Most people know how to set SMART goals. The challenge comes in creating and sticking to a plan to make those goals a reality. In the early days, setting a goal motivates enthusiasm to achieve results, but before long life is business as usual and the goal is a distant memory. Research suggests that less than 10 percent of people feel they have achieved their goals. That means 90 percent don’t, which is a staggering number.
The question is, what does the 10 percent do and what does the 90 percent not? There are many factors that affect whether or not goals are achieved, but two important components are 1) a plan
2) the commitment to work according to the plan.
If you’re ready to make your goals a reality, here’s how to create a plan.
Make Sure Your Goals are Smart
- SMART goals give you clarity and a deadline for achieving them. SMART goals are:
- Specific: Your goal is clearly defined. “I want to make more money,” is vague. “I want to make $10,000 a month,” he is specific.
- Measurable: You need to quantify your goal so you know you’ve achieved it. This is where being specific helps. What does “more” mean for more money? A specific dollar amount is measurable.
- Achievable: It’s good to set goals that stretch and challenge you, but if your goal is impossible, you’re setting yourself up for frustration and failure.Relevant: Your goals should match your ultimate life plans.
- Time: You have set a date by which your goal will be achieved.
Note that goals work for big accomplishments like making $50,000 a year working at home, but also for smaller projects like launching a blog in 30 days or landing five freelance clients in two weeks.
Work Backwards To Set Milestones
The problem with achieving goals is that the due date is often so far away that many people put off taking action until it is too late. Instead, looking at the amount of time you have and the goal you want to achieve, create mini-goals that move you toward the big goal.
For example, if your goal is to make $10,000 a month in your business within six months, create mini-goals of how much you’ll be making at the end of one month (i.e. $2,000 a month) and three months (i.e. $5,000 a month). You’ll know you’re on or off track when months one and three come around and you meet or miss your mini-goal.
Determine What Needs To Happen To Achieve Your Goals
During this step, get clear on what is needed to achieve your small and large goals within the time frame. If you use the $10,000 per month goal example, to make more money, you need to get more clients or customers. In this step, you want to determine how many clients you need to earn $5,000 and $10,000 per month in your business. How many leads must enter your sales funnel? How many offers do you need to make to make a sale? To learn more about this, browse this site.