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Tag: Setting Goals

  • Why You Should Stop Obsessing Over Your Goals to Achieve Them | Entrepreneur

    Why You Should Stop Obsessing Over Your Goals to Achieve Them | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    America harbors a uniquely goal-oriented culture. From our homes to our offices, from our bodies to our minds — a large majority of us are in a never-ending pursuit of measurable results in every aspect of our lives.

    Our wristwatches count daily steps, water bottles grade water intake by volume, and weight scales connect to our iPhones to input calories eaten. Dating is a “numbers game.” Even babies have sleep monitors that output slumber scores. Simply put: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) occupy an outsized portion of our headspace.

    Nowhere is this phenomenon more present than in a business setting. Corporate offices are filled with executives rushing to read the latest dashboard; social media managers eagerly tally every video view; performance marketers monitor every click. I feel this daily as both a new mom and the owner of a market research company. The last seven months with my daughter have had me losing sleep — and not for the reason that you think. She’s sleeping great! But I’m staying up obsessively tracking her milestones; did she roll over adequately? Has she “cooed” the right number of times today? We use data to help us feel “in control,” but ultimately, the data controls us.

    My industry is guilty of the same crime. Data dashboards offer an illusion of control. Executives stare at statistics inside the boardroom while the real world runs rampant outside the door. I’ve seen it many times: a brand tracker reports a seemingly healthy brand, and suddenly, the business falls off a cliff. Culture shifts, consumer preferences change, and despite volumes of data, business leaders are blindsided.

    We lose out on the grand vista of value by obsessing over a goal, the golden data point at the end of the rainbow. It’s never about one number or one data point. The greatest value and the most interesting lessons come from what we’ll call data wandering: exploring multiple data points, connecting dots and inviting in the necessary complexity vital to revelatory truths. Here are some perspectives that guide how you wander the data landscape – and relinquish single-digit-chasing.

    Related: Why Focusing on KPIs Too Much Can Backfire

    Data is the compass, not the captain

    There’s a reason that KPIs are “Key Performance Indicators” instead of “Key Performance Answers.” This is your reminder that data very rarely has the solution to your question. Data is a barometer, a clue — a critical piece that completes the puzzle. When you shift your perspective and allow data to guide rather than lead, you will become freer to think critically and creatively. As a market researcher, I’m asking you to consider your data an ellipsis versus a full-stop period. In your day to day, practice this mantra by inserting the statement, “That’s interesting, I wonder if…” after every data point you encounter – in work and life.

    Data is a slice, not the pie

    In industry and society, we’ve gotten really good at housing, analyzing and gleaning insight from big data. Still, it can feel like we are drowning in information — information that can be reliable and contradictory at the same time. This is because there will always be more data and a different way to ask the same questions or analyze the same data. And no matter how much data you’ve succeeded at aggregating, you’re often looking at a sliver of reality. If there is a world of truth outside of a metaphorical house, you are looking through a tiny crack in the wall and what you see will always be a partial view. And that’s ok, for now. As our industry stands, there is no pie (cue the Matrix: there is no spoon!). When you realize that all data is a glimpse, it makes wandering that much more fun.

    Related: How to Determine Your KPIs and Achieve Profitability

    Data is strong in its flexibility, not its rigidity.

    In life and in business, novelty and change are the norm, not the exception. When we become too rigid in “how we do things” and the data sets we monitor and track, we lose sight of the world around us. Tunnel vision is the antithesis of exploration, and it’s often the leading cause of a business’s failure to innovate. Kodak was hyper-focused on the success of film photography and didn’t see the digital revolution. Xerox was celebrating healthy sales data around copy machines and chose to stifle innovation in favor of their hero product. Blockbuster overvalued the strength of its brand equity measures, failing to see the rise of the little-known company named Netflix.

    Goal orientation gives us purpose and meaning – but goal obsession makes us psychologically immobile and incapable of seeing the full picture. Consider how 2024 can be your year to embrace feeling out of control – welcoming the idea that despite all the data in the world, you may still not know “for sure.” This will open you to more innovation, evolution, and changes, big and small.

