Christmas is just days away and I hope you’re having a break to rest, reflect and re-energise for 2016. I was going to share some business goal setting ideas with you next year, but I know I will be thinking about my goals between Christmas and New Year, so I thought you might be too.

Before we start, let’s acknowledge that the setting of goals is just the very tip of the iceberg, when it comes to achieving them. It’s the fun and easy bit where we take the plastic wrapper off that new notebook and open it to a crisp new page. What comes afterwards is where most of us fall down. We write out some goals but we don’t put a plan behind them. We prop them up on our New Year’s’ motivations and excitement that usually wanes by January 7th.

Why do we do this? Because patience and sacrifice are hard. Once we acknowledge that meeting any big goal requires these, we can put a proper plan in place. One that involves identifying the things that need to be done and then making time to do them. Yes — it’s that simple!

Just a quick note here: the simplicity is deceiving. Many of us business owners or entrepreneurial types are ideas people, which can mean implementation and patience are not our strongest quantities. Equally, our businesses are close to our hearts so we always want to make sure our next step is the right one, hence we can quickly lose momentum while seeking perfection. So don’t let the simplicity fool you!

So, let me help you set some big, ambitious business goals and back them up with a plan.

One Big Goal

There are many ways to set goals. But my favourite is all about focus. Focus transforms how you work and often gives you that momentum that you yearn for. So, with focus in mind we are just going to set one goal for 2016. One Big Goal to direct all your actions toward.

1. Start by choosing one thing you would like to accomplish in the next 6-12 months.

How will you know if it is the right goal? This goal should be something that excites you but also make you feel a bit queasy in your tummy. You can see the steps to getting there but you also know it will push you outside your comfort zone. It should also have lots of moving parts that we will address in the next point.

2. What are all the smaller sub-goals you have to meet to achieve your One Big Goal?

Break all of these out. There might be many and some might be major.
For example, I had a client recently who wanted to shift her focus onto being a speaker. So her goal was to create a speaking career over the next year. Some of her sub-goals looked like this:

• Rebranding of her website to position her as the expert.
• Get new photos taken for her rebrand.
• Build her newsletter list by creating an opt-in that suited her speaking career.
• Create a featured speaking page on her website that had testimonials, booking information, and a downloadable one-sheet to take to a supervisor.
• Get a professional speaking reel developed with a videographer.
• Develop and run a series of her own events that she would speak at.

…and this was not all of her sub-goals. As you can see some of these are substantial and need to be broken down into many parts themselves.

3. The planning

As we have already discussed, the goal setting is the easy part. Let’s figure out how to actually achieve this goal. Planning doesn’t have to be hard and you can break it down in a way that suits you. I am not going to dive into my whole process in this blog post, but the simple explanation is that when I am planning out my goals I like to grab a great big calendar and start to set monthly objectives. These can then be broken down into weekly and eventually daily tasks.

The great thing about planning is it allows you to identify where you are and what you need to do next without thinking. That way even when you get scared, worried or demotivated you are taking action because you are focused and have a direction. It is also important that this plan is your own. Not anyone else’s. It needs to be based on your unique business type, style and goal. Remember though that having a plan doesn’t mean you have to stick to it, it just means that if you do experience a loss of momentum and direction, you won’t feel so lost. You still want to make sure you are open to the twists and turns of life and business. This means being open to all opportunities and changes that come your way.

4. Get clear on your vision and the impact you want to have

While this might feel like it should be the first point I have put it last. Once you have developed your goal, sub-goals and plan please make sure they fit with your vision. Aligning with your vision ensures that you will be passionate about this goal and all the steps along the way. It will protect you from comparison, doubt and boredom. And it will keep you moving and motivated.

Committing to this level of focus might seem scary at first, especially if you love to have heaps of ideas and projects on the go at once. But this is also how you will get big results and achieve big goals.

If you feel you need more help then email me or get in contact about my special goal setting and planning sessions for 2016. They are part of a new package soon to be released on my coaching page. They will include:

Contact me for further details.

Above image by Irene Mei.