I love the New Year! The turning of the calendar brings a new year and new possibilities. We set our business goals and hit the ground running. That excitement lasts through January and February (you know, the do over month). Some things get accomplished, and some things don’t. You’re still positive you can make things happen, so you keep going, even through March and April. But by May, many of us are burned out and disappointed over not achieving our goals. Well, it’s June now. Are you still on track?
In this setting goals article, I challenged you to assess the past year and commit to only keeping those habits that would benefit you and your business. The idea was to use that list to create concrete goals that would propel your company forward throughout the new year. It’s June now. How have your goals been holding up? Have you proudly checked off the majority of your 6 month goals, or are you still working on things that should’ve been done in January? My progress has been good but not perfect. A few major things I’m proud of accomplishing include becoming a contributor to the Huffington Post, revamping my website and starting a new Facebook group for women entrepreneurs. However, I still need to launch my group coaching program on creating your own digital information products for sale or giveaway. Thankfully, it’s already scheduled for this month.
If you’re one of those entrepreneurs who feels like your new year’s business resolutions went out the window, hope is not lost. You still have June and the remaining 6 months of the year to get back on track, but you have to do things differently. Here’s what you can do now to make sure you end the year with a list of completed goals.
1. Check your goals. Were they realistic? Sometimes we get so caught up in creating goals that we never check to make sure they are something we can actually attain. Think about the goal of losing weight. From what I’ve read, it’s healthy to lose 1 to 2lbs a week. You may lose more if you’re aggressive, but that’s average. Do we set a goal to lose 4 to 8lbs in January? Nope. We say, “I’m going to lose 15 to 20lbs this month!” Unless you have 3+ hours a day to work out, a personal trainer and are willing to drastically change your diet, that goal is not realistic. It’s the same for your business. Did you write down that you’d gain 25 new clients each week or that you’d increase sales 50% in the first three months of the year without a solid plan to back it up? Remember that goals need to be S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound). Make sure yours are. If not, rewrite them.
2.What’s important to you now? Is it time to create a new list?Maybe you’ve decided to take your business in a new direction. Perhaps the needs of your customers changed since you wrote your goals down in January. If so, then what you want to accomplish between June to December may have changed as well. That’s okay. It just means that you need to revise your current list. When writing out your goals for the remainder of the year, use the S.M.A.R.T. format mentioned above.
3. Get outside support. It’s easy to fall off track if you have no one checking for your progress. Get a coach or an accountability partner who will hold you to your goals and keep you moving forward. Look for someone who is also a small business owner and schedule regular meetings where you both have a chance to share your current, short-term goals, your progress on previous goals and any help needed from the other person. I recommend meeting twice a month to keep the momentum going.
What progress have you made on your goals in the 1st six months of this year? What help do you need to make it a stronger back-half of the year? Comment below.
Great article, I set goals every month and try to stay on target… Its very difficult! Thanks for the tips
I never understand people who complain but when asked “what do you want to do if money and time were no issues?” they cant answer that question ! a GPS is awesome but if you dont tell it where you want to go how will it take you there ? as you said – set goal and aim for them.
Great GPS analogy! You can’t achieve a goal without setting one first.
Great reminder. I had to revisit my list last week and make some adjustments. No need to beat yourself up. Adjust and get to work.
That is an awesome perspective to have when things don’t work out as planned. Rather than dwell on the negative, adjust and keep moving forward.
Great article! I just checked in with my goals and made adjustments, there was a time I use to get frustrated with my goals because I failed to check and adjust accordingly.
Glad you enjoyed the article and that you make time to check in with your goals periodically.
This is a great post! June hit and I was no closer to my goals than I’d been in January. Ouch!
I reviewed my goals, adjusted them, and am taking consistent action to get there. I’ve got support and I’m ready to knock ’em dead now!
🙂
I’m happy you enjoyed the post! Consistent action is key. Even baby steps are steps forward toward your goals. It’s also good that you’ve got support. Being surrounded by like minded people is inspiring.