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    Maria Vorovich

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  • So Your Company Is Talking About Transformation — But Is It Ready? Here’s How To Tell. | Entrepreneur

    So Your Company Is Talking About Transformation — But Is It Ready? Here’s How To Tell. | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Change. If talk of it has been swirling around the water cooler, people on your team probably have questions. When will the shift happen? Who’s going to be most involved? What does the change mean for specific roles? While each of these questions matter, perhaps no question is more critical than this: Is the company ready?

    Plenty of businesses throw this question into a lake, distracted by competitive pressure, the whims of egotistic leaders or the desire to stay comfortable. But it’s by facing the question that the business can devise a regret-free game plan.

    Committing to transformation

    Although headlines in the news might have left workers uneasy about the idea of company changes, companies have a choice about whether they want to transform or not. In fact, they have three choices: stay the course, evolve or disrupt.

    Staying the course typically means growth of 0-3%. Popular retailer TJ Maxx sits in this category. Their brick-and-mortar approach and support of different brands has been effective for them. Companies that evolve see growth between 2 and 5% — consider the NASCAR pitstop today (21 people, 12 seconds) versus the pitstop of the 1960s (4 people, 5 minutes and 38 seconds). Disruption happens when growth is more than 5%. But that takes challenging the status quo, bringing the company’s core capabilities into new, auxiliary or complementary markets, and offering clients new and different things. Netflix, one of the most well-known disruptors, changed the entertainment game with streaming video services.

    Disruption or transformation is like a chocolate brownie. It’s easy for people in a company to say they want it — but are they willing to do what it takes to make it from scratch? It’s tougher to actually execute, so companies have to be willing to commit. To get that commitment, they need first to check for a solid market opportunity, develop and communicate a shared vision, and then ask, “Are we ready, willing and able?” If the company has a good attitude of buy-in around the opportunity and workers have the skills necessary to execute, the business can often successfully transform.

    Related: 9 Entrepreneurs Who Have Rapidly Transformed Their Businesses for the Better

    The eight pillars of transformation

    Assuming a business is ready for transformation, it should look at eight distinct pillars to make the change happen:

    1. Leadership. Are enough people willing to accept responsibility to organize people toward the common goal? A company might need as many as 100-150 champions on the team who can show others why the company is doing things differently. Build out the leadership team so there’s a good mix of homegrown and outside talent that can create healthy debate.

    2. Culture. What do people want the company to be? What’s the gap between that vision and where the company is right now? Initially, our team’s culture was a high-touch service where workers aimed to do anything for the client. Now, we’re striving to be more innovative. We actively work against fixedness and apply the broken window theory — i.e., the idea that little things can make a big difference.

    3. People. Do people have the right attributes and skills necessary for the transformation? Don’t be surprised if there’s some variance. Typically, just 20% of people readily conform, 60% are the neutral majority and 20% need some proof or encouragement before coming on board. Companies can address skills gaps in lots of ways, but we introduced a program called Learn IQ, where any employee in the company can take a micro-credential program at any university.

    4. Systems. Does the company have a scalable system model in place? Without one, the business will bring clients in the front door only to have them run out the back. We went from 289 units on the road in 2018 to 30,000 units in 2022 by taking a very systemic approach.

    5. IQ. Can people interpret the core, adjacent and macro signals available (e.g., interest rates)? Can they execute logically? When we decided to do the last mile, we intentionally decided not to try to please everyone because we had something to learn and wanted to get better at it. We focused on market entry, expansion and diversification and didn’t bring in other clients until we knew our first clients were satisfied.

    6. EQ. Does the company know when to hit the gas versus the brakes? During Covid-19, we took a high EQ approach, stayed cool and focused on what we needed to do. As a result, while the overall industry dropped 17%, our team went up 38%. Any team can look into implementing this during moments of tension or stress.

    7. Flexibility. Does the business see challenges and opportunities with a willingness to fail? In mobility, we started in Class 1. Now, we go all the way through Class 8. We were willing to try franchising and then pull out when that didn’t work.

