It’s a brand new year – and every smart executive is planning their growth strategy for the year which includes goals!
Let’s increase the chance you accomplish these goals and that you do so with JOY!
Here are 6 ways to increase the probability of your GOAL GETTING:
1. Get it in writing. ✍️
Imagine if instead of rubbing a magic genie bottle, you just needed to dedicate an hour to writing your goals ✍️ and you would get those wishes fulfilled? One study found that people are 42 percent more likely to achieve their goals when they are clearly writing them down.
There is no magic in the pen – but in clarity. Your brain works in the subconscious, even when you are sleeping. And you need to tell yourself what your goals are to become conscious and subconscious of them.
You would NEVER start work for a client without getting the project scope in writing so you can be successful and so you are sure you get paid. Don’t cheat yourself out of results – write your goals down so you increase the chance of accomplishing them and accomplishing them well.
2. Focus on the positive. 😍
If I tell you don’t think about a pink elephant, suddenly that’s the only thing you think about. Simon Sinek says “the human brain cannot fathom the negative.” By defining the negative your brain begins focusing on it and going towards it. This is true even when racing a very fast car. You should not look at the wall you want to avoid crashing into, but instead at the road, you want to stay on.
This requires imagining the world past the pain point and painting a “goals fulfilled” picture of the future.
If there are a lot of negative things you need to deal with – you can make time at the beginning of the year to clean the house and analyze what things aren’t working so you can get rid of them. But for the rest of the year, you need to focus your growth goals on the good things- the clients, products, and services you’re wanting. Focus on the 20% of your business that is creating 80% of the profit revenue results in happiness.
3. Find the carrots. 🥕
Everyone knows the analogy of a carrot in front of a horse in a cart… and my friend, our brains are literally horses when it comes to goals.
The fire you feel to accomplish this goal will depend upon the gravitas of your answer to “Why should I care?” The art of persuasion is all about understanding and communicating “the benefit to the end user” from the start. When you’re on a team (which everyone is… because you have kids, a spouse, an investor, or a family member who will be impacted by your success) you must define the benefit to everyone involved so it is clear how compelling and important this goal is.
If you BELIEVED you would make $2 million at the end of 2023, if you did XYZ… you would have a REALLY strong pull to do what it takes to make it happen. But if you don’t have a probable benefit at the end of XYZ, you will put in less effort… and get worse results.
The benefits can be financial… but they are also feelings you feel… the identity you evolve into… the unity you feel… the joy. Dedicate time to elaborate on and grow clarity on the benefit so it’s a big fat, mouth-watering, juicy carrot at the end of the stick to get you trotting faster towards the finish line.
4. Yoke Yourself to Someone. 🪢
Two draft horses pulling together cannot pull twice as much as one. They can actually pull three times as much. The two draft horses that can each pull 8,000 pounds alone can pull 24,000 pounds working together. This is even more amplified when both horses are trained together, (have an emotional and experiential history) as they can pull 32,000 pounds.
Humans are also made to be in a community, and every single person performs better in hard situations when someone else is cheering them on or helping them troubleshoot problems. The best outcome is if you include a person outside of your business or your family because it can become an emotional burden if you talk disproportionately about your work problems with them (rather than the positive things in that relationship).
You can do it any way that works for you. Whether that’s a mastermind group, asking a friend to meet up occasionally, or asking an executive to meet with you and review KPIs. It’s as simple as sharing the goals, asking for accountability, and scheduling it. You will achieve more and achieve it faster.
5. Do Less, Avoid Burnout. 🛌
After grad school, I was muscularly fit, but I couldn’t run one full mile without running out of breath and stopping early. A friend explained to me that I was running “how I thought I should be running, which was faster than my current endurance level.” The only reason I wasn’t finishing… is that I was rushing… and prioritizing speed over endurance in my execution.
When I realized my priority was to A) finish one full mile B) enjoy running C) learn how to correctly grow my running skill so I didn’t burn out and quit forever; I needed to change my approach and actually go slower to match my capacity. I had to run so slow that I felt foolish! When I started doing that… I could finish one mile and slowly build to more. I eventually ran a half marathon and didn’t stop the entire run. Plus I felt like a boss.
You can apply this to your business by looking at your goals and making sure you give space for yourself to grow healthier. For example, of course, you want to sell your products in Costco (the mac daddy retail goal for a product brand)… but do you even have any retail sales in smaller stores? Of course, you want to launch a new flavor but do you have $1,000,000 in sales for your existing products?
Narrow it down, take it slower, and increase the chance you will complete it stronger.
6. Prioritize with Pareto’s Principle. 🥇
Your BEST customers and products should be your focus because they create sales, profit, and joy. You can identify your priorities using the 80/20 analysis where you circle the top 20% of anything in your business and analyze it.
A great example is a real story of a friend and consulting client I worked with for only 2 sessions. She ran a small education service company and told me she wasn’t making enough money or being successful. I looked at her Profit and Loss statement and she was generating $20,000 of revenue a month consistently! For a nearly solo operation that’s a lot of money for a fledgling business and she should have felt proud of her success!
Instantly I knew that the problem was not revenue, but she was spending money, and time on things that were making her unprofitable in terms of cash but also joy.
6. Prioritize with Pareto’s Principle. 🥇
Your BEST customers and products should be your focus because they create sales, profit, and joy. You can identify your priorities using the 80/20 analysis where you circle the top 20% of anything in your business and analyze it.
A great example is a real story of a friend and consulting client I worked with for only 2 sessions. She ran a small education service company and told me she wasn’t making enough money or being successful. I looked at her Profit and Loss statement and she was generating $20,000 of revenue a month consistently! For a nearly solo operation that’s a lot of money for a fledgling business and she should have felt proud of her success!
Instantly I knew that the problem was not revenue, but she was spending money, and time on things that were making her unprofitable in terms of cash but also joy.
When I looked at her costs, I noticed she was paying for unessential things including a weekly podcast production service, an agency to help her write a book, a full-time personal assistant, and her rent was in an expensive part of town. I asked her if any of those expenses helped her to generate revenue with an 80/20 analysis – and the answer was “no.” All of her clients came from one stream… and it was the only one she was spending the least effort on and spending no money on.
When I looked at her time – I noticed she spent all of it dealing with her worst clients and building her business where she wished to grow, rather than around her current base. This left her exhausted and feeling like nothing ever worked.
The only reason she felt unprofitable and exhausted was that she wanted to be at a level in her business growth that she wasn’t truly at yet, and she prioritized based on an urgency, not profit. If she was willing to cut back and prioritize profit then, in the future, she could do all of those things she dreamed about, profitably.
She ended up not taking my advice and two years later, quit her business and got a job. There is no shame in choosing employment but the disappointing thing is that she did it because she felt like an entrepreneurial failure and was burnt out… not because it was what she wanted. She really was a success! She was just wasting her energy!
That’s a long story but a helpful lesson – prioritize and set goals around your best income streams… clients… products… process.. and reduce the other things so you can sustain to the finish line with more energy and joy… and profit.
CONCLUSION:
The quality of your life while you grow your business is JUST as important as profit. You will feel truly satisfied if you actually accomplish the goals you set – and do so with more personal satisfaction.
So what will your goals be? Tell me about your goals! If you don’t have any defined yet and want more structure to write them according to these steps above, join me at my webinar for GOAL GETTING this month. RSVP below.
I wish you a wonderful 2023!
-Emily Anne Page
Business Growth Coach
