Confession: I am terrible at managing my own expectations. I get grand ideas in my head about everything - from personal celebrations to business success, to how meetings will go, to, well, everything. In setting goals for my business, I’m no different. I want to go from zero to 60 in a blink of an eye and I was very frustrated that I wasn’t.
Sound familiar to anyone else out there?
The stars aligned for me a few weeks ago as I was driving across Los Angeles and decided to stream my favorite podcast, Jenna Kutcher’s GoalDigger podcast. I couldn’t tell you the topic of the episode, only that I took away an amazing realization - my goals weren’t S.M.A.R.T. I mean, my goals are BRILLIANT, but they weren’t S.M.A.R.T.:
SPECIFIC
MEASUREABLE
ATTAINABLE
RELEVANT
TIMELY
And I have a sneaking feeling that I’m not alone in this one. So let’s break these down together, so that we can build *smarter* goals on our paths of doing success boldly:
SPECIFIC: The best way to make your goal SPECIFIC is to answer the 6 ‘W’s’ - who, what, where, when, why and which.
Who is involved? What are you going to accomplish? Where is it located? When will you reach this goal? Which resources or supplies do you need? Why is this goal important?
Are your goals vague like, ‘I want to make $5,000 this month’ or are they so detailed such as, “I plan to make an extra $5,000 this month, or an extra $1250 each week, and I will earn this by taking on 3 extra clients a week, starting next week.”
Be an artist and architect of your dreams. Are you drawing a stick figure or the Mona Lisa? Close your eyes and get into the minuta - the footsteps along the way, how you will feel throughout the process, ALL of it. That journey? That’s your SPECIFIC goal.
MEASURABLE: Quite simply, our goals need to be measurable so that we can track our progress and stay motivated, keeping our eyes on the prize.
When planning for a goal it’s important to build accountability into the equation. Whether it’s making more money, working less hours, selling more online programs, getting more attendees to your retreat, lifting heavier, running faster, or gaining more followers and engagement on social media, quantifiable data shows us where we are in the journey.
ATTAINABLE: Be real with yourself - is this goal something you can realistically achieve? It’s not a stretch to say you want to become a Top Listened PodCast or Best Seller on Amazon, but it might be more of a stretch to say you want to become Prince Harry’s next wife. Perspective, ammiright?
If your goal is entirely dependent on someone else’s decision regarding your fate, it might not be attainable. But if your goal is to have all of the skills and experience to be so qualified that someone should want to make that decision about you, that’s attainable. And it’s so key to know the difference.
RELEVANT: This one keeps me in check. Sure, I’d love to do allll the things, but if I’m going to devote time and energy to something? It needs to be ON BRAND and IN LINE with everything else I’m doing and my overall goal of growing this business as a coach for fitness professionals and creative entrepreneurs.
For example: growing my social media presence has been so key to connecting with all of you gorgeous souls, so it was fitting that I set a goal this year of hitting a certain number of followers. I posted, I blogged, live IG-ed...you name, I have spent the hours engaging with and loving my community.
As for my other (not-so) low key goals of getting another sponsorship as an athlete or starting a thriving career as a fitness model? Probably NOT the most relevant to my fitness consulting business. That said, I’m all about dreaming big, so if any athletic brand wants to cast a totally normal looking athlete, here I am!
TIMELY: You guys know that annoying phrase, “a goal without a timeline is just a dream?” Well, sorry, but it fits perfectly here. Like way too good.
Deadlines are GOOD. Deadlines keep us accountable, deadlines shift our butts into gear, and for me, deadlines make sure that I am moving my ball forward.
So I ask you - when are you going to get this goal done by? Whats *realistic*? And what are you doing to do today about it? Next week?
NOW WHAT?
I challenge each one of you to set a new goal right now! Go through your SMART steps. Write this down on a piece of paper, or in your Notes app so you can keep referring back to it, and let it keep you accountable. And if you feel like sharing, I’d LOOOOOVE to hear all about your goals. Leave me a message below, share with the hashtag #DoingSuccessBoldly, or just message me on Instagram @Danielle.Stead I will personally reply and shoutout EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF YOU. brave enough to move yourself forward.
Until then my friends,
Xx, D