I don’t remember the last time I set new year’s resolutions. I know I used to; I just don’t remember when I stopped.
But the point is, I just don’t buy into resolving to do (or not do) something anymore. Period. On January 1. Truth be told, if I deny myself something, I’ll just crave it even more. Sprouts gummy bears, for example, are my crack. If I resolved to give up sugar, I’d never be able to have one (or a pound) again. And when I cheated and had a handful or two anyway, I’d feel really bad about myself (once the stomachache set in).
Of course, I’m a pretty competitive person. And I always strive to be better than I’ve been in the past. Overall, I think I’m winning at that. I think my winning trait is that I’m also very stubborn. When I set my mind to something, I usually get it done.
That’s because I set goals—both in my business and in my life. I write things down. And this year, I’ve created a way to track my business goals almost daily so I can watch my progress throughout the year.
So what’s the difference, you ask? I mean, both resolutions and goals are intended to help you make changes and become better.
A resolution is a decision to do (or not do) something.
That’s it. It’s a statement, an intention, nothing more.
But a goal is something specific you want to accomplish, within a timeframe.
It’s more tangible because there’s an ending in sight and it’s easy to create a course of action to get you there.
I think my diet is, overall, not too bad. But I’m addicted to sugar and I tend to get lazy a little too much and serve pizza for dinner (probably once a week). Oh, and I do love my beer. To kick off 2017, my daughter and I decided to eat better. But because there’s no real measurement for “eat better,” we decided we’d give up sugar, soda, convenience foods (like fast food and pizza) and beer. Okay, I’m giving up the beer for the month. She’s 14.
Not exactly a goal, but there is an end date. And you better believe I’ll be enjoying a frosty IPA on February 1.
Every time I sign up for a race (I write, with a 55k looming at the end of February), I have a goal. The race is on a specific date, and a specific distance, that I have to finish in a specific amount of time. And I have a training program to get me there. And usually my friend Jessica to help motivate me to train (because it was her brilliant idea to run the stupid race in the first place). And I was probably drinking a beer when I agreed to it.
In business, I go about goal setting in a different way. Of course, there’s always a financial goal in my head because I want my business to grow (oh, and bills). And this year I’ll be taking a slightly different route to get there by reducing the amount of 1:1 client work I’m doing and offering more group programs and courses.
The blogs I write, podcasts I’m on, programs I develop and emails I write are all designed to get me to my end goal. As an added bonus (and the reason I’m here in the first place), I get to help EDUCATE and EMPOWER other business owners along the way. And these two words happen to be my focus for this year.
So what are some of my business goals for 2017?
- Be a guest on 6 podcasts (I already have 2 coming out early this year!)
- Write 12 guest blogs (Shoot me an email requesting me to write for you!)
- Host 52 guest bloggers on my website (Sign up to be one of them!)
- Host 4 pitch-free mini courses
- Launch 2 big group programs
And a few others that I’ll leave in my back pocket for now! But for all these goals, I have a strategy mapped out that I’m tackling as you read. And I’m determined to reach them all!
What are your goals for 2017? How will you measure whether or not you measured them at the end of the year? Stay tuned for my post at the end of this year to see how I blew my goals out of the park!
