CREDITS
The Balance
By Alyssa Gregory
Goal setting is an important part of starting and owning a business. Without business goals, you might find that you’re floundering in your business with no direction. Your goals can help you stay focused on where you want to be while helping you create a plan for getting there.
These 10 steps can help you achieve your business goals.
Break Down Your Company’s Goals
The first step in goal setting is to identify and break down what those goals are. Business goals are often long term, and they require quite a bit of work, time, and effort. It’s easier to focus on what you need to do right now and not get overwhelmed by the process if you break your goals down into manageable action steps,
A good way to achieve this is by creating an action plan that’s made up of individual tasks that each includes one clearly defined action. It’s easy to make progress and have small accomplishments every day when you think in terms of baby steps.
Track Your Progress
Part of successfully setting goals is tracking how far you’ve come. Find out what motivates you. This can also help you plan future goals and action steps.
You can track your progress by conducting weekly and/or monthly goal check-ins that help you evaluate what you’ve accomplished and where you need to focus more of your attention. It may also be helpful to create milestones based on time and progress so you can easily tell if you’re on track.
Commit to the Company’s Goals
Effective goal setting requires clarity about what the goal involves, knowledge on what type of effort will be required, and specific reasons why it’s important. It also includes a plan for how you’ll accomplish each step, and a commitment to seeing the goal through to completion.
You’ll face an unnecessarily difficult challenge if you’re unable to commit to the goal by taking the time to develop a plan and scheduling the time to focus on the action steps that will bring you closer to it.
Build Your Company’s Support System
A support system can help you reach your goals in a number of ways:
- Be motivated by the knowledge that you have a solid team behind you.
- Learn from the experiences and backgrounds of your team.
- Your team can cheer you on when you face challenges.
- You can be held accountable by your team for doing what you say you want to do.
- Your team can provide a perspective that’s different from your own.
- Your team can help you celebrate your successes.
Stay Flexible With Your Company’s Goals
Very few things happen exactly as we anticipate, both in business and in life. It’s vital to be able to adjust to changes and modify your plan as necessary to be able to take your business to the next level.
It’s important to have a clearly defined plan for accomplishing your goals, but you should avoid rigidity and narrow-minded thinking. The more agile you are and the quicker you can change direction when you need to, the easier it will be for you to keep progress steady in the face of the unexpected.
Keep Your Eye on Your Company’s End Goal
It’s important to break long-term or ambitious goals down into small and manageable steps that you can tackle every day. But you should make sure you’re clear on what you’re working toward while you’re focusing on taking it one step at a time.
Big-picture thinking is an effective way to stay motivated and focused. Take some time to envision what it will look like and feel like when you’ve achieved your goal. Then return to that vision during the process to remind yourself why it’s so important to you.
Accept Your Company’s Imperfections
A challenge for many is our desire to do everything correctly, each and every step of the way. The idea of perfection and fear of failure sometimes holds us back and prevents us from making progress.
Forward-moving progress often trumps mistakes when it comes to goals, so it can be more important to keep the process moving than to wait until the situation is perfect in order to proceed.
Don’t Stop Adjusting Your Company’s Goals
We’ve outlined the importance of being able to change direction and accept imperfection. It’s important to keep moving forward in these situations, even when the situation is not what you expect it to be.
Your path may change and your progress may seem minimal, but the only way to reach your goal is to take it step by step and piece by piece. You’re getting closer to achieving your goal every time you complete a baby step. You’re on the path to success as long as you continue to move forward.
Think Positively About Your Company’s Goals
Being confident in your ability to achieve goals can play a significant role in your success. You have to believe in yourself if you’re going to achieve your goals.
Thinking positively, encouraging yourself, and being encouraged by your support team is vital. Positive thoughts can often carry you through tough challenges, unexpected changes and other tests of your will.
Celebrate Every Goal’s Success
It’s important to celebrate your successes throughout your goal setting and achievement process, even the small wins. You’re taking time to recognize the effort that went into your achievement while motivating yourself to keep pushing through to the next step of your goal.
The Bottom Line
Keeping track of your progress as you move forward step by step can help you keep things in perspective and provide a feeling of encouragement and accomplishment. Your overall goal is the light at the end of the tunnel, but no one clears a long tunnel in one giant leap. Breaking the big picture down into manageable increments can get your business where you want it to go.
