It’s commonly thought that setting goals will lead to success, that life will be better once those goals are reached. If you’re a high achiever it can be easy for you to become fixated on the outcome and as a result, you put your blinkers on and charge full steam ahead until you reach the particular outcome you’ve become fixated on.

However, what ends up happening is that as a consequence of operating this way you end up missing out on life in the process.

You don’t take the time to enjoy your journey and to check in regularly to make sure you’re on the right path for YOU.

So when you do reach your goals, you discover that the goals you had set were actually the wrong goals and the wrong path for YOU.

Even though on paper you’re successful in many ways, you still have a feeling that something is missing. You’re not as fulfilled as you thought you would be or want to be.

It’s time to stop setting goals for the wrong reason and to learn how to set goals that will give you both the life and business you actually want. To set goals that actually excite you and are aligned with what you really want deep within. If you want to achieve your goals and most importantly feel fulfilled when you do, then you need to ensure that you understand your motivation behind wanting to reach the goal.

Getting really clear on why you’re setting your goals will provide you with the inner drive you need to make them happen. Remember it is YOU that gets to create the future YOU want. That power lies within you and involves you being courageous and believing in yourself enough to say YES to you and your dreams.

Below are 5 steps to help you set goals that you actually want: 

Dream Outside Your Usual Environment

When deciding on your goals it’s best to set aside one full day and to do it outside your normal space. Maybe it’s a day or weekend away just as long as you’re outside your usual environment and there’s no distractions. It’s the best way to get the creative juices flowing and to make sure you are fully present during the process.

You can do this by yourself or you can do it with your partner or friends. Set yourself up for an amazing day by doing a morning workout and meditation so you’re energised and focused. Make sure you have your favourite snacks, drinks and music to set the perfect environment. If you’re a visual person and enjoy creating vision boards, bring along some magazines.

Celebrate The Last 12 Months

Okay, so once you’re all set up it’s time to get your journal and start reflecting on where you were at the start of the previous 12 months and where you are now. Writing down the key milestones from the last 12 months is a great way to get your mind primed for success. If you haven’t stopped at all during the year to reflect on your achievements you may be surprised on what you have been able to achieve. I’ve put together a series of questions to help you out which you can get in your free workbook at the end of the blog post below.

Always keep in mind that everything you’ve experienced only makes you stronger and allows you to continue to learn, grow and strive to be the best you can be. After doing this self reflection exercise you will have a much better understanding of not only how your year went but how you personally went and felt during the year which will help with the next steps.

Once you’re done have a mini celebration dance party. Celebrate everything you went through and experienced – the good and the bad as it all makes you YOU.  Most importantly, all the experiences you’ve had will set you up for an amazing 12 months ahead. So when working on the other steps it will be beneficial to reflect back on what you learned from this self reflection exercise.

Create Your Intentional Success Picture

Now it’s time to review your Intentional Success Picture which is your life and business direction for the next 3-5 years. When you read over it, does it still resonate? Is it a meaningful journey for you that excites and inspires you? You want to shape your life in a way that delights you so if you feel that the direction needs changing then change it! Your life is too precious to settle for anything less than extraordinary.

If you haven’t done an Intentional Success Picture before then this is a great time to start. To give yourself the best chance to reach your goals, you must first start with brainstorming what you want your life and business to look and feel like. What are your values and what’s important to you.

Remember you get to create the future YOU want. Focus on setting your life direction by figuring out the things that would create a fun, meaningful and compelling journey. It’s time to step into your power and take control of your life. It’s time to vision the future YOU desire. The life YOU want. If you haven’t done a Intentional Success Picture before I’ve created a workbook on what to include and you get can it at the end of this blog post below.

When creating your Intentional Success Picture the more specific you are the better. Make sure you write it in first person and as if you already have that business and life you want. If you’re a visual person you may like to use the magazines your brought with you and do this as a vision board.

Once you’ve completed your Intentional Success Picture it’s time to break for lunch.

Set Your BIG Picture Goals

It’s now time to get practical by reviewing your Intentional Success Picture and working out what that means for the next 12 months. This isn’t the plan for how to make your vision a reality – it’s just working out where you want to be in the next 12 months and what your goals will be to get there.

