Category: Goals

Two Reasons I Didn’t Set Big Goals

by EvieBurke, posted in Fear, Goals, planning

Big dreams. Do you have them? Big goals that might live in the back of your mind that you know you want to accomplish, but have no idea how?

Do they scare you? Excite you? Or even annoy you because they seem unattainable?

One of my mentors told me once “Enough with the baby steps Evie! Make big goals!” Now, that might be a slight paraphrase, but I clearly remember her tone and meaning.

And I remember thinking something to the effect of: “Goals have to be attainable in a set period of time. I can’t guarantee that I’ll successfully meet those big goals. Smaller goals are easier and more comfortable.”

Here’s the kicker, I wasn’t accomplishing those small goals either. I would dip my toes in the water and then decide that it was too cold and somehow expect my goals to magically materialize in front of me. Yeah, they didn’t.

One reason I didn’t set big goals was that I believed the myth that all goals must have a hard date that cannot be moved or adjusted for anything. And I didn’t want to dream about something that I’d be really disappointed that I didn’t accomplish in my specific time frame. It’s better to set reasonable expectations, right? And save yourself that pain of disappointment.

Well, that’s just bull.

Another reason I didn’t set big goals: I had to know every single detailed step I would take to meet that goal. So, any dream I had that I couldn’t do that with couldn’t be a goal – it had to stay a dream, an unattainable one. Again, why create goals you don’t logically know you can accomplish.  It’s better to see the path clearly laid out, right? And save yourself the potential pain of the unknown.

So, is it more painful to try for the dream, try for the big goal and have those failures along the way (but are they failures or course correctors)? Or is it more painful to stay safe and think about those dreams, those “if only’s…” and “what if’s…”?

Here’s what I know now. Big goals, big dreams are important. They drive you and give you something to look forward to. They propel you into action when you might want to sit on the couch and watch TV, surf the web or do something else that eats time, but doesn’t feed you.

And you know what happens when you set goals that feed you? You know that you can accomplish them. It may not be logical, but somehow, you just know it is possible for you.

So, set that big goal. Make it as big and exciting and even as scary as you want. Does your heart swell just thinking about it? Good!

Here are some closing thoughts:

  • Dates can be adjusted. Write it down somewhere each time you do and review it. Look for any patterns and address them as necessary.
  • You don’t have to know every single step that you’ll take on the way to the goal. Having a vague idea can be enough. Just know the next step (or two) that takes you closer to your goal.
  • Be open to the unexpected opportunities. Some opportunities that move you closer to your goal you can’t plan for. That unexpected phone call or meeting that results in an opportunity that you didn’t expect.

So, what’s your big goal? And what’s the next step you can take to move you closer to it?

 

How Do You Track Your Goals?

by EvieBurke, posted in Goals
This is the third of four articles that share what I learned from my informal poll on tasks, goals and balance (first article, second article, fourth article). The exact form of the questions changed slightly as calls were made, but in general it was three questions and some follow up questions after each.

How do you track your goals?

This was my only consistent follow up question. I asked it when someone said they do set goals. And I had two common answers:

  1. Well, I don’t really look at them again after I set them (and a couple, ohhh, yeah, I should probably do that).
  2. Yes, and here’s how…

One thing I noticed is that people who work for direct selling companies (think Avon, Mary Kay, Tupperware, Pampered Chef, etc.) are much more likely to have specific goals and track them. Granted, in most cases these goals are set for them – a certain number of sales or recruits or some combination needed to stay at their current level in the business.  And generally, there will be a personal website that they log into to see their progress.

However, the main point is: they track their goals. Why do their companies make it so easy for them to track their goals? Because they know that it will help them be more successful.

Why should you track your goals? Well, the best analogy I can come up with is losing weight. If you decide to lose 4 pounds in one month what do you do? I’m guessing that you come up with a diet or exercise plan (or some combination) and weigh yourself so you have good starting point.

Then you periodically weigh yourself throughout the month to see how you’re doing. At the end of week 1 you expect to lose 1 pound. If you don’t – you know you need to review what you’re doing and make a change or two. Tracking your progress allows you to make tweaks to your plan so you have a better chance of success.

Tracking other goals works the same way. If you have an income goal over the next two months, track it in a place you look at every day. It will do two things:

  1. You know exactly how you’re doing on your goal
  2. You’ll have a visual reminder of what your goal is (and that can be pretty motivational)

There are lots of different ways to track your goals. Here are a few ideas:

  1. You can use a simple piece of paper with each day of the month (or months) written down the side. At the end of each day you record your income for the day and the total so far. This way you’re looking at your goal every day.
  2. Create an empty thermometer that you fill in as you go along.
  3. Create an excel spreadsheet. A quick note here, if you aren’t comfortable with excel or you are very comfortable with it and will spend a lot of time playing with it – you might want to choose a different method.
  4. Find an online program to use.

