The #1 reason people fail is they have no clear direction. They chase one idea after another, and they never see anything through to completion. You’ll NEVER achieve success if you spend your time going off in all directions, chasing every single opportunity that comes your way.
On the other hand… if you set measurable goals with specific timelines for yourself – you’ll achieve success faster than you would have thought possible.
Here is my recipe for success, distilled into six simple steps. It’s the exact same goal-setting system I’ve used to get where I am today. (And guess what: I went from a debt-ridden college grad with a computer programming certificate to CEO of a 100 person company in just 7 years. So this plan certainly worked for me!)
Step #1: Set your "Ultimate 3-5 Year Goals"
Ask yourself this: In 3-5 years, what do you want your life to look like? What do you want your finances to look like? What do you want your business to look like?
Think big — but stay within reason! Rome wasn’t built in a day… or in five years, for that matter.
Your goals need to be measurable. Rather than setting a goal like, "I want to be rich!" — come up with an actual dollar value. How much money do you want your business to be making in 3-5 years’ time? THAT’S the goal you should be aiming for.
Step #2: Set "Annual Goals"
Ask yourself: "What do I need to accomplish in the next 365 days in order to achieve my ultimate 3-5 year goals?"
Write down as many goals as possible. Chances are, you’ll come up with a big list! But when you’re done, you need to pare it that list down to the top 5 "must-do" items.
What are the top 5 things you absolutely MUST do in order to achieve your ultimate goals? Once you’ve answered this question, you’ll have your top five goals for the year.
Step #3: Set your "Quarterly Goals"
Those yearly goals seem pretty big, don’t they? In order to achieve them, you’ve got to break them down into more realistic milestones: your quarterly goals.
This is something you should do every three months — so if you’re working on a regular calendar year, you should be setting new quarterly goals for yourself every January, April, July, and October.
At the beginning of each quarter, take a step back and look at how well you managed to reach your last quarterly goals. Based on that, decide what you need to do during the next three months to keep moving toward those annual goals.
Remember: Keep your goals specific and measurable!
Step #4 - Set your "Monthly Goals"
Are you starting to see a pattern yet? :-)
Now you need to determine the top 5 goals you have to achieve every month in order to hit your quarterly goals.
But do you stop here? Nope!
Step #5 - Set your "Weekly Goals"
Ask yourself: What are the top things that have to happen this week in order for you to hit those monthly goals?
Don’t limit yourself to five weekly goals. Sometimes you’ll have fewer than five — sometimes you’ll have more. When I set my own weekly goals, I find there are numerous small tasks that need to be accomplished — or just a couple of big ones. But at the start of each week, I always make sure I know what tasks are most important.
Wait — you’re still not done!
Step #6 - Set your "Daily Goals"
Each morning — before you even check your email — you need to create a list of things that have to happen before you go to sleep that night.
Once again, these tasks should be driving you toward your weekly goals.
It doesn’t matter if you have only an hour a day to spend on your business. By setting goals and focusing on the really important things you need to achieve, you’ll be shocked at how much you can get accomplished in a really short period of time.
But the fact remains: you still need to MAKE THE TIME. Even if you’re able to spend only two hours a week on building or growing your business, it ill make a huge difference!
Once you have all your goals down on paper, don’t file them away in your desk somewhere! Make sure you can see them in a number of different places.
Tack them to the wall of your office. Put them on your fridge… beside your TV… even beside your toilet!
You need that constant reminder.
Remember: the only person holding you accountable for hitting those goals is YOU.
So turn off your email, shut out all distraction, throw procrastination out the window, and start setting those goals NOW. If you follow this system, I guarantee that 30 days from now you’ll surprise yourself at how much progress you’ve made!