To ensure that you’re focussing on all areas of your life I recommend setting 1 BIG Goal for each of these 3 areas:

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PROFIT Goal

What do you need to do financially to achieve your Intentional Success Picture? If you’re starting a new business is it having a buffer to cover you during the initial months or maybe you’ve been in business for a few years and are wanting to expand. Personally, maybe you want to purchase a house or start an investment portfolio so you need to start saving for that. Perhaps you want to travel.

When working out your PROFIT Goal you want to consider the above as well as how much your annual business and living expenses will be so that you can then determine how much revenue you need to generate. Once you have an estimate of what these will be you can then work out what you think your Profit Goal should be. Remember that you’ll also want to consider any tax payments as well as any superannuation contributions you want to make in the next 12 months.

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IMPACT Goal

What positive impact do you want to make in this world in the next 12 months? You will have gone into detail around this in your Intentional Success Picture. Maybe you want to impact 250,000 people by 2020 in whatever it is that you do. So to work out your IMPACT Goal for the next 12 months you would determine how many people you need to impact in the next 12 months to get you there.

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WELLBEING Goal

When it comes to setting this particular goal, I don’t actually attribute any specific numbers to it.  My 12 month WELLBEING Goal is optimum wellbeing so for me it is more about how I want to feel and the person I want to be. Each quarter I choose a theme or area that I want to focus on. This area is generally an area that is feeling out of balance or that I want to invest further time working on to ensure that I’m always feeling the best I can and that I’m living my best life.

Now I know that you’re not always going to feel great every single day but if you set yourself up with the right foundation and tools then on the days you’re not feeling your best, you’ll be able to get yourself back on track a lot quicker than you otherwise would. If you’re into marathons or want to climb Base Camp or maybe you want to increase your fitness levels for example then you could be more specific and attribute specific metrics to those goals if you want to.

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Now that you have your 3 BIG Goals:

• Compare them to your Intentional Success Picture to make sure that they are aligned with the business you want to build and the lifestyle you want to create. Ask yourself why you want to achieve your goals and make sure the underlying motivation of the goal aligns with your Intentional Success Picture.
• Then push your goals out a little bit further to challenge yourself and make sure you’re not being complacent. When setting your goals it’s important that they make you feel uncomfortable and push you beyond your comfort zone.

Break Them Down Into 90 Day Goals

Once you have your 3 BIG Goals it’s time to work out what smaller goals you will set for the next 90 Days. A big problem with setting 12 month goals is the time frame. Setting smaller goals each 90 Days that will move you closer to your 3 BIG Goals will keep you accountable to your long term goals but in smaller chunks so you can see an end in sight.

A big challenge for business owners is staying focused on the task at hand. It’s very easy to get distracted by all the shiny objects! However, when you have 90 Day Goals in place it means you have a few things to focus on. Plus it allows you room to adapt to market trends and change course as needed when the next 90 Day period comes up. The other great thing about having 90 Day Goals is that they give you wins throughout the year. And who doesn’t love a win!

I have created a workbook with lots of tips and prompts to help you get the most out of each of these steps and so you can start creating the life you actually want!

Once you have created your goals for the life you actually want, make sure you check out next week’s blog post to see how you’re going to make these goals become a reality. This next part is all about EXECUTION by taking focused, intentional daily action to ensure you’re working on the right tasks. As opposed to running around crazy every day working on the wrong tasks and burning yourself out in the process!

3 Actions To Make Sure Your Goals Are Right For You

1. Schedule in a full day or weekend to set your goals. If you’re going away book accommodation and lock it in! Remember you have the power to create your future so invest this time in yourself and your dreams. This one day is going to set you up for an amazing 12 months ahead.
2. Download the workbook and start working through each of the steps mentioned above and set your 3 BIG Goals that you actually want to reach in the next 12 months.
3. After you’ve completed all the steps, check back in again in say 3 days or a week later and make sure your Intentional Success Picture and 3 Big Goals still resonate with you and that you find them fun and exciting. Then sign up below to make sure you get my next blog so you can make your goals a reality!

Head over to the comments section and let me know:

What are your 3 BIG Goals for the next 12 Months? Let us know in the comments section so we can support each other on our way to reaching our Goals!

Can’t wait to read your comments!

Thank you, as always, for reading and allowing me to be part of your world.

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