SETTING PERSONAL AND BUSINESS GOALS - PART TWO

Why is it important to set Business or Personal Goals? 
Overall, goal setting is important because if you don’t set goals for yourself, then
how are you going to achieve your end result, your goal. This is true whether
you’re setting personal or business goals.

Differences Between Business and Personal Goals
Business goals and personal goals have different purposes. Business goals aim to improve your business. Whereas personal goals will focus more on the aspects of your personal life. However, there is no difference in the goal-setting process. 

In addition, you can use the same goal-setting formula and strategies for both, business and personal goals. What works for business goals will also work for personal goals. 

Business goals
Typically business goals are set on an annual basis, and they should be aligned with your long term goals. An example is, you have a five-year plan and you want to increase your sales by 100%. At the beginning of each year, you might set a goal to increase your sales by 20% for the current year. Remember, your goals should be worked into your business plan and your sales forecasts.  

Throughout the year, you might have weekly, monthly, or quarterly sessions where you review your progress towards the annual goal. Writing down the results is essential for staying on track when you're working towards achieving a goal. At the end of each day, you should review what you have accomplished for the day and think about what you would like to achieve on the following day. A good idea would be to prepare a to-do list for the next day, each night. This is an excellent practice that will help to keep you on track. 

Whether you prefer to do it at night or in the morning, daily planning is highly recommended to increase your business success. Regularly reviewing your progress towards achieving your goals and your goals themselves, helps to keep you focused and motivated.

Strategies For Goal Setting Success 
The easiest way to set yourself up for goal-setting success is to use a formula for setting goals that incorporates a strategy for accomplishing the goal. 

Another way to ensure you have a good shot at actually accomplishing the goals you set, is to make sure that the goals you set follow the SMART acronym which is:  Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and
Time-Bound. 

Examples of the acronyms:
Specific - I want to increase my business revenue by 30% this year.
Measurable - By increasing my sales, I’ll reduce my debt.
Attainable - By the end of this year, I will have attained my goal of increasing my business by 30%.
Relevant - My long term plan is for my business to attain $200,000 a year in sales. Thereby, my short term plan is to increase my revenue by 30%.
Time-Bound - By the end of the year, I want to increase sales by 20%.

Putting your goals in writing helps to keep you focused and see how much progress you've made towards your goals at the end of the defined time period.