This is the second blog of our series on how to set and achieve your goals. In this blog, we’ll talk about how to set goals.
The first step in setting goals is knowing exactly where you are now, with absolute clarity and honesty. Then, you can set about working out where you want to be in the future, and decide how you’re going to get there. To determine your vision, and what goals need to be set to achieve it, it’s useful to break down the areas of your life into distinct sections, like time spent on ‘working on your business’, ‘family and ‘fitness’. Then, estimate the percentage of your waking time that you spend in each area, and write next to that the percentage of time that you wish you spent.
Gap analysis
If there’s a gap between where you are now, and where you want to be, then you need to do something about it. Analysis of the gap between the two figures will probably show that you need to set goals and make changes in order to refocus where you’re spending your time. For most people who carry out this task there is a fairly large gap between where they are and where they want to be, so don’t let that scare you!
Enjoy the journey
What we mean by this is don’t just think of goals like “I want my business to turnover £10 million” as that goal isn’t motivating enough. Think about what you want to be doing every day along the way, so that you can enjoy the journey as you build your business to be financially successful. You can still aim for the same destination, but you’re thinking about it in a more structured way. When you set goals for yourself, it is important that they motivate you and that there is value in achieving them. If you have little interest in the outcome, or they are not important enough given the larger picture, then the chances of you putting in the work to make them happen are slim.
Use this table and the explanation below it for doing your personal gap analysis
- Use the left-hand column to list the broad areas of your life that are important to you. We’ve given you 8 categories that usually appear in most people’s list. Feel free to add any others.
- Use column two to record the percentage of your waking time that you would like to spend in each of these areas in an ideal world.
- Use column three to record (approximately) the percentage of your waking time that you think you spend in each area.
- Use column four to calculate the gap between columns two and three.
- Does the gap suggest that you need to make changes in order to achieve your goals? If it does, what changes are you going to make?
Next up: why you should be SMART
In the upcoming blog on how to set and achieve goals, we’ll explain why you need to be SMART. In the meanwhile, you can download and read our free GOALS whitepaper below.
If you would like to get started setting goals and need extra support, contact our business advisors today.