    8. Fearlessness. Every team has fears, uncertainties and doubts. Is the team willing to face those and stare them down? Many times, we don’t have data or know something is going to work. But we encourage people to try things out and fail fast because we know bold actions create new opportunities. Betting on young leaders is one way we’re committed to being fearless.

    Related: How to Create Success for Your Business Through Digital Transformation

    Step up, hit repeat, compete

    In many companies, staying the course or undergoing gradual evolution is the right decision. However, a business needs to be constantly assessing circumstances and goals. The team might find that, at a certain point, changing is the right move to make. Once they are ready, willing and able to take the transformation on, success depends on the company stepping up to all eight transformation pillars. If the business can hit repeat on that sequence over time, it can continue to meet customers’ demands for generations and enjoy long-term competitiveness.

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    Brendan P. Keegan

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  • Entrepreneur Magazine: Finding Motivation In The Face of Setbacks | Entrepreneur

    Entrepreneur Magazine: Finding Motivation In The Face of Setbacks | Entrepreneur

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    You’re trying to get somewhere. But you’re not there yet.

    That is frustrating. And worse, it’s embarrassing. You’ve worked hard. You’ve traveled far. And you think: I should be there by now — so why am I not?

    I feel this too, and I’ve concluded that it isn’t just about anxiety or impatience. It’s about something more fundamental: This is what happens when we are on a path, and what’s ahead is unseeable.

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    Jason Feifer

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  • 5 Crucial Leadership Elements to Earn Your Team’s Trust | Entrepreneur

    5 Crucial Leadership Elements to Earn Your Team’s Trust | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Trust – it’s the performance-enhanced steroid that can transform even the most diverse group of misfits into a high-performance team. Without it, standards and expectations aren’t taken seriously and productivity suffers greatly.

    You have to maintain a high level of trust across your team to ensure buy-in for collective efforts toward a shared company goal. Gaining your team’s trust, though, doesn’t happen spontaneously. It requires a great deal of authenticity, clear communication, strong and stable support, integrity and a whole lot of consistency.

    Having led hundreds of individuals across multiple industries and levels of leadership, including vice president of sales and now CEO, I learned some insightful gems to earn those positions. Here are a few lessons for other leaders aiming to create a culture of trust and extract peak performance from their teams.

    1. Authenticity

    In an era filled with curated personas and the mentality of “fake it til you make it,” authenticity stands out as a refreshing departure from the norm. And just like a well-timed, sarcastic zinger in the middle of a boring and quiet waiting room, authenticity has a way of cutting through the noise (or silence, in this case) and creating an instant connection. People have a great appreciation for authentic personalities. We’d rather work with a jerk who is direct and tells it how it is over someone who shares misinformation to just people please and avoid confrontation.

    So, how can you demonstrate authenticity in the eyes of your team? The answer lies in staying true to yourself and being transparent with others. Expressing your thoughts, feelings, and viewpoints openly (yet tactfully), allows your unique personality to shine through. By being genuine, your team will recognize your sincerity, laying the foundation for trust.

    Related: 3 Ways Authentic Leaders Inspire and Retain Employees

    2. Communication

    Saying nothing says a lot, and is a proven path to damaging your team’s confidence in you as a leader. Clear, consistent and honest communication is at the heart of leadership. To develop trust within your team, you have to communicate clearly and consistently.

    Start by articulating your vision, objectives and expectations to your team, ensuring everyone aligns with the same goals. Encourage open conversation and an environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their thoughts, ideas and concerns free from judgment. And when things go wrong, as they inevitably will, don’t hide behind a wall of silence. Address issues head-on and keep your team in the loop. Remember, a well-informed team is a trusting team.

    Related: Why Effective and Influential Leaders Focus on Direct Communication

    3. Elevate your team

    Great leadership in its purest form is elevating those around you. When you focus on elevating your team — helping them to grow, learn and improve — you create an environment of trust, empowerment and explosive growth. You’re showing them that their development is important to you and that you believe in their potential.

    This isn’t just about professional skills; it’s about personal growth as well. By investing in them as individuals, and showing a genuine interest in their aspirations and challenges, you’re building a deep, foundational level of trust. This trust breeds loyalty, open communication, and a culture where everyone feels valued and heard. As a result, you enhance team morale, productivity and overall cohesion.

