The Importance of Setting & Achieving Goals

Happy New Year! I bet you’re tired of everyone talking about new year’s resolutions and setting goals for the year. But I have something to share with you that not many people talk about….how important it is to not only set goals but to achieve them.

In this video, I explain how to set goals and why you need to work hard to achieve them. I recently heard on a podcast that it’s best to set 90-day goals instead of yearly goals because our minds don’t think that far ahead and yearly goals seem too far out of reach. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to have yearly goals because some goals take a year (or more) to obtain so here’s what I suggest.

How To Set Goals

The first thing you do in order to stay on schedule is to have a daily planner and a large desktop calendar where you can write down your goals and tasks. The large desktop calendar is optional but nice to have hanging in your office or studio where it’s large enough to see throughout the day.
Set BIG goals and reverse engineer them. Meaning….”by the end of 2016, I want to achieve _______”. Then break that goal into chunks that you should be able to obtain quarterly; which is every 90 days. (setting goals in a 90 day time period is more obtainable which sets you up for success)
- For example, by the end of 2016, I want my angel coloring book to be a top seller on Amazon.
- By the end of the first quarter or 90 days, I want to have 30-35 angel drawings done for the coloring book.
- By the end of the second quarter, I want to have it printer ready, meaning all images scanned, re-sized, edited, title and cover complete and have a publisher picked out and ready to receive my files.
- By the end of the third quarter, I want to have the book published and for sale on Amazon. In which I will then start a marketing campaign.
- By the end of the year, I want my angel coloring book to be a top seller.
Now break those goals down into monthly goals. For example: If I need 30-35 drawings done in three months, that works out to about ten drawings per month.
Then break it down to how many I need to draw each week. I need to draw at least 3 drawings per week.
Once you have your weekly goals figured out, you will know what you need to be doing each day in order to obtain your goal(s).
Once you meet your first quarterly goal, you will do the same for the next quarter and so on.
NOTE: this isn’t the only project/goal I have for the year; that’s why breaking each BIG goal down into weekly goals is so important. If you do this with each of your goals, you will know exactly what you need to accomplish each week (and each day for that matter) in order to obtain each goal. You will also see if you bit off more that you can possibly chew. Maybe some of your goals are a bit too lofty and by reverse engineering them, you’ll see you need more time.

The most important part of goal setting is ACHIEVING them. If you set goals for the year and don’t write it down or reverse engineer it to see exactly what it will take to achieve it, more than likely you won’t achieve the goal. If you make it a habit of setting goals and not achieving them, in 5 years you will be exactly where you are today and worse yet, your word won’t mean anything to you. You won’t believe in yourself. Not a good place to be.

On the other hand, let’s say you develop the habit of setting goals and achieving them on a continuous basis. Year after year, you set and obtain goals. You’ll get to the point where you’ll set a goal with FULL confidence that you’ll achieve it. You will be unstoppable. People will take notice of you, your commitment, your drive and your word. That’s powerful.

You will see your life change for the better, you will gain confidence and soon you will be living your dream life!

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