I have been working on this post about setting goal for a while….and I think it is finally where I want it to be. The disclaimer is these are my goals and the way I have approached setting goals for my business….to each their own!! I hope you can get a good nugget of wisdom or information from this post to use in your life and business.
We are still early in the year (middle of Feb.) where I hope people are still working on their New Year’s Resolutions. 🙂 But I am going to guess most have let those fade away into the distance. I do not set New Year’s Resolutions, but I do set goals for my business. There is a difference. A resolution is defined as a firm decision to do something. A goal is defined as the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. What I like about goals….is I set long term ones (the ultimate goal) and short term ones to achieve the end result of reaching the big goal. Let me explain a little more…
My previous career in physical therapy taught me to set goals for my patients. An example was when I worked with patients who had strokes and would be in the rehab unit with us for weeks. They come with a very very big mountain to climb physically and mentally to be able to go home and its overwhelming. When you think about that one big goal it can honestly be quite discouraging but if you break up goals into short term goals, you can celebrate those milestones and see the progress you are making. We would always encourage our patients and remind them of how far they have come….because honestly we all never feel like we have done enough or progressed enough.
Here is an example of a short term and long term goal for my business this year…my long term ultimate goal is to photograph XXX amount of newborn babies this year. One of my short term goals for the next month to meet this long term goal is to network with three (be specific) other baby businesses in the local area. So as you can see one short term goal is a stepping stone to get to the long term goal.
Short Term Goals are goals you set for the near future to reach. So setting a goal for yourself to accomplish in the next two weeks, the next month, and so on. This brings me back to the point of then achieving those goals and feeling that accomplishment and looking back and seeing where I have come from and motivate me to keep working towards that long term goal (or goals) in the future.
So the practical application for today is write down those goals. Pick just one or two long term goals you want to accomplish in your business this year, and then set your short term goals (thinking of them as stepping stones) to reach that long term goal. I will be posting a “Part 2” on this topic very soon….but I hope you do your homework and just get started setting goals.
The image at the top of this post as some significant meaning. I love the term “goal getter”….I heard it at a woman’s business conference I went to call Business Boutique….and it really stuck with me. I even got a t-shirt with that phrase and love it. The image is of cherry blossoms and that is the flower blossoms on my logo. I chose that logo in 2008….so many years ago and NEVER changed it because I loved the significance about it. A blossom represents growth, life, potential….and that is what its like running a business. Always working hard to create growth, sustain life….and its always full of potential to do good and serve others.
To end this blog post, I want to leave you with some inspiration quotes about goals that have been helpful to me in the past.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish”.
“Its gonna be hard, but hard is not impossible”.
“Don’t call it a dream, make it a plan”.
“Be stubborn about your goals, and flexible about your methods”.
“To reach a goal you have never attained, you must do things you never done”.
Until next time….
