Make sure your goals align with your why, the bigger picture and your higher self. Are they all linked together?
• Have a time limit. Have a target date for accomplishing your goals. A month? 6 months? 1 year? Having an end date will help you stay focused and manage your time well.

Track your goals

Have a visual aid to keep a track of your goals. I have a white board, where I’ve listed all my goals, date and how I’m going to get there, that keeps me accountable. If you don’t have a white board, you can -

1. Have a google spreadsheet or doc with a table of your goals, date and how to’s.
2. Buy a chalkboard and write your goals.
3. Buy a chart paper and draw your goals in there to stick to in your study or office
4. Colorful post-it notes in your journal.

Have something that is visible to you, around the house, so that you can get a check on what you have accomplished, how much more you need to work and what you need to work on. I'd love to hear what goals you are setting for your business this year and if there's anything you need to help you accomplish and achieve them. Post in the comments and let's have a chat!