How to Make Sure That Your Goals Are Really Yours

It’s the start of a brand-new year, a perfect time to create that bigger picture of what your business will look like twelve months from now.  This is a time when we set goals, fine-tune resolutions, and create vision boards that will keep us inspired as we work through the year!  Goals, resolutions, and even vision boards are all great, valuable even, but there’s something else you should also be focusing on this year.  What’s that?  This year, make sure that the goals you are setting are actually your goals, not somebody else’s.  You may initially think that sounds a bit silly.  Of course they’re your goals, right?  Maybe not!  Believe it or not, it can be easy to get caught up in the act of doing what everybody else is doing and lose sight of your own personal goals.  When that happens, you run the risk of burnout and of not really feeling aligned with what you’ve built, and who wants that?  Nobody, right, so what are you going to do about it? Let’s dive in together and figure out how to take your business back this year. 

When is the last time you asked yourself, “What do I want from this business?”, “What’s my vision?”, and “How am I going to get there?”?  For some of you reading this, the answer may be never and, if that’s the case, it’s time to do it right now.  Your business should be serving you, not the other way around, and if you haven’t answered these questions, there’s no way that it truly can be doing that.  Why do we avoid these questions even though they’re so important to ask?  Well, setting goals can feel a little daunting.  After all, there’s a lot of different things you could be focusing on.  How do you know which goal is the right goal?  Maybe you don’t know what you’re capable of or are unclear on how high or low you should set the bar for yourself.  Where do you even start?  The answer to that question is far simpler than you might think because it’s going to come from within you.  When you set a goal, it should feel authentic to you, first and foremost. 

Take a moment to consider some of the goals you’ve set for your business either this year or in the past.  Did they come from you?  Maybe they came from your franchise, maybe you’ve seen other entrepreneurs set these goals on social media and assume they’re doing it right, maybe they came from your mother or your spouse or your best friend.  If you’re not the one setting your goals, now is the time to change that.  Nobody else understands your unique situation as well as you.  You know your time availability, budget, how much you’d like to grow your business (or not), et cetera.  Armed with that information, you can now begin to set clearer goals that ensure your needs are being considered.  So, what do you want? 

The next step, once you’ve decided on your goals is to figure out how far out you’d like to focus.  For example, your bigger picture might be 3-5 years down the line, but that’s a long time frame and it may be hard to create manageable action steps for that long of a period.  Looking at the next 3, 6 or 9 months may feel a bit more doable.  Maybe chunking it down even more to just focus on first and second quarter goals right now might feel more doable for you.  Looking at the time period you’ve chosen, consider first what time wasters currently exist in your business model.  What can you get rid of to create space for more goodness and what sort of goodness is it that you want to add?  Get all of the ideas out of your head and organized in order of importance.  When you have a visual, it’s much easier to follow through. 

Next, break these larger goals into actionable steps.  If, for example, you’re working on your first quarter goals, what action steps need to happen to ensure that you’ll achieve those results by Q2?  How can you organize those steps into weekly and even daily tasks?  Break it down smaller and smaller until you have a step-by-step plan to reach your goals.  Make sure that your steps feel manageable and doable, that they’ll actually realistically fit with your lifestyle and time availability.   Leave a little wiggle room, too, as not every week is going to be perfect.  Maybe you get sick or you have an unexpected expense; something comes up that temporarily sidelines you, and that’s okay.  Having your map will enable you to jump right back in when you’re ready to. 

So, it’s really that simple.  Get back to the basics this year.  Reassess to make sure that your goals are actually yours and once you know that they are, reel it in from that huge 3-5 year vision and just start to look closely at the next 3-9 months.  Figure out your manageable action steps for each week and get going.  Repeat this process every couple of months to make sure that you are still on track and that your goals still feel aligned.  After all, your business can change quickly in a short amount of time. 

There’s no doubt that this can be your year if you choose to make it your year!  If you need a little extra support defining your goals and carving out your action plan, I would love to be a part of your entrepreneurial journey, so don’t hesitate to schedule a call anytime.  You can also join our Facebook Group, “Be a Confident Entrepreneur, Gain Confidence and Grow Your Business” to find an amazing group of like-minded individuals ready to keep you accountable as you move toward your goals!

Check out the Referral Machine and learn free and low-cost ways to gain new clients with ease.

Transcript:

Hey there my friends, It's a New Year, happy 2022. This time of year, my clients want to know about goal setting, resolutions, vision boards, the word of the year. All the things that you are probably seeing all over social media right now. So today, I am bringing back one of our most popular trainings from last year and the topic is perfect for 2022, and I'm going to give a little twist and a little bit more information than I did in 2021. We are going to talk about your goals,YOURS, not anybody else’s, and are they truly yours? You may be asking yourself: what the heck do you mean by that, Tracy? Well, hang with me and I'm going to explain. I've got a little bit different take on goals, resolutions, vision boards, and it might be an unpopular opinion. My name is Tracy Beavers, and if you're new to my channel, I am so glad to see you.

