One of the quickest and easiest ways to doom yourself or your business is to avoid setting goals. I constantly talk to people who refuse to complete this vital step in planning for their business. They most often give one of these three reasons:
- “I know what I want and that’s good enough.”
Many people don’t know what a goal actually is. They settle for wishing and wanting rather than planning for success.
- “Goals don’t help. I’ve set them before and still failed.”
Setting goals takes thought and maybe some practice. Falling short of your goals in the past is not a reason to quit doing it. Instead, learn how to set goals that motivate you to go beyond your comfort zone.
- “If I set a goal, someone might hold me to it and that takes work!” Most people want to be successful, but many don’t want to take responsibility for all that entails.
There are many more reasons, but these are some of my favorites. All of them are real issues. All of them are hard to overcome. All of the people giving them just need a little push.
Let's look at the first reason and how to overcome it.
I call this reason “ignorance is bliss.” The people who use it have either never been taught or refuse to remember and utilize good goal-setting strategies. The low-hanging fruit for them is the tried-and-true SMART goal system. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Realistic and Timed. Few people really understand how to use it and, in fact, it can be difficult to use on yourself. It is much easier for someone else to look at your goal and tell you whether it is truly specific, for instance.
Here are some keys to using the SMART system effectively.
One test of a good goal is if you will know without a doubt whether or not you achieved it. For that, it must be Specific (so you know what to measure), Measurable (so you know if you’ve succeeded), and Timed (because without a deadline, you won’t have any real incentive to move forward).
Not specific, measurable or timed: I want to grow my business.
Better: I want to grow my business by 50% in revenue in the following 6 months.
The second example states what will change (revenue), by how much (50% increase) and by when (6 months from now).
The next component of a good goal is to make it Action-oriented. This means outlining the steps you need to take to make it happen.
Not action-oriented: I want to grow my revenue by 50% in the next 6 months.
Better: I want to grow my revenue by 50% in the next 6 months by calling every past customer in my database over that time at a rate of 20 per week.
"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"
"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.
"I don’t much care where--" said Alice.
"Then it doesn’t matter which way you go," said the Cat.
"--so long as I get SOMEWHERE," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you’re sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
I addressed my favorite reasons businesspeople give for not setting effective goals, and specifically tackled the “ignorance is bliss” reason. Now, I'm delving into Number 2 on my list – “Goals don’t help. I’ve set them before and still failed.”
I call the people who give this reason The Underachievers because they would rather accomplish nothing (or settle for much less than their potential) than fall short of the big prize. They say things like, “My goal was to double my business in one year. I could only achieve 80%, so I failed.”
Rather than acknowledge what they did accomplish, they focus on what they didn’t achieve. And, instead of working to build on their success, they give up on setting ambitious (or any) goals.
The final component of the SMART system I discussed is choosing goals that are Realistic. This requires that you have a thorough understanding of your current capabilities, your market, your competition, and what obstacles might stand in your way. Ask yourself relevant questions that will help set you up for success.
- Is calling 20 past customers per week for six months realistic given my current workload? How much time will it take? What adjustments can I make to accommodate this new task?
- Will 20 calls per week be enough to increase revenue by 50%? How can I maximize those interactions? Do I need a specific offer to entice past customers to purchase my product/service again?
- How can I use the feedback I get from customers to improve my success rate?
- What else can I do?
One important caveat. It takes thought and practice to strike the proper balance between a goal that is so outlandish that you will lose your motivation to even try for it and one that pushes you to new heights. Personally, I find most people set goals that are way below their potential, so if falling short of your goal has been one of your excuses for not setting challenging goals, I strongly encourage you to err on the side of being unrealistic!
Reaching goals that are too easy to achieve may give you a moment of satisfaction, but does little to move your business forward. Similarly, setting no goals may help you avoid the sting of falling short, but that also keeps you from having real success.
Therefore, I challenge you to challenge yourself. Set goals that put a lump in your throat. Push yourself to go beyond where most think you can. It is the only way to get off the proverbial hamster wheel you are on. If you don’t make it all the way, celebrate how far you got and reload for another run at it.
I love to do exercises with people on this very subject. I ask, “How much do you want to make this year?” No matter the answer, I say, “Double it…Double it again…Double it again.” Until I see them squirm, the answers are too easily attainable.
I want people to realize their untapped potential, not just push a little harder to achieve moderate success. In order for that breakthrough, you have to be a little uncomfortable. I would rather set a goal at 100 and hit 95 than set it at 30 and hit 40. The celebration of exceeding my easy goal would be meaningless compared to nearly achieving a huge mark.
Things will happen that push your ship off course. Don’t drop anchor and sit still because of it. In business, and in life, success is not a one-time proposition. We try, and then we try again. True success is not merely reaching your goals. It is about the quality of your goals, what you accomplish and learn along the way to going for them, and how you use that experience.
Why settle for simply getting Somewhere? If that is all you desire, then you are already there.
I am taking on Number 3 in my list of reasons businesspeople don’t set effective goals – “If I set a goal, someone might hold me to it and that takes work!”
I call the people with this mentality The Passengers because they are just along for the ride. Rather than put anything on the line, The Passengers become victims of circumstance, of the market, of employees, friends, God, and life in general. They willingly (though perhaps unconsciously) put control in someone else’s hands, so there is always someone or something to blame when things don’t go their way.
Too many people go through life like this. It is really a sad observation on the direction of our world. We do it with our companies, our families and all areas of our lives. Well many of us do. There are people who see everything that happens as a learning experience. They learn when they win, they learn when they lose, but they always learn. In goal setting, in order to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and off of the hamster wheel, we have to set goals that are well beyond anything we have really pondered. And we have to own them.
Setting a goal and going for it requires more than wishful thinking. It requires action, effort, and perseverance. It requires some risk. And it requires a willingness to fail, and then keep trying and improving.
One last key to successful goal setting is Accountability. Once you finalize your goal, write it down and post it in a place (or places) where you will see it multiple times per day. Tell people in your inner circle about your goal so they can help monitor you.
Now you no longer have to settle for wishing and hoping. With thoughtful planning, action, and dedication your success rates will be astronomical!
So how are your goals coming along this year? Have you already forgotten your New Year’s resolutions? Do you have goals set for the next 11 months? How about for the next 60 months?
One of my favorite sayings is: People aim at nothing and achieve it with astounding accuracy. I hope you have some big plans for the coming year. I wish you all of the success you ever dreamed of. And if you are having trouble deciding what success really looks like or how to get there, or even if you just need someone to help push you over the top, I would love to help.
The results you want are out there, let me help you find them…
