Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Conceive, Believe and Achieve

Conceive.....come up with a realistic goal for yourself
Believe........believe in yourself and never stop believing in yourself
Achieve.......follow your plan and you will achieve

One of the problems we seem to have when setting goals is that we are not specific enough. The goal I wrote yesterday....to build a highly success business is a nice start, but what is highly successful and what kind of business?

What would be realistic? Do I want to be making $100 a month, $500 a month or $5000 a month by the end of the year? Will I be selling cards, home decor, jewelry, soap?

How is this? By December 31, 2009 I will be be running a highly successful craft business selling paper goods and home decor. I will making a profit of $1000 per month. I will accomplish this by creating a quality, unique and useful product that I will market through a variety of on-line venues as well as face-to-face markets.

Notice that I didn't say anything about etsy, because my business won't be just through etsy. I will be selling through other venues so I don't want to limit myself. So be as specific as you can without limiting yourself.

To achieve a goal it has to be something you want...not something someone else wants for you. Be sure that it is also something that you have control over. For me to say I want to make $40 an hour at my full time job wouldn't work because someone else controls what I make and it is set in stone. I can't control that.

Next, you need to break your big goal down into smaller and smaller goals (tasks) and keep doing that until you get to a daily "to do" list. If my goal is to make $1000 a month in my business...where do I want to be in say 9 months, 6 months, 3 months and next month. Once I know where I want to be, then I go further and decide what I am going to do to get there.

Say I want to be making $200 a month by next month....what am I going to do to see that I get there?

Write it all down. It's nice to think things, but writing things down is better. It's also good to share your goals with others close to you...that keeps you accountable and gives you a little more support. To make that $200 I will make this many new products, I will hand out this many business cards, I will blog this many times to promote the products I'm making, I will hand out this many flyers, I will twitter for this long each day and spend this much time in the forums. I will add one new selling venue every how many months. Get the idea?

It can be whatever works for you, but you need a plan. Break it down by the month, the week, the day. The more defined it is, the easier it will be to follow and the the easier it will be to meet the little daily goals that will help you to reach your weekly, monthly, yearly goal.

Another thing a wise person told me is to do like the athletes do....visualize. See yourself already having achieved your goal. See yourself successful, or wealthy or thinner or happier or whatever your goal might be. Close your eyes often and visualize yourself as that person.

One other thing you can do that is really good is to write down your goal as a mission statement. "By December 31, 2009 I will be running a highly successful craft business that brings in $1000 profit each and every month," or whatever your goal is. Say it as a positive statement. Write it down and read it every day, many times...memorize it and repeat it to yourself often. Your brain has no way of knowing if the things you are thinking or saying are true or not.

Lastly, keep in mind that no plan is perfect. Things happen....life happens. If you find that your plan needs "adjusting" along the way, then by all means adjust it. The plan is there as your guide to help you along the way. It isn't written in concrete. Part of being successful is the ability to roll with the punches and change things that aren't working and need to be changed.

With a realistic goal, a detailed plan and a positive attitude...you can't help but achieve your goal. I am working very hard on my plan right now. I want it to truly reflect what I want to accomplish this year. What are your goals for 2009 and what will you be doing to reach them?

3 comments:

Christy said...

A great post to wrap up the year. I hope you reach and surpass your goal for 2009!

When you get your new kitty post lots of pics! :)

lyptis said...

Hey! Great post! I made lots of lists for 2009 and i kept them very precise, clear and cut them down into 'easy' tasks, its fun to challenge urself!

if ure commited im sure u will reach ur goal in 2009, i wish u good luck!:)

Mary Richmond said...

sounds like a very ambitious plan but one that is well thought out and well planned! i wish you the best of luck as this new year begins and will be cheering you on as you make progress! happy new year!

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