Goal Planning: Creating Manageable Goals

Setting goals. That thought often makes entrepreneurs feel one of two ways: excited and pumped or just plain dread.

When I first started my business, the word “goals” wasn’t even in my vocabulary. Thankfully, I’ve made a complete 180, and now, I make sure I prioritize goal-planning sessions, so my team and I have a clear game plan going into the new year.

However, no matter how you feel about setting goals right now, I think most of us can agree that the idea of creating goals for a business can feel pretty overwhelming at first. Even though I love goal planning now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t some worry whispering in the back of my mind, wondering how I’m going to accomplish the huge goals I set for my businesses.

What I’ve discovered is that most of us feel this bit of worry because, as business owners, our goals usually involve pretty big numbers, and it can feel intimidating. At the end of the day, though, all entrepreneurs have to learn how to create (and make a plan for how to achieve) these huge goals if we want to grow and continue building a life we love.

Big goals will always be more overwhelming than smaller, bite-sized goals — yes, even for those of us who have been in business for years!

If you’re ready to dive in, keep reading to learn how to create manageable goals, so you can keep growing and moving towards your dream life!

Throw out that vision board

Yep, you heard me! While putting together vision board parties or putting together Pinterest boards of what we want our lives to look like is definitely super fun and sounds like a great idea in theory, they don’t always have a specific end goal in mind. It’s more about the aesthetics rather than creating a goal that’s S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.)

Stop limiting yourself to a “one-day” life and start creating a life today. I love the quote by Brian Tracey that explains this idea powerfully and succinctly: “a goal without a plan is just a dream.” Your dream life can only start with creating goals that have actionable plans behind them so that you can stop dreaming and start achieving!

Set 3-5 big goals

Any more than five goals will no doubt make you feel way too scattered and unorganized. Any less, and you’ll likely not be able to beat last year’s numbers or at least reach your highest potential.

So, what should these goals be about? That will really depend on what your priorities are for 2022, but here’s what we usually base our goals around:

1. Financial

To beat last year and grow, you’ll need to set financial goals. I know that everyone has different measures of financial success, so what your financial goals look like will be completely different from your neighbor’s business. If you need some help figuring out what financial goals you should be setting for your unique business, consider joining my Create Your 6-Figure Plan workshop!

In three hours, we’ll cover how to review your packages and services to make sure they’re profitable for your business, set actionable goals to achieve (and exceed) your proposed budget, and leave feeling empowered to make your first or next six figures!

2. Personal

A personal goal is just as important as your financial goals or any other business goals. After all, you most likely created a business so that you could have more freedom! An example of a personal goal is to take one week of vacation without your laptop.

3. An investment

Investments are necessary to grow your business. I know investments can be scary to make at times because the results are unknown, but smart investments will undoubtedly give you a return on your investment (and more).  For example, an investment of yours could be onboarding a new team member, outsourcing your social media marketing, hiring an assistant, or anything else moves the needle forward in your business.

Ok, I know that it’s hard to look at these goals and not feel overwhelmed right away, but I promise I would never advise you to do something you’re not capable of! And, of course, you know that I’m all about creating actionable goals — we’re not just all talk over here.

So, how do you make these more manageable? Break these large, abstract goals into quarterly goals. Ask yourself, what do you need to do in Q1 to accomplish goal one? How about goal two? Do that for each quarter and each goal.

As you start each new quarter in 2022, break your quarterly goals down into monthly tasks. Ask yourself, what do you need to do in January to hit your Q1 target?

Before you know it, you’ll be crushing your crossing off your goals like nothing!

Don’t file away your goals

To follow up with the last point of setting three to five bigger goals, do yourself a favor and do not place those goals in a file or tucked away in a drawer! AKA a place where they’re not visible and easy to forget about. Instead, keep them front and center, so you can see them every single day!

For example, after I set my three to five goals for the year and I break them into smaller, more manageable goals for each month, I make sure to put those on my calendar. My calendar is what keeps me sane, organized, and successful in my business, so I know that I’ll see those goals every day.

Final thoughts about creating manageable goals

Are you ready to set some actionable goals for your business this year? Need a bit of assistance? Join me for my Throw Out The Vision Board Workshop on January 13th at 11AM EST! In this free workshop, we’ll set goals, break them down into bite-sized steps, and by the end of the workshop, you’ll see your business in a totally different way for 2022!