I repeat this in just about everything I write because I believe it is so important to set goals. If you don't know what you're aiming for, then you won't be able to achieve it. You can't just decide that you want to become more successful or more profitable because that's not concrete enough. It's ideal to know exactly what you want to achieve, and by when.
In fact, the more specific you are about this, the better. Know how much money you want to earn, by when you want to earn it, how many hours you want to be working, how many customers you want to reach, and more. Whatever is specific to your business, figure it out.
When you know what you're aiming for, you can work your way backward. You can figure out how to get to where you want to go. But it all starts with setting goals in the first place.
It might seem like this advice is pretty much common sense. That’s why it’s shocking how few people actually set goals. People get this big idea of what they want to achieve and put it vaguely in their mind and think that's enough.
Instead of doing that, you should do what very successful people do all the time. They write down their goals very specifically and come up with a timeline and a plan they're going to follow to achieve their goals.
Not only do they set specific goals, but they know that they are going to achieve those goals. They know how they’re going to achieve those goals. They feel success is inevitable for themselves. They’re able to be this way because they’re so well planned ahead.
You should write your goals down, very specifically, and then revisit those goals over and over again. In fact, you may want to rewrite your goals every single day. Why? Because it will keep those goals of the top of your mind.
It's so easy to lose track as a human being. There’s so much else going on. There are so many needs in your life that are pulling you in all different directions. It's your business, your life, your family, your finances, and everything else.
Earning more money and achieving more things in your business would help make all the other parts of your life easier. But the fact is that we tend to put off things that could be helpful in the future in favor of what feels good today.
As humans, our nature is to avoid pain and seek pleasure. Planning ahead and dreaming about what might happen in the future just isn't as much fun as maybe goofing off and losing focus for today.
Maybe you’ve set goals in the past but it just hasn't worked for you. I urge you to take a look at those goals and whether you actually took this seriously at that time. How specific were you? Did you use exact dates and figures in your goals? That can really help you.
It really helps to take this seriously. Simply setting very specific goals can dramatically improve your chances of success. It really is as simple as that. So, take 10 minutes or half an hour or whatever it will take to brainstorm your goals, write your goals, rewrite your goals, and figure out your game plan every single day. You’ll have an overall, long-term plan as well as your daily to-do list and things like that. And your goals will guide you in figuring out what you should be doing.
Even if you don't believe this works, humor me. Set very specific goals. Set goals for your habits, your profitability, and your business as a whole.
Once you set your very specific goals, you can reverse engineer things from there. Work backward from where you want to be and figure out your plan and the habits you should adopt to get there.
Every day counts. It might not feel like you’re getting a lot done or making much progress, but you are. The small things add up to very big things.
If you're having trouble with any aspect of this, it always goes back to goals. This is what successful people do every day. This is what's going to get you out of your slump, help boost your mindset, and help you figure out exactly which habits you should adopt and what you should be doing to finally achieve.