5 Steps to setting goals for the New Year

I’ve always been one that loves setting goals each year but up until a few years ago I wasn’t very intentional about writing them down and following through with them. In recent years, I’ve come up with my “word” for the year, written down my goals, and done my best to achieve them.

In 2014, when my business took off, I was thrown into the chaos of running a multiple six figure business with very little experience. I knew nothing about setting sales goals and knowing what quantities to order for each launch. I was barely keeping my head above water to keep things going in the right direction.

Over the last six months I’ve taken a step back or above I guess you could say. I’ve just really paused and tried to get a bird’s eye view of my life as a whole. It’s amazing how much you can discover when you stop and reassess.

This year, Ryan and I set all of our 2018 goals together. He’s always helped me with the business but I really wanted him to be involved in the goal setting and the project planning for the year because it truly does give you a new perspective.

What you'll need

• Wall Calendar

• Post-it Self-Stick Easel Pads

• Sharpie Flip Chart Markers

• Papermate Flair Pens

• Washi Tape

• Business & Goal Planner

• Purposeful Planner

• Free Goal Setting Worksheets

Step One: Brain Dump

We started with a big poster that said 2018 at the top. Then we started writing down the big things we wanted to accomplish this year like how much revenue we want to bring in, what vacations we want to go on, what bucket list items we want to check off, etc. We made sure to include at least one big goal for each of the four key areas of our lives - health, home, finances, and time.

Step Two: Break it Down

Then, we broke it down by month. We started on a poster sheet so that we could move things around before we wrote them down on our wall calendar. Month by month we wrote down the big things that we knew were happening. Vacations, school vacations, launches, conferences, etc. For my business, I make sure I’m not doing more than one major launch or project during a month so this gave me the visual to know when I should be creating and when I should be launching.

Once I had everything pretty evenly spread throughout the year, I added it to my Wall Calendar.

I always start by adding family birthdays, vacations that are already booked, conferences I plan on attending, and my official launches. Then I start adding other things that might shift a bit but just need the visual of how it will play out. I use washi tape to mark just about everything because it’s pretty easy to peel off and move to a different day or week if we need to.

Step Three: To-Do Lists

Next we made two big to-do lists. One for the business and one for our personal/home life. I really wanted Ryan to know what all needs to be done to start moving us to our goals and can help me start checking them off. Of course I made little squares next to each item so I can check it off with a big fat red marker. You know I’ve added some other things that are already done just so I can check them off ;)

My business has a few different avenues that I set goals in so each of those got their own list. I have a list of things I need to do as far as the shop goes. Ordering planners, sales events, etc. Then I have a list for things I need to do on the blog. Post ideas, updates, etc. Lastly, I have a list of things I need to do for my online courses like new video content, updating workbooks, etc.

There is truly nothing better than getting all of your ideas out of your head and on to paper.

Step Four: Break it down into projects

All of my business goals then get moved into my Business and Goal Planner. I mark all of my launches and big projects in the calendar portion and then use the project sheets to plan out how I will accomplish each individual goal.

The more specific you are, the better.

For instance, when I set my revenue goal, that’s just the big goal. Then, I broke it into individual goals on how I will do that. One was to grow my email list to a certain number. Another was to increase my social following to a certain number. And another was to collaborate with like-minded women and influencers.

Next, each of these things get written down on the project sheets which can be found in the Business & Goal Planner. I keep these at the front of my business planner for quick and easy access.

Step Five: Schedule time to work on your goals

Now comes the fun part. Or the not so fun part depending on how you look at it. Actually getting these wild and crazy ideas into action. My schedule is always changing and I don’t have any sort of rhyme or reason to my days.

Since I homeschool, each day is different and I’m not really ever completely alone. I have to find chunks of time in my schedule to block out and work on the goals and projects that need to get done. If all I ever work on is my to-do list, I’ll only be operating in the urgent and never get ahead. I work on future projects every single day. Sometimes it’s only 15 minutes and sometimes it can be an hour or two. You can see in the image above, I've outlined my future projects with a pink box. When I do this, I'm dedicated only to future projects and not something that is urgent.

If you have big chunks of time that you can focus on a project, you will find yourself in an amazing workflow and be able to accomplish so much! Yay, you!

I hope this doesn’t overwhelm you and instead empowers you to really set some exciting goals and come up with a plan to achieve them.

If you need a little direction in setting goals, you can download my free goal setting worksheets here.

Tell me in the comments below what some of your big goals are this year!

Here’s a quick recap of what you can do to set your goals.

1. Start with a big brain dump of what you want to do this year.

2. Break it down by month and put it on your wall calendar.

3. Create to-do lists

4. Plan your goals and projects in your Business & Goal Planner

5. Schedule time each day or week to work on these goals

Supplies:

• Wall Calendar

• Post-it Self-Stick Easel Pads

• Sharpie Flip Chart Markers

• Papermate Flair Pens

• Washi Tape

• Business & Goal Planner

• Purposeful Planner

To see more about the Business & Goal Planner see my post here. For a video of how we did our goal setting, go here.

Want to know ALL the tools I use to run my business? Check out my Ultimate Entrepreneur's Toolkit