Research shows that people who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t. Setting your goals in every day life or your business also allows you to check your progress periodically, and fix issues before they become a major problem.
STEP 1: Outline what you want to achieve:
Well, as we discussed in a previous section, you have to start with a vision (what does your ideal life look like? This is the destination of your journey, after all, if you don’t know the destination, it’s pretty unlikely that you will ever get there!
Next break it down into stops along the way; to reach your ultimate destination in, say, 5 years, what do you need to have achieved in 4 years, then 3 years, then 2, then in 1 years time?
Once you know what you would like to achieve, write this down. You can use an agenda, a vision board, or an online app such as Evernote. The idea is to make your goals “real” by moving them from your thoughts to “paper”.
STEP 2: Break your goals down into milestones
The number #1 reason why most people don’t achieve their goals is that they are unattainable. Be realistic when setting goals for your business. Most importantly, always break your goals down into milestones, that is, the steps you’ll need to take to achieve them.
For Example: If you’re setting goals to achieve more income, let’s say to make $20,000 by the end of the year, you can break those goals down into milestones of making $100 the first month, $500 the second, $1000 the third and so on.
These “mini goals” helps to provide you with a feasible timeline by which you can check-in periodically to measure your progress towards the bigger longer-term goals.
STEP 3: Schedule check-in dates for your goal reviews
Once you’ve set your goals and created your milestones, choose a regular period for reviewing your progress. This could be weekly, or at least monthly. Did you meet your monthly target? If not, what could you have done differently and what can you do better to ensure you get back on track?
If you achieve your target, don’t forget to congratulate yourself!
Achieving a milestone means you are one step closer to to your ultimate goals and your dream life.
To help you plan your goals and milestones, you can use this outline which you can download here.
The next step is to review your daily routine and discover how making a few key changes will drive profound improvement in all areas of your life (your Routine For Success):
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