The Blueprint for Success: Creating SMART Goals

When you are a visionary entrepreneur with big plans for the future, it’s important to make an effective step-by-step strategy to ensure your success. This is why creating SMART goals is so important. They give you a blueprint to follow, helping you make your dreams for the future a reality. This is particularly important if you have a team working with you as SMART goals ensure that everyone is clear on not only direction- but also expectations and benchmarks from which you can manage. 

What are SMART goals?

Successful goal setting means creating goals that align with your vision, while also ensuring you are making consistent progress toward that vision. SMART goals are achievable and actionable objectives that effectively move you forward.

This is what the acronym stands for:

Specific: Specific goals are much easier to achieve. For example, “I want more customers,” is a vague goal. After all, one more customer in a year is “more” customers, but probably not the number you want to achieve for business success. The more specific you are with your goals the easier it will be to see if you are on track. 

Measurable: Goals need to be measurable, so you know that you are progressing and if you’ve hit an important milestone or finish line. In the example above, if you decided you wanted a specific goal of 5 more customers a week, that number is easy to track and measure within a specific timeline. It will also help you know if your strategy for reaching your goal is feasible. 

Achievable: Sometimes we set goals that are far beyond where we are right now. While it’s great to dream big, we want to set goals that we can reach, so we can stay motivated! If your business is currently servicing 5 customers a day, jumping to 15 in a day may be unrealistic, depending on your niche and market. Be sure to set goals that make you stretch your abilities, but not so far that you can’t reach them no matter how hard you try. 

Relevant: Your goals must align with your vision for the future. If you want to grow your business, does that mean more customers, larger ticket sales or opening more locations? Depending on your business and the growth strategy you set, you will want to pick the one that is most relevant for your company at this time. 

Time-bound: For a goal to be truly effective, it needs to have a start date and a deadline. These two things create a sense of urgency, which helps with motivation. A deadline will also help you plan your strategy, giving appropriate timelines for each of the steps needed to reach your end goal. Then, all you have to do is take action and work your plan.

How do I prioritize my goals?

When it comes to life, we all have different areas that are important to us. It’s an individual thing, and that means for successful goal setting, we must look at all the areas in our lives and businesses and decide which need to take precedence based on the things we want to achieve in each area. 

When goal setting, in addition to your business goals, be sure to also consider lifestyle goals, family goals, financial goals, personal development goals, spiritual goals, and so on. The bigger the picture you can create, the easier it will be to see how they interact, integrate and impact each other. I talk more about this in the ONE BIG LIFE chapter of Think and Grow Rich for Women.

>>>If you feel guilty for putting your personal development or self-care goals first, CLICK HERE for a FREE RESOURCE to conquer guilt! <<<

Then, to prioritize your goals, ask yourself the following questions:

• Which are most important to you? This will help you figure out which can move to the top of your list. You will be far more motivated to complete the goals that matter most. 
• Are any urgent and important? The ones with the greatest urgency should be done first, then you can focus on other goals once those are complete. 
• Which goals positively impact more than one area? This is something important to consider. For example, if you have a goal to hire a virtual assistant, that might take priority because it will give you time to work on your business, streamline processes, dedicate more time to sales, spend more time with family and friends or on personal development, and so on. In this case, the impact on your business and life should make it a priority because it positively affects many areas.
• Which can you delegate? Remember, you don’t have to do everything yourself! Even if you don’t have a team yet, there will be people who would be open to trading services or lending a hand when you need it. All you have to do is ask.

There are many benefits of goal setting and the better you become at it, the easier it will be to make the big vision you have for your life a reality. You deserve a full and rich life! Creating SMART goals will help you get there!  As you achieve a goal it gives you a LITTLE WIN that gives you the motivation to keep going and to tackle the next SMART goal!

Building financial wellness can be one of the more difficult areas to master in your life, only because we aren’t taught the financial skills in school that we really need to build wealth. There is so much information out there, which is why going to a trusted source will help you prioritize your financial goals much more effectively. 

I have dedicated my career to helping people improve their financial wellness. I invite you to explore the resources on my website. No matter where you are on your financial journey, they will give you the information you need to build your strategy and make your financial vision come true. Take a look at my free guide to Personal Success

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR FINANCIAL RESOURCES NOW!

“Sharon Lechter champions her message by sharing it in ways that are compelling and relevant and by living the example for others to follow. An extraordinary mentor to many, she has inspired the rest of us to become the best form of ourselves.” –Dr. Greg S Reid, Award Winning Author and Speaker