Your Goals Won't Get You To The Finish Line
I love setting goals. In fact, I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t set goals.
Get straight As. Check.
Run a marathon. Check.
Land the corporate job. Check.
Get the promotion. Check.
60 mile walk. Check.
Start a business. Check.
Break 6 figures. Check.
And let me tell you, checking goals off the list is FUN!
But as I look back at every single one of these goals, I realized something…
Having goals is not enough to actually achieve them.
In 2020, I read Atomic Habits by James Clear, and it shifted my entire perspective on goal-setting and systems.
James defines a habit as a “a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are building blocks of remarkable results.” He goes on to say, “if you ever want better results, then forget about setting goals, focus on your system instead.”
Having goals is great, but if you don’t have an actual plan and a system to support the achievement of those goals, they likely aren’t going to happen. I’ve seen this for myself when I’ve set BHAGS - big, hairy, audacious goals - that never came to fruition. I didn’t build a plan of action. I didn’t have a clear support strategy. I didn’t have a system to make it happen… or a way to hold myself accountable.
We’re well into the second quarter now, and if the goals you set at the beginning of the year for your business haven’t quite come to life yet, I invite you to pause and think about what you actually want to accomplish, and then build the system to support it. Here’s what that might look like:
State of the business — do an audit and take stock of where you are and where you want to be.
Thrive in your life — what do you want your life and business to look like? What are the opportunity areas?
Revisit your business design — is your business model setting you up for success? Can you actually achieve your goals as your business is designed?
Aim high — reshape and restate your goals
And now comes the fun part… the system!
Tailor your offer and your marketing for traction — how compelling is your offer? Does your ideal client know that this offer is for them? Do you have a way to market this offer? To create a customer pipeline?
Engineer your weekly plan — Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your business. What can you do each quarter? Each month? Each week to make your goals come to life?
Get moving — aka TAKE ACTION. And who can help hold you accountable? Who’s on your team?
Your weekly CEO time — this is your dedicated time to check-in on your business. You can troubleshoot, look at your numbers, figure out what help you might need, and best of all, celebrate the wins.
This set of questions is my STRATEGY method, and it’s designed to help you set and achieve your business goals. It combines the visioning with the system you need to grow. This is the work the women in my community did during the Rock Your Year workshop and are leveraging in Client Attraction 100, my group coaching program. Every single woman has laid out her goals, built an action plan, and is consistently taking action toward those goals. She’s tracking her metrics and revenue, so she knows what to do and what help she needs.
Goals + System + Action = Money and Clients
As James Clear says, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
So with that in mind, let’s get practical here. As a business owner, if the result you want by the end of the year is to make $100,000 in revenue, then the question becomes – HOW?
What are the big and small things you’re going to do to make that happen?
What system do you need to push your business forward?
What’s the marketing campaign you need to create or refine?
What services will you offer?
Who do you need to bring into the business to help support you?
How will you care for yourself as you’re driving toward this result?
What boundaries do you need to set and maintain in order to create balance for yourself and the life you want for you and your family?
Setting goals isn’t enough. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that both successful and unsuccessful businesses generally have the same goal – generate revenue and profit for the business, make an impact on the world… – but it’s the business that makes incremental improvements and decisions, that makes the difference. The system is the most important part.
Here’s what I want you to hear as you take a hard look at your business. It’s not the goal that’s going to help you succeed; it’s the system behind the goal and the little habits and actions you put in place that will be the difference. If building a profitable business is your goal, it’s time to get really clear on not just the WHAT but the HOW and start taking the baby steps to get there.
P.S. If you want to get started on this, grab the free Roadmap to Revenue training in the Empowered Entrepreneur FB community!