    Here are a few effective strategies I’ve implemented over the years to elevate my team:

    1. Skill development workshops and training. As a leader, it’s important to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your team. Regularly conducting skill development workshops or training sessions helps your team members polish their existing skills and acquire new ones. You can start by asking your team the following questions: What skills are you most interested in developing? How do you think this training will help you perform better at your job?

    2. Mentorship programs. Pair less experienced team members with senior members or external mentors. This can provide the opportunity for personal growth and the sharing of wisdom and experience.

    Questions to ask: Who do you look up to professionally? What traits or skills do they possess that you aspire to have?

    3. Recurring one-on-one sessions. Regular feedback is crucial for personal and professional development. These sessions provide a space for open discussion about performance, challenges and opportunities for growth for both you and the subordinate.

    Questions to ask: What challenges are you facing? How can I support you? If you had to put a finger on one thing I could improve on, what would it be?

    4. Encourage autonomy. Giving your team the freedom to make decisions creates a sense of responsibility and boosts their confidence.

    Questions to ask: What responsibilities would you like to take on to grow in your role? How can I support you in this process?

    4. Integrity

    Integrity stands as the backbone of trust. Without it, everything crumbles. In the workforce, integrity is simply doing what’s right, regardless of who’s watching or how inconvenient it may seem. It revolves around honoring your word, acknowledging your errors and making decisions with the team and organization’s best interest in mind.

    To display integrity, ensure consistency in your actions, and fulfill your commitments. If you say you’ll do something, make sure you deliver. In the event of a mistake, accept it, own it and find a solution forward. By continuously operating with integrity, you’ll position yourself as a dependable leader your team can trust.

    Related: How to Maintain Your Integrity While Keeping Up With a Rapidly Changing Environment

    5. Consistency

    Excelling in these areas will serve you well, but the ultimate key to long-term sustainability is in your consistency. Trust isn’t an event, it’s a habit. It’s the consistency that establishes a reliable pattern of behavior that your team can depend on.

    To be a consistent leader, treat all team members equitably and enforce your policies the same. Strive to have a strong presence in your team’s daily activities. Most importantly, be consistent in upholding the qualities above. When your team knows what to anticipate from you, they’ll trust you to guide them, even in the face of uncertainty.

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    Kash Hasworth

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  • Why Owning Your Decisions Is Critical to Your Success As An Entrepreneur | Entrepreneur

    Why Owning Your Decisions Is Critical to Your Success As An Entrepreneur | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    One of the biggest gifts I’ve had in my life has been my mentors. They’ve given me direction and advice that has gotten me where I am today. When I say there’s value in listening to others, I truly mean it.

    But there’s a big difference between taking great advice from people you respect and collapsing under interpersonal or social “shoulds.” This might look like getting the job your parents want you to get or following a career path you can’t stand because everyone tells you it’ll make you financially secure. Fearless leadership requires you to own what you want with no apologies.

    What it means to own your “wants”

    Owning your wants as a leader is synonymous with authenticity and self-awareness. It doesn’t require you to completely disregard traditions or the paths others have taken to find success. You can still deeply respect those. It just means you understand yourself enough to know what will fulfill you — and take accountability for obtaining that fulfillment for yourself. If you must go in a different direction than others to be happy or get what you need, don’t hesitate.

    Let’s pause on that idea of self-accountability for a moment. Some people make the mistake of interpreting self-accountability to mean that they must do everything independently. But no one successful has known everything or been able to do everything. The most successful people know their limits and are grateful to take help and delegate where possible. So, as you seek to take ownership of your true desires and goals, accept that it’s okay to build a team that can support you.

    Related: How to Give Constructive Feedback That Actually Empowers Others

    Why taking ownership is so hard

    Owning what you want can be hard — other people can be closed-minded or have their own goals. They can try everything to convince you that the path you want to walk is foolish, simply because they haven’t walked it themselves or don’t want you to get in their way by rocking the boat. Their efforts to dissuade you can do a serious number on your confidence.

