We over-estimate what we think can accomplish in 1-year and under-estimate what we can accomplish in 5 years. Which is why we all need to learn how to create goals for our life and businesses. And maybe even more importantly, to make goals that align with our values as business owners.
Creating Intentional Goals
I want to start off by getting clear on the types of goals you should be even thinking about. This starts by recognizing your values. What are the 4-5 most important things to you in life and business. Mine are Community, Intentionality, Creativity, and Health. That means any goal I make, personally or professionally, needs to align with these 4 things. Having a goal of a lot of money and exponential growth doesn’t align with community and spending time with the ones I love and it definitely doesn’t align with living with intention or sustainably.
While financial goals can be a great place to start, they will only take you so far. Instead, it might be better to think of the impact you’d like to have. The amount of time you want to be in the office vs. at home with your family. Your goals could align with sustainable practices and trying to become carbon neutral or negative by a certain date.
How to create goals starts with your values. Write them down. And from there, decide on what you want to accomplish in the years to come that will align with these values. Every decision you make should start with aligning with your values. (That’s 1 way to live intentionally).
Go Big and Get Specific
What is the very big end goal you want? Is it to be on the New York Times best seller’s list? To win a Nobel Peace Prize? Is it to save the rainforest? To build a school? Or maybe to change fast fashion? To be interviewed by Oprah? To get your products in a mainstream store?
Go ahead, think big. The bigger the better. Now write this down right under your values.
Do these goals align with your values? If the answer is no, please go back to the start of this section and dream again. If the answer is yes, let’s continue.
You now have one huge goal. One that might even feel impossible right now. But remember, we under-estimate what we can accomplish in 5 years or even 10-years. So don’t get scared, there’s time.
Break Your Goal Into Pieces
You have your mountain of a goal in front of you. It aligns with your values and gets you equally excited and terrified just thinking about it. That’s good. It means that there is desire in your heart and that my dear, will be what leads you to the end. It’s the spark the Divine puts in us to let us know we’re on the right path. Keep going!
From this mountain of a goal I want you to write down 5 milestones you need to reach to get there. What are 5 steps that will need to happen in order for this goal to come to light? Some of these might be monetary goals. Some might be connections that need to be made. And some might be experience that needs to build.
If you’re goal is to get on the New York Times Best selling book then you’ll need to write a book, connect with an editor, grow thick skin. Maybe your goal is to get your product into Target and so you need to increase your audience, build relationships and update your manufacturing to be able to create the quantities needed. Or if you want to save the rainforest it might be about visiting the rainforest, fundraising, creating a doc, etc.
It’s your dream. You figure out the milestones. And it might take a bit of research to even begin to know what those milestones are. That’s okay. Like I said, you’ve got time.
Now Break It Down To Bite-Size Chunks
The last step in how to make goals is to take those milestones and break each one down into 3 smaller chunks. Small steps you can take just to get to that milestone. Like getting a travel book on the rainforest, talking to someone who has gone there and booking a ticket. Or coming up with an idea for a book, taking a writing class and buying a new laptop (or typewriter if you’re really cool) to write it with.
Again, if you need you can do some research on what’s needed to hit your milestones. But don’t get stuck in the research. Set a deadline for when you’ll have your bite size chunks written down so that you can be clear on your goals and start working towards them.
How To Create Goals
- Values
- Big Dream
- Milestones
- Bite-sized steps
You’ve laid it all out. Your values which will be the compass on your journey to your dream. Don’t ever lose these. Keep them in plain sight right next to your big dream. The two go hand in hand and as soon as the don’t, either your values will need to change or your dream will. You’ll decide which one is right for you.
Your milestones are the goals you want to hit each year. That’s right, you just created a 5-year plan without even thinking about it. You can accomplish a lot more in those 5 years than you thought.
The bite-size steps are what you are focusing on this year for one milestone. Let me repeat that, ONE milestone. You can’t jump around on a map, there are steps to get from here to there. Follow them.
With this map as your guide, you’ll never have to wonder how to create goals for your personal or professional life. And if you ever need help in getting clearer with your business goals or want to develop a strategy to achieve your steps in a year, I’m here ready to help. You can even take me up on my free 30-Min strategy call here. No obligations, no-strings-attached. Just you and me on the phone for 30-minutes going over any brand strategy questions you have like old friends catching up over a coke. (Because who doesn’t love a coke, especially when it comes in a bottle?)