Face it, if you know how close or far you are away from your goal – it will allow you to change your plan if and when necessary.

How do you (or will you) track your goals?

Do You Set Monthly/Quarterly/Yearly Goals?

by EvieBurke, posted in Goals
This is the second of four articles that share what I learned from my informal poll on tasks, goals and balance (first article, third article, fourth article). The exact form of the questions changed slightly as calls were made, but in general it was three questions and some follow up questions after each. This article is about the second question.

I was happy to learn that a lot of people do set some sort of long term goals for themselves or their business (long term here being more than a week). However, I’d wager that a majority of the people I talked with do not write their goals down.

Personally, when I don’t write my goals down I forget them, or forget some of the details. I might accidently give myself an extra week or month to complete the goal or dial the goal back slightly without realizing it.

So, I write them down and look at them at least weekly. Why? Well, if I don’t then I have the same problem I mentioned above. Or I realize that there’s one goal that completely fell off my radar. Kind of an “Oh, I was going to do that too?!”

Which brings me to a reason that some people don’t set goals or if they do, don’t write them down: we’re afraid we won’t reach them. If we don’t write them down then we can change them slightly (or forget about them) and not beat ourselves up about it.

Want to know a secret? Your goals aren’t set in stone! Write down your goals down and review them at least once a week. If your priorities have changed – you can change your goals!

There are a couple things I want you to do if you decide to change or drop a goal. First, write down that you changed it. Write down what the goal was and what you changed it to or if you removed it. Anytime you change a goal, add it this list. Second, review the list. Why? You’re looking for patterns. Are you constantly changing or removing goals around a specific area? If so, one of the following things might be happening:

  1. The goal didn’t have well defined steps. For example, you decided that you wanted to earn x amount of money in three months, but you didn’t write down specifically the steps to take you there.
  2. You have some resistance or fear around the goal. Perhaps you’ve decided that you want to make more phone calls and talk to more people, but every week you find more important things to do instead. Baby steps are fine! Take a look at what is reasonable for you. For me, making 30+ phone calls in a week freaked me out, but making 10 or 15 seemed daunting, but doable. Heck, if 10 or 15 is daunting to you, make five instead.
  3. Maybe this goal just isn’t for you! Be really honest with yourself though and make sure that your gut is telling you your energy is best used elsewhere (instead of acknowledging that the real reason might be #2 above).

Do you write down your goals? If so, where (paper, online program, calendar, something else)?

Moving Past Fears to Meet Your Goal

by EvieBurke, posted in Fear, Goals

I have a huge fear. It feels silly to say it out loud, because I know that as an entrepreneur this fear holds me back. I have a fear of picking up the phone and calling people. This isn’t something that’s new to me. In my previous job, when given the choice between calling someone and sending them an email, I almost always chose the email. And my bosses noticed it.

As an entrepreneur, I know that this fear holds me back. So, I find other things to do. Hoping, or at least telling myself, that I don’t really have to call people. I’ll do this other thing instead and people will call me (I don’t mind that, I actually like that).

It ties in with last week’s post – I was doing what I wanted to do instead of what was challenging. It’s funny how everything kind of ties together.

Anyway, I realized a couple weeks ago that I want and need to overcome this fear. I just had NO idea of how to do it! At some point I remembered that I had this same fear feeling around leaving my house to go to networking events. The mental and physical feeling of dread and fear was almost the same. The difference is that I don’t have that feeling about networking events any more.

So, what did I do to move past the fear of networking? I went out and did it. I left my house at least once a week to go to some kind of networking event. I kept doing it and eventually, without really even noticing it, I didn’t dread it anymore. I actually look forward to it sometimes! I like meeting new people and saying Hi to the people I already know.

Based on that observation I could start calling people and eventually my fear and dread would decrease, right? But what would I talk to them about? This lead to my informal poll, I’ve been calling people over the last couple of weeks asking them some version of “What do you do to make sure that you’re getting the important things in your business done?” I also have a couple follow up questions.

Now I was armed with a reason to call – no reason not to pick up the phone and start dialing, right? Well, I had a lot of networking things I was doing that week and there were these other things that I really wanted to get done. Ok, so I had a lot of excuses and I told my accountability buddy that my goal was to talk to at least 10 people. So, excuses really wouldn’t cut it.

When I have things on my task list that I really don’t want to do, somehow the tasks before it take a much longer than I anticipate and I just run out of time. Do you ever have that problem? So, I scheduled it. I put a two-hour block of time on my calendar. It didn’t matter where I was with my other tasks for the day, during that two hour time period I would be making phone calls.