    Then there are the logistical hurdles. How will you pay $100,000 when all you’ve got is $50,000? What if the certification you need isn’t offered for another year and requires you to relocate? Some will never own their dream because they don’t know how to overcome those problems.

    Finally, being self-aware is a rare gem — even though 95% of people think they’re self-aware, only 10-15% are. Maybe people haven’t had the chance to explore and figure themselves out. Or, perhaps they’re unwilling to break out of familiar habits, get feedback or reflect on what they believe. Either way, without self-awareness, it’s hard for a person to identify where they want to go and have conviction about that decision.

    Related: How Listening Can Help You Build a Culture of Trust in Your Business

    How to own what you want

    Looking at the three main issues that hold people back from owning what they want, five steps can help you go after what matters to you:

    • Connect with yourself. Techniques like mindfulness, journaling, trying new hobbies or getting feedback can help you discover who you are. Once you have a better sense of self, it’s easier to identify what will be meaningful or beneficial to you.
    • Define what you want. Do you build a legacy as a CEO over decades or move on every few years? Does being wealthy mean $100,000 a year or $1 million? The more clearly defined your goal is, the easier it is to understand the responsibility you’re taking on, assess what’s realistic and develop ways to measure progress.
    • Believe you deserve to achieve it. It’s common for people to get wrapped up in doubts or shame. When something good happens, they feel unworthy and mentally point out others who should get what they want instead. Accepting the belief you deserve to achieve as part of connecting with yourself silences this negative inner critic and the naysayers who might try to keep you stuck. The more justified you feel in pursuing the goal, the less likely you are to abandon it.
    • Figure out the steps necessary to achieve what you want. Most logistical issues can be figured out if you break them down into smaller action points. Mentors and teammates can help you consider alternatives and get the necessary information to move sensibly from one small point to another.
    • Take action. Even the most brilliantly broken-down plan won’t amount to much unless you do what’s on it. Face your fears and bravely confront each step, trusting you can sort through any bumps that might come up along the way.

    Related: 7 Tips on How to Manifest Success in Your Business

    Taking ownership is not easy, but it makes your soul rich

    Owning what you want admittedly is no cakewalk — doing your own thing and swimming against the current takes bravery. But taking on the risks of pressing upstream increases the odds that, in the end, you’ll be fulfilled. Because innovation and competitiveness almost always ride on the heels of a dream someone claimed and took pride in, don’t compare yourself. Just be honest about why you crave the path you do and take it.

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    Brendan P. Keegan

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  • How Small Business Owners Should Set Goals | Entrepreneur

    How Small Business Owners Should Set Goals | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    When I owned my businesses, I found that setting goals in a particular manner made things much easier, and I found myself reaching higher levels of success faster than I thought possible. I’d like to share these simple steps with you so that you, too, can achieve your most important business (and even life) goals faster than you expect.

    Here are the four simple ways that small business owners should consider setting their goals:

    Related: 3 Rules to Setting Goals for Your Business

    1. M.E. Goals

    M.E. Goals are perhaps the most crucial aspect of creating any goal you’ll ever set. Why? Because they’re about YOU! M.E. goals are about what’s most important to you. M.E. goals are about what excites you, what creates passion for you and what makes you get up and go to work each day (outside of paying the bills, of course).

    This is crucial for a business owner because often we can get caught up in the minutia of the day-to-day activities and what the employees are NOT doing! M.E. Goals get you refocused on why you started the business in the first place. You were excited, weren’t you? M.E. Goals can help you get excited once more in case you’ve lost some drive along the way.

    The M stands for Motivating, which means you need to ask the question, “Does this excite me?” It is hard to work to achieve a goal when there is no momentum or energy behind you. Motivation is a key point in reaching your dreams and aspirations because you’ll need that excitement on the days when nothing seems to be going your way — or when accomplishing the goal seems too far away or too difficult to attain.

