I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what my goals are both for my business and my life and working to write them out and plan how to reach them. Big goals that can seem overwhelming look so much easier to reach when that plan is in place.
When you’ve got goals they pull you forward — you’ve got something that you’re working towards and motivated to reach!
Here’s a great video from Brian Tracey about why it’s important to know our goals and to keep thinking about them and focusing on them:
“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs… one step at a time.” Joe Girard
What strategies do you use to keep thinking about your goals? Written goals? A vision board? What works for you?
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I am in that process, too, Michelle, of considering where to go next with my business, getting ready to plan my next year…
Good advice!
Jeanine
Planning is good. :)
When I started my blog in February I wrote down my goals and how I planned to accomplish them. I quickly found that I don’t do well with pen-and-paper long-term lists. Even writing things on the calendar didn’t get things done. I don’t look at the calendar or go through my lists enough, I guess.
I now put everything in Outlook. Every Saturday a little reminder pops up, “did you ….” and once a month a few others pop up with things I planned to do to build my blog. Quarterly, I get another one and so on. These little reminders keep me on track. So far, it has worked. Will it work for everyone? Probably not, but it works for me.
Definitely smart to find a way that allows you to be reminded often. :)
I am really big on writing my goals. I have long range goals which are my purposes in life. Then I set yearly goals – I write these down. Then I break them down into monthly and down to weekly and daily goals. I keep a note pad with this break down. I also list my Monthly goals on a white board so I can see if I am on track.
Loved the video!
Sounds like you’re a woman with a plan!
I need to work on breaking down my goals more – it makes them so much easier to reach when you know step by step what you’ve got to complete each week/month/quarter to get to the bigger goals.
Well, sounds like I’m going to be the odd bird (or maybe I should say “rare species”) here. :)
As much as I love to write, writing my goals down isn’t really effective for me. Hands down, bar none, every time I’ve announced my goals “out loud”, I’ve accomplished them. So I’m a gal who experiences the greatest success by sharing my goals with others. I think it’s because I become far more accountable that way.
As expected, a super post!
Melanie
Great point! Making that step to share your goals with others really does help with accountability.
Hey Melanie .. you sound a lot like me. I have bookoo reminders programmed into my Blackberry and even when my “Time to Take Your Medicine” ones pop up – often I hit the snooooze on it and either get to it later or don’t get to it at all that day. Sometimes I wonder why I bother setting the darn reminders, LOL!
I agree that goals are good but they just don’t seem to be a viable option for me. My life seems to run on the unexpected. I learned long ago that for me to plan something means the something probably is never going to happen because the unexpected is going to rear it’s head and prevent that. Maybe I shied away from goals because of the bumps and detours I always seem to run into. I get disappointed less often if I don’t plan to much.
I put exercise reminders in my iPod. :) I try not to hit that “remind me later” option…
Life can definitely throw a monkey wrench in our plans! No getting around that one. One of my favorite quotes is: “You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.” ~Charles C. Noble
I like those “big picture” goals more than I do the short term ones. :)
I know what my goals are, and have been for a while now. My problem is, life just keeps getting in the way :-(