As a business and sales coach, I help you grow your business and it doesn't matter if you're just starting out with an awesome idea and a dream and you don't know where you're going yet or if you're an established business having massive success. Whatever your need is, we work together to map out a clear set of action steps for you, designed for you to get you from where you are right now to where you want to be, and you're going to get there faster, because you've got a road map from me and my guidance to keep you focused with every single step. I've been in sales and marketing for over 15 years and I've guided many businesses just like yours using my unique roadmap approach. If you're new here, be sure to smash that subscribe button, because I put out a brand-new training every week and be sure to check the show notes below the video for great resources. I've got some really cool free guides and a blog full of content crafted just for you. So let's dive into today's topic. I am here to walk you through your goals and your aspirations for yourself, both personally and professionally, because you can't really separate those two things, personal and professional. You're all one person! And I want to help you take a moment to reflect and visualize how you want your life to go short-term and long term and how you want your business to grow and serve you. Yes, I said: serve you. I'm going to repeat that if your schedule and your business are not serving you, then you are going to run the risk for burnout, my friend. When was the last time you asked yourself what do I want from this business? What's my vision? How am I going to get there? And I want you to ask yourself these questions today. The minute this training is over, I want you not if you're driving, but the minute this training is over, I want you to close your eyes, breathe and ask yourself: what do I want? How do I want this business to go? How can this serve me and my life?

So let's talk about that goal setting. It can feel so heavy. Like, what goals do you set? What are you truly capable of? What do you think you can really achieve? Do you set them low so you meet them and you feel like a rock star? Do you set them high and risk feeling like not so much of a rock star? Here's what I've learned through growing my businesses and coaching others to grow theirs. We do have to do these things. We have to set goals that are authentic to us. Don't just set a goal just because you feel like you need to. Set one that is yours, authentic to you, Did they come from you? Is this your idea or, if you're a franchise owner, did it come from your franchise? If you're a network marketer, did it come from your up line? Did it come from peer pressure through other entrepreneurs that you see on social media? Did it come from your spouse? Your significant other? Your mom, I mean everybody's mom thinks, thinks they can run for president. Am I right? But if you don't want to run for President that's authentic to you. We've got to have a realistic overview of our business, our time availability, our budget and where we want to be. Then, we need to sprinkle in some unicorns and rainbows and sunshine all over that realistic view so we maintain that wild eyed “anything is possible” mental game that is so important to your success. One of my goals. This is so ridiculous. I know it's going to sound this way. I'm being super vulnerable with you right here, but I want to make so much money that I secure my family's future and bless other people. I want to save all the homeless animals and volunteer for you guys for free to help build your businesses. I want to help you kick butt, grow and sell, grow and scale and dominate our markets and make incredible incomes. So authentic to you means that you have taken a minute to ask yourself.. “What do I want?” So you may be asking yourself: all right, Tracy, what's next? Well, I want you to look at the overall vision of your business. We've talked about your vision in past trainings. And where is it that you're wanting to grow? Then we're going to reverse engineer back through that and I want you to focus on the smaller time-frame than most coaches will tell you to focus on. Most coaches are going to say what's your three to five-year plan? In today's environment? That is too long. Our days go by in a blur and our lives are moving so fast and the changes are happening rapidly. I mean even thinking six months from now for me feels like a lot. So you get to pick how far out you want to focus and you pick that based on what you want. Me, I'm looking toward this first quarter and second quarter of the year. My business has evolved so much over the course of this past year that I know by the time I get to the third quarter of this year, It's going to look different. So if I try to plan out that far, it's not going to work for me. But again, you've got to do what's best for your business model. So think of the things that are time wasters, energy waters, things that you want to eliminate, things that you want to add, and a great way to organize all of those ideas and thoughts is using a software system like Trello, Google Docs, or get out the Sticky notes and a poster board and get all those ideas out of your head. Put them all over the poster board where you can move them around. When you can see them, things flow way easier. So now that you've got some goals lined out for the next three to six months, I want you to look at each month. What do you need to work on each week? What do you need to work on each day? What do you need to be doing? Those daily and weekly tasks need to make it into your daily and weekly planning. This is going to help you track your progress and feel super confident, knowing that you are moving the needle. Will you be perfect each day each week? No, you won't. Nobody's perfect. No one's days are perfect. I had planned to get done way more than I did last week, and then I ended up getting sick with a sinus infection. You can probably hear it in my voice and the wheels just came off the bus, right? So it's life, it happens. And, I had even convinced myself that I was never going to feel better. I was doomed to a life of coughing and blowing my nose, and I would never feel like working again. I mean, come on, it is so ridiculous what happens to us when we get derailed. I coached myself out of it, and here I am. When the crap hits the fan, you guys, that's when we, myself included, have to take a deep breath, do the best we can, accomplish what we can and know that tomorrow is a new day. Not every day is going to be perfect, and today it's the only the 6th day of a new month: it's only the sixth day of a new year. We have plenty of months left. We have plenty of years left, so let's get you setting goals that are authentic to you and nobody else but you. Let's have you nail down that vision for the next three to six, maybe a little bit longer months. Then think through how you can accomplish these small steps towards those every day, every week, and do not beat yourself up if you're not perfect, nobody is. Be sure, though, that these small items you want to accomplish make it onto your planner and on to your daily list. Otherwise, there is no point in even planning. And how do I know this? Because I have learned from years of experience watching my clients struggle making mistakes myself when we don't have a daily and weekly plan. And real quick, here's the twist I'm talking about. Let's talk about those New year's resolutions, those vision boards, picking your word for the year. This is all over social media and mainstream media right now. All these things that you're seeing other people doing. You may be asking yourself: do I have to do these to be successful? Unfortunately, we end up feeling like we should. I’m going to be a little bit unpopular when I say this……. You have permission to hate resolutions, to hate vision boards and to hate picking a word for the year. You have permission to do that. Resolutions have never served me. What serves me is having a vision for how I want my life to go and how I want my business to grow. And then I think through what I need to add or change to get there. I don't make a-list of rules. That doesn't feel authentic to me. Vision boards, unpopular opinion, but I don’t like those either for myself. If you love them, that's outstanding, keep doing them. But for me they feel like a jacket that's one size too small. And the word of the year, I like this one but here's the thing: do you have to pick a new word every year? I was thinking that I did to be successful and do it the right way, but that doesn't make any sense if I stop to think about it. My word for the year for 2022 is  BELIEVE. It's the same word I've had since 2019. I don't want to pick another word. I like that one.

