Recently I was asked to give a presentation to a networking group about HOW small business owners could improve their chances of achieving the goals they had set for themselves for 2017! Originally I thought — that sounds easy! And I started to create my talk but then realized the secret weapon was something else totally.
I shared with the group an acronym S.A.M.
S — SET your goals up properly in the beginning! Most of us know that we have a much better chance of achieving our goals if they are written, specific, measureable, etc.! However, what I find is that most of us don’t set BIG enough goals because we don’t DREAM! (My clients know that we work through a 4 step process — Dream It; Believe It; Plan It; Do It). So setting up our goals correctly in the beginning gives us a much better chance of achieving them!
A — ANNOUNCE, ACCOUNTABLE, ACTION. What I’ve learned to be true is that when we announce our goals to friends, family and the universe, something inside us changes and we become more committed. When I announced in late August last summer that I intended to have a printed copy of my book in hand for November 11 — it happened because I became focused on making it happen.
Accountability to ourselves is something that we are not taught! We grow up with parents who tell us to clean our room; then teachers tell us to do our homework; then professors; and eventually our bosses. Never in our lives have we been encouraged to be accountable to ourselves and YET as self-employed entrepreneurs, we only have ourselves. Unless you’re one of the smart ones who has a mentor/coach or is part of a mentorship program where accountability is important (like the Achiever’s Club), being accountable to yourself will be a roadblock!
Lastly action — we might have the best intentions, the best created plan, however, it’s daily action towards achieving those goals that makes them actually happen, otherwise your goals/plan are just another piece of paper stuffed in a drawer somewhere! Take small daily steps towards achieving your goals — every day, 2 revenue generating actions; and one non-revenue generating.
M – MEASURE and monitor your milestones! When you set your goals up originally, you made them specific and measurable. For instance, your revenue goal is $100,000 by December 31, 2017. It’s so important to continually measure & monitor how close you are to achieving that goal! Working with hundreds of clients, I found that regular milestones must be set within the plan and then monitored. How often to you check your sales figures? What other figures are important for your business to monitor?
So that’s S.A.M. All of these skills will help you achieve your goals. But as I was creating my talk, I heard this little voice in my head that said …. “that’s still not enough”. Just doing S.A.M. isn’t enough to help you achieve your goals.
Then I remembered …. something that I had read that said there was one personality quality that predicted entrepreneurial success — perseverence or grit! Surely that was enough to ensure yo would achieve your goals. Well certainly, the ability to stick to it will help you along your journey but I still had doubts.
Then I had a lightbulb moment. I knew the answer! The secret weapon for ensuring that we achieve our goals is …. ourselves! YUP, we are the secret weapon. Grit, courage, etc. all those things power us through the hard times but it’s our own personal motivation (not willpower) that will ensure that we achieve our goals. In order to succeed, each of us needs an inner drive — Simon Sinek calls it your WHY. Why are you in business?
If I could draw the analogy …. (knowing this from personal family experience) an addict only stops when they are ready to stop! You will achieve your goals when you DECIDE that nothing will stop you. Nothing will stop you when you have a WHY that gets you out of bed even on bad days; when you have heard 10, 15, 100 ‘NO’s”; when the bank account is empty but you still believe in your WHY.
Do you know your why?
My why …. over the last 30+ years, I saw so many women small business owners have a dream, start a business (without the needed business skills) and then struggle often closing their doors in debt; or simply limping along draining the family finances when they could have made their dream come true! They could have been profitable; HUGELY profitable. I want you to have a sustainable, profitable business where you don’t have to work weekends & long hours missing out on family time, etc.I also saw women build a business and never make the kind of money they truly wanted.
I also saw women who played small and never really impacted the world in a way that they were meant to do. Each one of you was put here for a purpose — to make the world a better place. Use your gifts – impact the world – and get paid handsomely to do it! It’s your birthright!
MY WHY … MY MISSION is to impact one million women to build profitable sustainable businesses and make the world a better place.
ARE YOU IN?
Want help figuring out your why? Want help to learn to DREAM bigger? Want help to make your business profitable? More profitable? Let’s do this together!
Let’s talk — book a complimentary Business Breakthrough Session today! Click here — I guarantee I can help you find 3-5 roadblocks that are keeping you from achieving your goals, earning more $$$ and leaving a bigger impact on the world AND I’ll share the #1 thing that will help you move forward in 2017!! It doesn’t have to be so hard. Stop Struggling – SHIFT!
In gratitude,
Diana
NEWS FLASH — Are you ready to ‘SHIFT’ your business? Join me on March 31 in Montreal or April 7 in Ottawa! Early bird tickets and sponsorships available here!
