Goal setting for business or career

Goal setting and planning isn’t just for the New Year.  In fact, it can be hard to motivate yourself to set goals then, immediately after Christmas, when the weather can be bleak and you might be a little exhausted with everything.

Goal setting and checking in with goals can be done all year round as ensuring things are going to plan and making any tweaks necessary to make achieving what you want a lot more realistic. 

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Whether your goals are for your business or career, choosing a good time, when you’re feeling energetic, optimistic and motivated really helps.  Spring is a pretty good time for this as we leave the darker evenings behind and the blossom is appearing.  It brings hope and this really helps with having the right mindset for goal setting.

Start goal setting now!

So as Spring is pretty much here, how about scheduling some time to consider your goals, or what you want to achieve over the next months and perhaps longer term?

Something that is used in the coaching world is the GROW model, originally from Sir John Whitmore.  It’s very straightforward and helps you identify your goals and put a plan in place to help you achieve them.

G for GOAL / S

If you don’t have a clear idea of what your goal is, how are you going to know when you’ve achieved it?

Take some time to clearly describe what it is that you want to achieve.  You can make it a long term goal eg 5 years time or 1 or 2 years, depending on what you’re planning.

If you struggle getting clarity on goals, it’s worth writing down everything that comes to mind – eg think about where you want to be, what you want to be doing, with whom.  You might add how much money you need / want to be bringing in, how many hours you want to be working, what you want to be doing in your spare time, with whom etc.

Draw pictures, write down words, cut pictures out of magazines, whatever works for you to get a clear picture of what you want.

Remember all your thoughts are valid and sometimes writing the craziest things can start something new and great.

R for Reality

This is all about your current situation and the reality of what you know now.  Knowing this helps you know yourself better and see what might need to change to get you to where you want.

Ask yourself questions like;

• How are things now for you?
• What is the biggest obstacle you’re currently facing?
• What is going well, what is going less well?
• What are you passionate about?
• What does your inner critic say?
• What are you strengths? Your weaknesses?

O – Options

This is the exciting bit – with an open mind, where all is possible, what are the options that are available to you?

Make sure your inner critic or saboteur is not allowed to speak here! It can help to imagine you’re your own biggest fan who believes you’re capable of almost anything.

Asking questions like;

• What would you do if you could not fail?
• If money was not a problem, what would you do?
• What is your first step towards your goal?
• And then what will you do?
• What strengths can you use to help you get there?
• With curiosity, how might you approach any obstacle?
• Is there anyone who can help you?
• What will you need to do / think differently from now on?
• Imagine you have achieved your goal.  What did you do to get there?

Remember to coach yourself through this, no self criticism, just support.

W – way forward 

This is where your plan gets put together.  With your goal in mind and all the options you have, pull together what you need to do to start making it a reality.

• How committed are you to this goal (scale of 1 – 10)
• What could you do to be more committed?
• How will it feel when you’ve achieved your goal?
• If it’s a longer term goal, break it down into smaller milestones 
• If you lose confidence, what will you say to yourself?
• Do you want to be held accountable? If so, ask a friend or consider working with a coach.
• How will you make this plan front of mind and one that you will stick to?
• How will you celebrate when you’ve got there?

With your plan, it will help to put timescales / dates by when you’ll achieve each step or milestone.  Put each in your calendar to make sure you don’t forget any of them. If it helps to put reminders around the place – on your screen saver or on the fridge – whatever works to keep the goal front of mind.

Get clear on what you want

If we don’t know where we’re going, we’re unlikely to ever get there – so having a clear idea and a plan makes it so much more likely that you will achieve your goals.  You’ll start noticing opportunities that will help you get there and having a plan helps so much with motivation. 

Share your goal with others and the plan of how you’re going to make it happen.  This can be your friends / family, colleagues or team. They will also start finding ways to help make it happen.

Let me know how it goes!