So it's not an all or nothing thing, it's whatever fits your flow, your style, your authentic way of showing up, because if you try to be someone else, your business success is going to be blocked. I want to repeat this: it's so important. Have a vision. Set the goals, break them down daily, weekly, but make sure they're authentic to you, because your business success depends on it. Do you have to set resolutions and vision boards and words of the year to be successful? No, but what you do have to do is you do have to think through how you want your business to go and then it will flow with ease. So, in summary, what I want you to take away from all my words today is that you do you. You set your goals, your vision, your methods of getting there according to what is an alignment and authentic to you, a vision like we talked about, an idea, a goal, a dream is necessary. Just like you wouldn't board a plane not knowing where it was going. Thank you, Doctor Shannon Irvine, for that analogy. I heard that the other day on a  podcast. You don't want to fly your business blindly. So, yes, you need a vision and unique goals, but authentic, and in alignment with what feels best for you and if you don't know what that is or you want somebody to brainstorm that with, reach out to me and let's get into a coaching session. We can figure that out easily. I can get you unstuck, unblocked and with your roadmap in no time, I promise.

So it is time for me to highlight one of my awesome coaching clients. I love this part of it, of the Youtube channel every week. I absolutely love making a difference for you. And I love it more when you share with me the gains you have made. You can be featured too. Just let me know in the comments: connect with me through my website. Let me know how my training have helped you, so I can feature you and your business too. The highlight of the week goes out to my amazing client, Kelsey, who was building a brand-new business. Did you hear me? How scary is that? She had an idea in a dream and she jumped into the deep end of the pool and we are designing a road map of action steps together to get her from this start-up to grand opening, and it has been a blast and she is making such great progress. She told me that she felt excited about her business idea but overwhelmed at the thought of “What does she even do first?” Right? We've all been there, but with my help, she now feels confident and she knows exactly what to do each day, and I love that she's an action taker and I love supporting my clients and I love supporting you in your business growth. If you want your business to grow this year, increase that income and have some time for yourself, yes, that is possible. Then reach out to me and let's talk. Let's do a one to one private coaching session. Let's talk about how you can gain that success you are working so hard for and if you know anyone else that would benefit from these trainings, please hit that share button, give it a thumbs up, give it like and send it to them, and before you go, here's a lot I want you to do now. Go to tracybeavers.com/referralmachine and grab your guide to gaining new clients with ease every day. I'm going to show you how to take your existing clients and turn them into your best source for warmed up referrals. Referrals that come to you with their wallet out because they came to you through your existing clients, somebody that already loves you. I've got five free and low cost ways that you can do this, starting today in your business. So until next time I am here for you and I am cheering you on, my friends.