The Secret to Achieving Any Goal

The year 2012 is just getting started.  How is 2012 looking for you?

At Clear Simple Marketing, we are committed to P.O.P. – Productivity, Organization & Profitability.   If you’re committed to P.O.P., the you’ve probably set some goals to POP your business!  I want you to achieve your goals – that’s what I’m here for!  And I have a strategy that will get you there.

I achieved my goals by setting S.M.A.R.T. goals!  I set Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bounded goals.

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Relevant

Time-bounded

…

1. Specific Goals

Language has power.  Goals that are general and vague are achievable but impotent.  For example:

“I want to build my business.”

You’re goal is to “want.”  Perfect.  You’re done!  But you haven’t POP’ed your business.  Here’s an example of a more specific (but still slightly generalized, in order to make a point) goal that has POP potential:

“I will use email marketing, increase my monthly revenue, and get a healthy amount of sleep.”

The beautiful thing about this (more) specific goal is that: you must ask yourself “How the heck am I going to do that?”  Continue specifying your goal by answering the classic investigation questions:

• Who?
  • “My virtual assistant (VA) will write and send the marketing email.”
  • “I send the email to my list.”
• What?
  • “My VA will send 1 automated email each week.”
  • “Increase monthly revenue by $1000/month”
  • “I sleep at least 8 hours.”
• Where?
  • “I will work from my home office.”
  • “The $1000/month appears in my bank account statement.”
  • “I sleep in my bed.”
• When?
  • “I will send weekly emails in every week of 2012.”
  • “My monthly income will increase by $1000/month for each of the last 6 months of 2012.”
  • “I sleep at night, for 8 hours, at least 5 days every week of 2012.”
• Which? (specific requirements and constraints)
  • “I use X email system.”
  • “$1000/month from 10 sales per month of product Y.”
  • “8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.”
• Why? (reasons & benefits)
  • “Useful emails make me feel good about serving others by sharing knowledge.”
  • “I will buy a new car, and take that specific vacation.”
  • “I will feel invigorated, and productive, every day!”

Answer the obvious questions Get over how stupidly simple they are, and notice how answering the obvious questions (“I sleep in my bed.”) makes you feel the result of attaining that goal and motivates you.

…

2. Measurable Goals

If you cannot measure your goal, then you can’t know if you have achieved your goal.  Measurement is preceded by questions like:  How much?  How many?  How long?

The goals above are measurable – you can count how many emails have gone out, how much more you are making each month from products sales, and how many hours you’ve slept in your bed at night.

Track your progress.  Either you will feel good about making progress, or you will feel motivated to get going.

Break bigger goals into smaller ones if necessary.

…

3. Attainable Goals

Your goals, however difficult, must be attainable.  If you’re goals would seem unreasonable to even a highly accomplished person, then maybe you’re setting yourself up for failure (maybe even subconsciously, to play the game “I told you this wouldn’t work!” or “Poor me.”)

Remember your previous commitments: Keep them, or break them to make room for your new goals.

How many marketing emails can you really send out in a week?  Is there really a clear path to earning a million dollars this year?  You can sleep 8 hours per day, but you will have to learn to be highly productive for the other 16 hours every day.

If you’re goal is challenging, just start – you will build momentum and find out whether the goal is attainable.  (You will also see whether you’re willing to give what it takes.)  Start creating content for those weekly emails, or finding a VA to do it for you (or of course hiring us!  Click here for details).  Start marketing the product.  Start going to bed at 10:00pm.

Again, break bigger goals into smaller ones if necessary.

Beware of clichés that leave you feeling empty, or with no where to go. Perhaps it’s “I will make a million dollars.”   Everyone says it.  Almost no one wants to do what it takes (besides win the lottery).  If you cannot see yourself taking specific, achievable actions to accomplish this goal, then you will have no where to go.  You won’t be able to answer the question “How the heck am I going to do that?” in any meaningful way.

….

4. Relevant

Your goals must fulfill your main purpose.  They must fulfill your “Why?”  Otherwise, the goals are irrelevant.  Let’s revisit the “Why?”

• “Useful emails make me feel good about serving others by sharing knowledge.”
• “I will buy a new car, and take that specific vacation.”
• “I will feel invigorated, and productive, every day!”

Compare the purpose to your goals and see if these “mission statements” hit home.

• My VA will share my knowledge by automatically sending 1 marketing email per week
  
• I will earn the money for a new car and vacation by increasing my monthly revenue by $1000 by selling 10 units of product Y each month
• I will feel invigorated and productive every day from getting 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep in my bed 5 days a week

Your goal may be irrelevant if it sounds hollow like this:

• I will share my knowledge by opening a social media account and collect 3 fans (likes) per day
  
• I will earn the money for a new car by wanting to increase my income
• I will feel invigorated and productive every day by clearing out my email inbox everyday

….

5. Time-bounded Goals

Would you get on a plane to Hawaii if the arrival time was “someday?”  No.  And if you did, you’re probably asking for trouble.

“Someday” never comes – or at least not fast enough.  When you set a goal without time boundaries, you leave it open for happening never, or after you die – both of which I assume are undesirable to you.

Create deadlines that are achievable.  If you want to “make a million dollars,” then set a deadline.  The book “Seven Years to Seven Figures”  is an example of a time-bounded, attainable goal.  

In the examples above, we’ve set goals that are bounded by the days of the week, and months in the year 2012.  Without deadlines, you’ll never know when you should achieve your goal.

If you want to achieve your goals, be S.M.A.R.T. about it.  When I was just starting out, I wasted a lot of time and money on goals that did not bear fruit.  I finally figured it out for myself by creating a Marketing Blueprint.

“Your Marketing Blueprint” is a fill-in-the-blank blueprint with easy-to-use checklists for S.M.A.R.T. goals for your small business.  If you’re tired of spinning your wheels on goals that never seem to go anywhere, try the Marketing Blueprint.

Save $50 by using coupon code: ActFast50 before January 29th at mid-night CNT.

…