We started this series by getting clear about what you do and why you do it. The next two installments will help you get clear about your how by tapping into your goals. Defining your goals helps keep you from wandering aimlessly. It helps you move your business forward with a clear and uncluttered mind. It means you can make real actionable plans instead of just daydreaming.
To clarify and organize your goals, we’re going to start with your biggest and broadest one. People who start mindful and natural-minded businesses always have a bigger aim and sense of purpose that goes beyond making a profit. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make money and support your family, but your business goes deeper than that.
There’s a reason you chose this business in particular, there’s a change you’re hoping to bring to your community and maybe even the world. We’ll call this your foundational goal. It’s what your business is built on and staying tuned into it will help you keep everything else aligned.
If you’re anything like me, you probably sometimes question whether you can really make the difference you want to make. You wonder why you got into this in the first place and what made you think you could do something so big. But the truth is, you can totally do what you set out to do. Your foundational goal is attainable and you have everything it takes to get there. Write your big goal down and own it.
With your foundational goal written down, it’s time to be a little selfish and think about yourself. This is your life, after all, and your business affects every part of it. It’s important to not only give yourself permission to build your business around the life you want, but to also accept your ideal life as a real attainable goal.
Daydream for a few minutes about your ideal life. What would your day look like? How many hours would you work? What would you do on your down time? Then, do the same for your business. What would your role be? What kind of work would you be doing? Who would be on your team? Write down these daydreams and turn them into real goals.
Now that you have your broader goals written down, you can start to get more specific. List out 5 (or more, if you’re up for it) things you can do by the end of the year to move closer to your ideal life and business. Take an hour each day this week to set up an actionable plan for each of these smaller goals. Get specific and list out the steps you need to take for each one and give yourself deadlines.
Remember that you have the rest of the year to work on these, so resist the urge to try to tackle them all at once. Spread them out over the next 10ish months so you have time and space to breathe. You’ll still have your day-to-day business stuff to work on and you don’t want to burn yourself out.
Last, make yourself a looser list of goals for the next 3, 5 and 10 years.You don’t have to figure out specific steps and deadlines for these, but writing them down will help you keep them in the back of your mind and take steps toward them. Revisit them each year and see which you’re ready to take on and make specific plans for.
Your action steps for the week:
- Write down your foundational goal
- Answer the question, “What do my ideal life and business look like?”
- Set 5 goals for this year and create a plan for each one
- Write down your long term goals and keep them somewhere you’ll remember