On Monday I gave a talk to a group of business women about the importance of goal setting for their businesses. My talk resulted in a very interesting discussion about how people set their goals and how they review them.
It is very important to review your goals on a regular basis to ensure that you are on track to achieve them and to see whether you need to make any adjustments.
Setting goals is not just good for business but is good for your personal life as well. They provide you with direction and purpose and something to aim for.
Having nothing to aim for can cause low motivation, leaving you unenthusiastic about what you are doing. Having well planned, realistic goals can increase positivity and motivation.
A client of mine had toyed with the idea of setting up her own business for a couple of years. This was something she really wanted to do but it just was not happening.
When she started her coaching sessions, I got her to define what it was that she wanted to achieve and to break it down into tangible steps, with action dates. This filled her with a renewed enthusiasm and she will be launching her new, revolutionary business next month.
When I made the move from employee to self-employed, I initially felt out of place with not having the structure in place that comes with working in a large organisation, where everything I did was in line with organisational aims and objectives.
Whilst I had a business plan, at times, I felt a bit like a headless chicken, running around doing lots of things and feeling like I was getting nowhere. I quickly realised that I needed to structure the way I was working. I set up a marketing activity planner, setting out tasks I needed to do daily, weekly and monthly. This has had a positively, significant impact on how effective I now feel I am working and I am achieving so much more on a daily basis.
It is surprising just how many businesses do not set goals and they continue on aimlessly, not measuring how they are doing, inhibiting their chances of success.
During a recession some people may think their only goal is survival. However, that is a time when they should be focused on their goals and planning how they are going to get out of their current predicament. Not merely surviving but achieving success. Setting goals should be part of your business planning.
As mentioned, goals are not only for businesses but are good to set for your career and personal life as well. If you want to progress in your career, set yourself goals on how you will do this, so that you have something clear to aim for.
REMEMBER!! She who fails to plan, plans to fail.
For help in defining and setting your goals, take advantage of 30 minutes free coaching that I offer. Contact me here quoting ‘Free Coaching Offer’ to make the arrangements.
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