And you know what I noticed prior to that 2-hour scheduled time? More reasons, well actually excuses, not to do it. For example, the networking event I went to earlier in the day ran longer than I expected. Oh, and I got an email from someone that meant I could spend time doing some work for a committee I’m on. And, well, I could go on and on, but I think you get my drift. Lots of little excuses popped up.

I was committed though and I really wanted to be able to say that I made those phone calls. So, when the scheduled time came, I sat down and started planning to make calls. Umm, yep, you read that right! I started planning how I was going to track the calls and keep track of responses. I caught myself about ten-minutes in and stopped planning and actually started calling people. Oh, and I added ten-minutes to the end time so I did spend a full two-hours making phone calls and I did talk to 10 people (and I left many voicemails).

When I had about 15 minutes left of my two hours I almost stopped. I figured I was close enough, right? I spent 1:45, that’s plenty long right? Well, if I had committed to spending 1:30 to making phone calls, then yes, 1:45 was plenty long. But I didn’t, I committed to spending 2-hours. So, I made a couple more phone calls and met my commitment to myself. Ever notice that sometimes those are the hardest commitments to keep?

So, what lessons have I learned going forward?

  1. Occasionally ask yourself “What am I avoiding?” Be open for the answer, whatever it is. And if you’re working with a coach – let them know that you want to take a look at that question. Your coach probably won’t tell you the answer, but they’ll definitely help you find it.
  2. Commit to your goal. Commitment is about more than just saying you’re committed, it also involves actions that support it.
  3. Schedule a time to do the tasks that you are avoiding. And then sit down and do it!
  4. Know what done looks like for the task. For me initially it was 2-hours. This week it was a specific number of people.
  5. Be aware of excuses that masquerade as reasons.
  6. Be aware of distractions. You might suddenly decide you need to check email, Facebook, LinkedIn or whatever. It’s really just a distraction.
  7. Forgive yourself if don’t complete the task and re-evaluate. Are you really committed to this? What stood in your way? How can you set yourself up for success? And don’t spend time beating yourself up for not completing it. Beating yourself up about it doesn’t’ move you forward, it just takes up time.
  8. Work with a coach. I didn’t do that in this case, but I have in the past. A coach is a great resource for this kind of thing!

Also, know that you’re not the only one. Sometimes a client will preface something with “this will sound silly, but…” and it’s never silly. Often, it’s something that other people struggle with too, but don’t talk about.

PS. A big thank you to my wonderful accountability buddy Suzanne of The Implementation Station for giving me the loving kick in the butt I needed to tackle making phone calls.
PPS. The “results” of my poll will be posted in two weeks.

Moving and Goals – What Do They Have In Common?

by EvieBurke, posted in Goals

The other weekend my husband and I helped a friend move. There were about a dozen of us helping out. She had already packed everything into boxes that she labeled with the room the contents belonged in. And the rented moving truck was waiting in the street for us to start moving boxes and furniture into.

My parents tell a story about a friend of theirs that they helped move many years ago. When they showed up on moving day ready to help move boxes they found nothing had been packed. So, they quickly and haphazardly started putting things in boxes. It was a long day.

Which moving process do you think went quickly, smoothly and had less stress?

The one with more planning and work done prior to moving day is the obvious answer. By the time my husband and I left in the early afternoon all the boxes were moved into the new house. The boxes weren’t all in the rooms that they belonged in, but they were close by and grouped together. Each bedroom had the bed put together and made and clothes were put away. So, even though not everything was unpacked and put away, the things that they needed in the next 12 to 24 hours were available.

As for my parent’s story, I think at the end of the day all the boxes were in the new house, but no one knew what was in each box and I’m guessing their friend might have spent the night on a mattress on the floor.

So, which approach do you take? And I’m not talking about moving house and home. When you have a goal or a project that you want done do you break it down into pieces and do those things ahead of time? Do you ask for help so things go quickly and smoothly?

A quick breakdown of the successful move:

  • She had a goal with a specific date.
  • All the needed pre-work was done prior to that date (packing, labeling, and cleaning the new place).
  • She asked for and received help from friends and family (and everyone played nicely together).
  • Everyone was clear on the goals and what their strengths were and applied them accordingly.
  • She showed everyone she appreciated their help by (1) feeding everyone and (2) she gave everyone a personal thank you and hug

So, how do you take this example and apply it to the goals and projects in your life?

  • Define your goal / project
  • Give it a due date
  • Make a list of all the tasks that will make your goal/project a success
  • Complete the tasks in a timely manner.
  • Know your strengths and ask for help where needed
  • When asking for help, be clear what you expect from the other person (and when you expect it)
  • Show appreciation for those that helped you reach your goal!
  • Celebrate when you reach your goal!

What steps would you add that help make a goal or project successful?