My goals were not accomplished due to fear.. I have a full time job and a side job as a direct sales representative for two companies, and I failed to reach the goals of bringing in team members and making profitable sales / commission for myself within 6 months because I felt that I had no time from the full time job to fulfill these obligations, so I am not meeting with my district manager to see if I can pull things together and make a little leeway for the end of the year.. great post.
Fear can paralyze us for sure. It sounds like you have a good plan in place by meeting with your manager to reset your end of the year goals. 🙂 Also, make sure to find resources to help you discover more time in your day to work on your businesses. Even a few minutes of work at a time can make a difference if done consistently.
I used to be one who couldn’t stick to my goals. I would put so much on my “plate”, than get overwhelmed. What has worked for me is to plan and schedule quarterly projects, then break that down into monthly & weekly goals.
It sounds like a lot, but it works for me. Now, I’m more focused because I set very specific monthly & weekly goals which keeps me on track.
Thanks for sharing these tips, #1 really resonated with me!
Glad you enjoyed the post, and I like your idea of creating quarterly goals. I see how that can help reduce overwhelm. Five things to do for one project sounds a lot more manageable than having five things to do for five different projects.
I’ve been diligent about blogging and staying active on my Facebook page, which are 2 goals I really have to work hard at. But it’s paying off, so now I need to revisit the rest of my goals and get back on track.
Glad to hear you’re achieving two of the goals you set out to accomplish. Congratulations! Now that you have those first two goals running smoothly, you should be able to get back on track with the others in no time.
On July 1st I restarted my new year! I had to make sure I was going to be where I wanted to be by the end of 2016.
Well, Happy New Year! I like that. For many large corporations, July 1st is the start of a new fiscal year anyway. 🙂 As you stated, there’s still time to get where you want to be by the end of 2016. The year isn’t over yet.
What happened to my goals? LIFE! Seriously though, June and July are months that motivate me, we’re at the half-way mark and I seem to focus and regroup better. I have made progress on a few goals though, and I try to remember this celebratory feeling as I keep plugging away!
Yeah, “life” sums it up for me, too. 🙂 It’s great that June and July motivate you to focus more on your goals. Ideally, you’ll be able to keep that momentum going through the end of the year and beyond.
I love this post. I started out my year with so many goals. I’ve been thinking about revisting my goals for this year to see how far I’ve gotten. And I love these tips to do that.
Thanks, Abigail! Yes, revisiting goals before the end of the year is important. You’re usually pleasantly surprised by some of the things you’ve accomplished. 🙂
Thanks for your post. I love the S.M.A.R.T., I will incorporate that into my goal setting. Yes, it is time to check our progress and evaluate our goals. Being realistic is important not to be hard on oneself if the goal isn’t accomplished.
A goal is a dream with a deadline.
Napoleon Hill
Glad you enjoyed the post and the use of the S.M.A.R.T. concept. As you mentioned, we can’t be hard on ourselves if all goals aren’t accomplished. Instead, see what worked and what didn’t and move forward.
Congratulations on attaining several of your goals so far, especially becoming a Huffington Post contributor. My problem is that I create goals that are usually too vague or unrealistic. I need to incorporate SMART when setting my goals.
Thank you, Leslie! I think of creating S.M.A.R.T. goals like setting the GPS on a road trip. To get to a specific destination, you have to input a specific address. You can’t tell the GPS, “I want to go that way” and expect to end up anywhere other than lost. 🙂 It’s the same with our goals. As you practice this, it’s okay to set mini ones, celebrate, and then ramp up to weekly, monthly, quarterly and/or yearly.
I like to break goals by quarter so that it’s not as overwhelming. Also, I learned that it’s very important to be fluid and flexible. Change is to be expected and embraced.
Many people are not good with accepting change, but yes, embrace it, flow with it and keep moving.
Setting goals are one thing that I need to do more of. I do not do it enough and seeking outside help is what I need to do more. I cannot do this on my own.
Hi Serena! Recognizing that you need to do more goal setting and can’t do it alone is an important step. The next part is seeking out those resources. Take time to reflect on why you’re not setting goals in the first place. Is it that you’re scared of failing, you just don’t know how or something else entirely? I’m here if you need me. Just send me a message, and we can go from there.