Goal Setting Effectively for the New Year

Yes, it is that time of year when we start to wind down, focus on the holidays, and prepare for the new year. It may seem cliché, however, designing how your year will turn out with some goal setting will get you on the right track professionally, personally, and spiritually if you do it effectively. I have been blessed to have come up in the professional world with some amazing mentors. Not only did they teach me some tricks to goal setting, but they also instilled how important it is to create a plan, write it down and follow it and adjust it every day. These mentors also exposed me to some amazing books, which have reinforced the idea of goal setting. Throughout my adult life, I have always been able to tell when I am not referring to my written goals, things seem to get off track quickly, and I tend to lose my focus. So as you start to put some things in place for yourself for the year, here are some tips I have learned throughout the years.

Don’t Set Too Many Goals

Be realistic, and don’t overextend yourself. Meeting Bill Gates, becoming a millionaire, all while working out every day, eliminating carbohydrates from your diet, reading a book per week, spending more time with the kids, increasing work productivity, meeting one new prospect per week, and reaching your goal weight might be a lot to start with. When it comes to goal setting, I like to have one major goal in each area of my life. One for my personal, professional, and spiritual life. You will find when you start with just a few big goals, you will be more likely to focus on them, and thus, be more successful in reaching them.

Be Specific

Really narrowing down and specifying what you want to achieve is key to successful goal setting. If you want your company to earn more revenue this year, be specific! How much more? Increasing revenues vs. increasing revenues by $1.2 million are two very different things. With a number assigned to the goal, now you can get to work doing the metrics as to exactly what it will take from everyone on your team to reach this goal, and then you can examine it by each team member’s efforts by the year, then the month, week and so on. Being specific allows you to break down what it will take on a daily or even hourly basis to achieve your goals. When you can look at your goals in small chunks like that, no only is it easier to articulate what you need from others to help you achieve the goal, it is less overwhelming, and you and everyone else are more likely to make it happen!

Write Down Your Goals and Look at Them Every Day

This is so important. There are a million studies that reinforce the idea of writing down goals. I believe the act of sitting down and focusing on what you really want to accomplish, then writing them down and looking at them daily, creates a ritual of sorts that puts us in the correct state of mind for reaching our goals. I find placing my written goals inside of my planner, creating a wallpaper with my goals on it for my computer or phone are also good methods of keeping my goals in front of me. I also like the idea of a vision board. If you aren’t much of a writer and images than words more impact you, then get to crackin’ on a vision board. This is where you take images either physically from magazines and other print materials or digitally using images from the internet and make yourself a collage. It will help you harness the power of positive visualization.

Be Flexible

As you get into the upcoming year, you may find the need to adjust your goals or tweak how you plan to achieve them. You also might find that new, more important goals have bubbled up, and to achieve them, you must put some of the initial goals on hold. It’s all good. Don’t try to do it all (see tip #1 above), and don’t be too hard on yourself if you need to modify a few things in the future. Goal setting isn’t about checking each goal off a list no matter what the cost; it’s an organic, ever-changing gig, and what may have seemed of dire importance in January is now not that big of a deal in May.

Even if you know what you need to do for yourself and your business next year, try to sit down and write it all out. Try being really specific, and if you’ve never created a vision board before, give it a shot! There is a quote from Albert Einstein, “If you want different results, do not do the same things.” So this year, try different things and watch your goal setting get incredible results!

Need some coaching when it comes to goal setting for your company or sales team? Reach out to us, let us help you with a game plan!

Also published on Medium.