    The E stands for Engaging, which means you need to ask the question, “Does this goal speak to me on a deeper level?” Not only should a goal motivate you, but it needs to create passion, meaning and purpose. Otherwise, you may be excited to accomplish the goal, but you’ll be left asking “Why the heck did I even begin in the first place?” Be sure that you’re not just motivated, but that you are finding a deeper meaning in what you are working towards in your life because when you’re at the end of the road, I guarantee that you’ll look back and ask, “Why did I?” or “Why didn’t I?”

    Here are a few questions to ask to create M.E. Goals:

    • Does this goal excite me?

    • Does this goal create momentum for me?

    • Can this goal get me motivated on the days I want to quit?

    • Does this goal speak to me on a deep level?

    • Does this goal help offer meaning to my life?

    • Does this goal provide purpose and direction for me?

    • How will I feel at the end of the road if I do not attempt to reach this goal?

    2. Q Goals

    Another good idea to have in regard to making your goals easier to achieve for your business is to make them “Quantifiable.” Q Goals are perfect for small business owners as they allow you to either build up the number or break it down into smaller chunks.

    Let’s say your goal is to onboard 1000 new customers this year. Q Goals allow you to easily break that number down (discounting weekends and holidays): That would be about 83 new customers per month (1000 ÷ 12). Or you can see it as about 19 new customers per week (1000 ÷ 52). Or you can say it could be about 3 new customers per day (1000 ÷ 365). By breaking it down, it can make larger goals much more manageable, easier to plan for and not so overwhelming.

    Now let’s use the Q Goals to figure out how to plan an outbound calling strategy for the 1000 new customers. Let’s say you have a 10% closing ratio for each sale that you make. So, 3 is 10% of 30, so it looks like you’ll have to make at least 30 outbound calls per day. And according to the numbers above, it would be 190 calls per week and 830 outbound calls per month.

    However, Q Goals allow you to do so much more. A simple example is to increase your outbound activities, maybe 60 calls per day, which could very well lead you to gaining far more than 1000 new customers! Now, just block off about 2 hours a day for this activity. Get quantified by using your Q Goal method!

    • Is there a number attached to the goal?

    • If so, it can then be measured, tracked and quantified!

    Related: 6 Tips for Goal-Setting That, Trust Me, They Don’t Teach You in College

    3. S.M.A.R.T. Goals

    You know this one, right? They even teach this to kids in school now. But the big question here is: Are you doing it? Since we all know this type of goal really well, just take each goal you are creating for your business and apply it to the S.M.A.R.T. method. Understand that not 100% of your goals will fall into this, but 80% or so should. Or just get them as close as you can to being a S.M.A.R.T. goal. If you can do that, you’re well on your way to hitting your numbers this year!

    4. “I Will” Goals

    Far too often, goals that small business owners create are either too general to focus on or too weak to get motivated from. Here are some examples: I want to get more customers, I want to make more money, I want to increase my territory, etc. These goals have a serious lack of commitment, which is why another great idea you’ll want to implement into your goal-setting for your business is to add the “I Will” statement.

    By starting your goal with the statement “I will,” you place yourself in a position of obligation of reaching that goal no matter what. By having that “I Will” statement written down, you literally convince yourself that you will achieve it, and you’ll then begin to believe that the goal is something that you will do. Having the “I Will” statement written down reminds you of what needs to be done — it keeps you responsible and accountable for the results and ensures that you cannot blame the lack of effort or resolve on anyone else but yourself.

    The “I Will” statement makes you deeply committed to your goal, which is of high value because your business will have many, many challenging things come to pass and may even make you question your tenacity as you attempt to accomplish what you want. Some of these challenges will be big, and others will be small, but I promise you that you will be tested — and knowing what you will do can many times make all of the difference between failing and succeeding.

    Here are a few examples of “I Will” goals that also provide meaning and excitement (M.E.), and meet most of the S.M.A.R.T. and “Q” criteria (note that there is a date or number attached):

    • I will make 60 outbound calls each day.

    • I will onboard 1000 new customers by December 31 of 20XX.

    • I will spend two hours each day training new employees.

    • I will create one new marketing campaign each quarter.

    • I will use new technology to collect customers’ funds by end of July 20XX.

    • I will become the number one supplier of XX in my city/state by December 31 of 20XX.

