A change of seasons often brings along a change of thought patterns.
Spring usually makes us think of renewing and growth. Summer means time off and relaxing, or increased family time.
When Fall arrives, and everyone goes back to school, and vacations are over, it usually means that we get back to our busy lives.
Many business owners set new goals each quarter, or each season. It’s a good practice to get into because of the way our mindset naturally shifts as the seasons change.
So here we are at the beginning of a new quarter, and it’s time to set some new goals.
How do you set goals in your business?
Do you just think about them?
Do you write them down?
Do you tell anyone about them?
A lot of business owners set wonderful goals, but they never seem to reach them.
There can be many reasons for that but one of the main ones is that they just aren’t clear enough on what they want to accomplish.
For instance, I see VAs posting in the social media forums that they have been ‘networking everywhere’ and are just trying to get one client. Their first client in many cases.
The goal here is clear. They want their first client.
But because they don’t really have a strategy other than ‘networking’, it’s a little more than wishing.
You have to set some really strong and clear guidelines for your goal in order to help yourself achieve it.
You need to work through certain things to make sure that what you are doing when you are networking is effective (hint: if you are networking ‘everywhere’ and not getting clients, what you are doing is not effective at all).
This is why writing down your goals is essential. You get clarity when you put things in writing.
And when you write it down you need to not tuck it away somewhere to be forgotten.
You need to keep a goal top of mind – and by posting it near your computer or wherever you will see it daily, you will keep it front and centre of your thoughts.
The other thing that is extremely effective with goal setting is when you share it with someone who can hold you accountable to achieve it.
When you set a goal, it’s because you want to reach it. Every single time. So why would you not give yourself the best advantage? Share it with someone else – a group of colleagues, a single person, it doesn’t really matter who you tell.
And then make sure that you are checking in on yourself (with their help if possible) as you move towards it.
It is far more effective than you probably think it is.
I work with an accountability partner, and have for many years. We speak on the phone for an hour every two weeks (we each take 30 minutes) and we talk about our goals, what we are working on, and what we want/need to accomplish to reach it.
I am also in a 6 month group coaching program with weekly accountability group calls. In fact I joined the group for the accountability piece.
I know how effective it is to keep me on track when I have to check in with others about things I say I want to get done.
Goal setting with accountability simply works. Are you doing it?
I’d love to hear how you manage goal setting in your business.
And if you need some help, check out my goal setting challenge here.