How To: Setting Business Goals

I’ve just come from our January Tuesday’sTogether – Las Vegas meeting, and for those of you reading who aren’t familiar with what that is, it is a local chapter of a larger national group called The Rising Tide Society.  RTS puts a huge focus on encouraging community over competition within your local creative industry.  Each month we discuss a different topic whether that be social media, philanthropy, contracts, or anything business related that tends to be a hot topic on a lot of people’s minds.

A New Beginning

This month the topic we discussed was ‘goal setting’.  Its a new year, a new beginning, and a new chapter.  I always feel like each new year is full of hope and potential.  January is a game changer for me, because its the time where I decide what I want the next chapter of my life and business to look like.

A group of us got together last night and we talked about what we’re resolving to do this year.  Prior to our meet-up, I’d already begun a long list of what I wanted to accomplish this year.  In years past, my goals were usually numbers-centric.  I’d focus on how many weddings I wanted to achieve that year, the average cost of each wedding, etc.  And while those are good goals to have in order to begin to see a bigger picture of where you’d like to end up by the end of the year, they aren’t necessarily the most important goals to have.

Goal Setting in 2023

As I began to study goal setting in preparation for our Tuesday’sTogether meeting, I began to see that there is a bigger purpose to setting individual goals.  Here’s what I learned:

1. We end up investing our time in the goals we’re hoping to achieve, and our time is precious, lets not waste it on goals that don’t have a meaningful and strong purpose in our lives.  I’m not a big-picture person.  I have a really hard time visualizing the larger picture.  I believe it’s my detail-oriented, instant-gratification nature that inhibits my ability to accomplish long-term goals.  Because of this, I have a tendency to want to achieve smaller inconsequential goals that really have no real value in the long run.  I get distracted, then I get frazzled, which inevitably leads to becoming discouraged.  I’m discouraged because I’ve lost the bigger picture, and I’ve forgotten to live my life with purpose.  The goals we choose should be impactful and have meaning.  Let’s be intentional this year.
2. We need to be asking ourselves WHY we’re doing what we’re doing.  The great Lara Casey says this, “You must have a strong why.  If you don’t, you’ll constantly be tossed back and forth by the waves of comparison, distraction, and emotional decision-making in business.” This is how we achieve being very intentional about our goals.  Once I listed all of the things I wanted to achieve this year I had 21 individual goals.  After asking myself why I wanted to work toward each goal, my list was narrowed to 5 goals.  If I didn’t have a substantial answer as to why I wanted to achieve each goal, I would cross it off.  We can’t be intentional about our goals if we can’t give ourselves a good answer as to why we want to achieve them.  Our lives, and our businesses need to have a clear and concise message if we hope to make any sort of impact on ourselves and on others.  Lets start asking ourselves, “Why do I want to achieve this goal, and is it something that will help me envision my big-picture, purposeful end goal?”.
3. Once we have our intentional set of goals, we need to ask ourselves “How?”.  Goals, in and of themselves cannot show us how to get to where we want to be.  They are merely an envisioning of where we want to end up.  Once we’ve written our list of goals for the year, we now need to start creating for ourselves a roadmap to achieving them.  This year, I want to be more intentional about communicating with people. When I say “communicating with people” I mean real, authentic, deep connection.  I want people to feel loved. How?  I’ve written an action plan regarding ways I can create instances of communication.  For example: more client gifts, vendor incentives, coffee chats with other creatives, etc.  The list for me continues to grow as I think of new ways I can create communication with people.  The magic is in the how.  Your WHY will be incomplete unless you follow up with your HOW.
4. Lets not do 2023 alone.  Goal setting requires accountability.  Sometimes we need to put what we’re wanting to do in the following year out into the world, so others can encourage and help us when we’re feeling doubtful.  Find someone who really gets YOU, what you’re all about, your vision, and what your business stands for, and tell them what you’re doing.  Utilize community as a tool in achieving your goals.  Inevitability on this journey, we will find ourselves in the pitfalls of discouragement.  In those times, we shouldn’t go it alone.  And furthermore, we can find instances to hold ourselves accountable.  Set aside 1 day a month, or every few months to assess your progress.  Find a community of creatives who can rally behind you and your goals.
5. Don’t let discouragement win.  First of all, if you’re feeling discouraged right out of the gate this year while setting your goals, consider scaling your list back a bit.  The last thing you want to do is create a list that will not be attainable for the year.  That is a sure recipe for discouragement.  Don’t compare yourself to others.  Your goals are unique to YOU, and there is no benchmark that you’re supposed to be achieving with your yearly goals except your own.  Make sure the list of goals you have is realistic.  Too many goals might actually be counterproductive to achieving your bigger picture.  Scale back.

We can do this, 2023.  I have to keep telling myself to remember to live with purpose.  Even in business.  My life, and my business need to stand for something.  My goals will help define what that “something” is.  Once again, I feel like 2023 is full of hope and potential, not just for me, but for all of us.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds.  In approximately 352 days, I’ll update you on my progress, until then, cheers to this new beginning!