Returning to business as usual after the summer holidays can quickly stir up feelings of confusion and lack of direction. It is natural to see our stress and anxiety levels raised and motivation levels reduced as we push through another pandemic wave and resume the daily grind after the silly season.
By setting clear goals, small-business owners can regain control and start to see 2022 as a fresh slate for opportunity and success and stop being affected by the noise around them.
The importance of January goal setting in creating a fresh start cannot be stressed enough. And the best way to go about this is to not just plan for 2022, plan for the next five years. Not only does this outline what you want to achieve this year, it becomes part of a bigger plan that sticks.
There are five steps to articulating your goals, each of which will play a part in laser-like focus and balance to direct your energy.
Step one: daydreaming
Get two empty pages, one for personal goals and one for professional/business goals. Write down all the things you can think of that you would like to experience and achieve for each page in the first column. Dreaming is for free, so be brave; write down anything you can think of, without giving into “how” you will do it and whether you think it’s realistic or not. Most people let go of their dreams and goals because they are too quick to jump into the how. There will be plenty of time for that.
Step two: find your “why”
Look at each of the goals you have written and ask, “why did I choose this?”.
Knowing your “why” will help you find the purpose of accomplishing objectives and give you the motivation to see it through. It’s the reason to help you become emotionally involved with your goal.
Step three: refine your goals
After identifying what you want to accomplish and why you want to achieve them, the next step is to make your goals more actionable.
Step four: break it down
The purpose of this step is to decide what is most important, allowing you to focus all your energy on only the activities that will help you reach your goals.
Step five: take inspired action
Break your goals into smaller steps and figure out what actions need to be taken on a yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and then daily basis. Reduce it all down to the lowest common denominator. This last step gets the cogs turning instantly by giving you clarity on what needs to be started right now, and the flow-on from this is immense.
After completing these steps, you will have a transparent reference point that holds you accountable throughout the year. This system works at every level due to consistency among all humans; we all have dreams and goals, we don’t always know how to put them into action.
