Goals: First Steps to Success

One of the most important things you’ll do for your business is establishing realistic goals. Most people don’t write their goals down or create action plans to achieve them, because they are afraid of failure or do not know how to attain them. With only a few weeks into the New Year, now is the time to sit down and think about how you can achieve business success. Creating your goals is not hard at all, but it may require some assistance from a coach or business consultant if you are not focused.

Webster’s dictionary defines goal as the end toward which effort is directed. Getting to that end involves some thinking and planning on your part. So, review your vision for your company and take a moment to reflect on the previous year. What didn’t you accomplish? What changes do you need to make? Who can support you to make these changes? Based on the vision you have for your company, list 3-5 goals you want to achieve. You should establish short-term and long-term goals. Short-term goals could be where you would like your business to be in 1 year and a more long-term goal would be in 5-10 years. Goals are important to set because they let you know what you are working towards and lets you know when you have gotten there.

Here are some things to consider when setting your goals.
Go for what you want to achieve. You may want to increase sales by 20% in 2006. Writing them down not only helps you remember, but allow you to track your progress throughout the year.

Organize your time and resources. Take a look at what takes up most of your time and how that may affect your planned goals. Small business owners especially, need to manage their time more effectively because of the many responsibilities they have daily. Most of us do not utilize the resources we already have available to help us achieve success.

Assign priorities. What goals where not achieved in 2005 that you need to work on in 2006? Put them at the top of your list. Determine which goals can be attained sooner and put those at the top of the list.

Leave distractions behind. It’s difficult to stay focus on your goals with so much going on in your personal and professional life. I’ve seen many business owners set goals and not take action because of distractions.

Stay S.M.A.R.T. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Your goals should be well defined and you should know when they have been achieved. Goals that are way out of your reach my not be attainable because they are not within the availability of your time and resources. Finally, you should be able to achieve these goals within a reasonable amount of time.

There is no time like now to look back on last year and set some serious goals for success. Stop right now and get clear on what you want to accomplish. Achieving success is within your reach.