If you want more out of life for you and your family, if you desire a career change, if you want to launch your own business, or scale that business for that matter – you have a desire to succeed. And that my friend is a desire to grow. And it is a great goal to direct your life towards. Many people have this desire, but it seems that only a few of that end up achieving that goal. What gives? What makes them different than the rest?
In all my years of coaching and consulting businesses I have discovered there is ONE big thing that will separate winners from people who don’t live up to their potential. Those who win either know how to set and achieve goals or are willing to learn. The rest, unfortunately, struggle to get things fast, don’t have the patience to accept life is a growth process, and are not willing to give themselves time to plan ahead, experiment, fail, learn and eventually succeed.
So I am ready to make a big claim:
If you want success, you need to learn how to set goals.
Yes, easier said than done. But it’s one of the biggest gifts you will be creating for yourself in this life.
If you are like most people, you surely have dreams and aspirations, but I can bet you haven’t taken the time to think about your goals for the next years.
I am pretty sure you dread hearing the question “Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?”.
I was like you not that long ago.
I used to think that life needs to be lived on the spur of the moment, that good things will come my way if I keep a positive attitude, that my 30s where so further in my future, it made no sense to think about it.
I used to say “I have no idea where and what I am going to do tomorrow and you want me to know what I will be doing 5 years from now?”
But as I started to grow up (my early 20s were crazy) and advance in my career, it downed upon me: I don’t want to be doing the same thing 10 years from now. And when entrepreneurship become a goal, I started to look at my decision-making process, mindset and goal setting skills, only to realize I wasn’t that well equipped for the awesome (yes) but also very challenging adventure of launching and running my own business.
Why goal setting matters
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There’s no hiding behind the finger: if you want to succeed (in life, in business), you need to set goals.
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Without goals (and the right ones for that matter) you will surely live without a clear direction.
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You’ve probably heard this before: goal setting is what allows you to take control of where your life (or business) is going.
I love this quote from Mike Pettigrew:
“When you know what you want from life, you’re much more likely to achieve it”.
It’s so simple it sounds ridiculous. But it is also very, very true.
Setting clear goals will give you the focus to achieve living a life in your own terms.
This skill has allowed me to build a career in digital marketing, become a coach, transform three of my passions into profitable businesses, all while learning, traveling, working remote (80% of the time) and ALWAYS doing what I love most. Sure enough, challenges were there, but because I had clarity about the destination, I pushed, failed, learned, tried and eventually succeeded.
Goals matter.
Your goals will determine your future and will allow you to create and live a better, happier life.
Goals create the context in which you will become a better person because when you have goals you open yourself to growth.
Eventually, as you start to achieve your goals, these wins will empower you and give you more confidence in your own abilities.
8 Tips to set clear goals
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Set goals that are relevant to your life (career, business, relationship) priorities
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Set goals that give you a sense of urgency, that make you feel deep inside “I must do this”
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Reflect why a goal is valuable and why the outcome is important to you
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Set goals that are specific, clear and well defined
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Give your goals measurable attributes (when, where, how)
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Reflect if your goal is achievable
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Always write down your goals
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Use “I will” instead of “I would” when expressing your goal
The easy goal setting formula
“I will [ACTION] + {specific number] this [TIMEFRAME].
Examples:
“I will reduce my monthly living expenses by 10 percent this year”
“I will increase my monthly recurring revenue by 10 percent by Q3”
“I will sign 10 new coaching clients at $1K each in the next 6 months”
“I will lose 15 pounds this year”
“I will learn 3 new words in Spanish by the end of this year”
So, if you are looking for a way to improve your goal setting skills, I am sharing my favorite three exercises.
If you use them you will get clarity in discovering what you want in life, discover what is stopping you from achieving your goals and discover how to trick your brain into achieving more. Sign up below with your best email to receive instant access to the goal setting free printable templates.