    Related: The 10 Things You Must Do to Achieve Your Goals

    PRO TIP: Be sure to write your goals down in a visible area. Look, your business goals are not to be hidden from others, and should not be something that only you should know about. These goals should be posted up somewhere for all to see.

    Why? Because it’s far too easy to allow yourself to fall behind in your daily or weekly activities because “you don’t feel like doing it today.” Post your S.M.A.R.T. goals, your Q Goals, your M.E. Goals and your “I Will” Goals in plain sight! This way, in case you’re having “a day,” someone can help hold you accountable to a higher standard!

    And one more thing: You’ll be surprised at how many people will want to help you achieve your goals once they can see them up on the whiteboard in your office.

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    John Kyle

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  • The Secret to Achieving Your Resolutions

    The Secret to Achieving Your Resolutions

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    During this time of year, a popular topic is always setting New Year’s resolutions. You’ll find tons of articles on how to set goals, how to stay on track and even how to get back on track if you lose focus. These are all important considerations. But sometimes we need to go deeper to be effective. Sometimes we need to know not just what we want to do and how we should do it, but why.

    It’s easy to say that you want to live a healthier lifestyle. That’s the “what.” And it is easy to resolve that you want to accomplish this by eating healthier, exercising more and attending to more self-care. That’s the general “how-to.” And you can break down each of these steps into detail in pursuit of your goal. But the third critical step in the equation for long-term success is often to ask and answer why this is a goal.

    Related: 10 New Year’s Resolutions Entrepreneurs Should Make Every Year

    Answer the “why”

    Answering the “why” gives purpose and meaning to not only the goal itself, but to all of the effort you will be putting in to achieve it. It’s the motivation and inspiration behind every healthy meal, every trip to the gym, every book you read and anything else you take the time to do to live a healthier lifestyle. And it is often what we fail to articulate when setting New Year’s resolutions.

    There are lots of reasons why one might want to lead a healthier lifestyle — more energy, to look and feel better, to be able to participate in long-dormant activities, to model healthier behavior for our loved ones, to live longer. The list is seemingly endless, and no one reason is more important than the other. It is about what is important to the individual. But knowing the reason why and clearly articulating it to yourself is vitally important. It serves as a constant reminder and motivator. It allows you to effectively share it with others. And it serves to help remove or avoid distractions that get in your way.

    Making more money is a common resolution. People want to be better compensated for the work they do; they want to feel more appreciated; they want better financial security. Again, all good reasons to want to achieve this goal. But dig deeper — what is truly at the heart of why you want to make more money? What is the next layer? Do you want to be able to start saving and investing toward retirement? Do you want to reduce stress? Do you want to start saving for a college fund or a house? Why exactly is more money important to you? What is at the heart of your goal?

    Related: 3 Science-Backed Ways to Break Bad Habits

    How to maximize your results

    Resolutions should not be an isolated endeavor. In fact, studies show that sharing your goals with others and engaging others in the ongoing pursuit of your goals yields a much higher likelihood of success. So, there are five critical questions we should ask to maximize the results we want to achieve:

    Question 1: Why is this resolution truly important to me? Go deep, and be honest with yourself.

    Question 2: How do I make this happen? This should be the specific steps you need to implement. This often comes down to forming positive habits and/or replacing bad habits. It is about discipline and accountability. You need to identify these things in a clear and precise manner before moving on to question 3.

    Question 3: Who should be on your team? There is no special award for doing things on your own, and asking for help or partnering with others does not diminish your success. At its core, life is about the relationships we build along our journey, and embracing a team for your goals is just another opportunity to forge new bonds. Your team member(s) should be people who are supportive, honest and can directly contribute to the steps you have spelled out in question 2.

    Question 4: When am I honestly ready to start? Pursuing goals is not a linear process without its share of challenges along the way. But momentum is a real thing, and you do not want to start knowing it is not an ideal time to do so. It is vital to ensure you are in the right mindset to begin. That is why the first three questions are so important. But, simultaneously, do not look for excuses or reasons to put off your start. There is no such thing as a perfect time. It is when you decide you are ready and committed.

    Question 5: What comes next? There is a natural feeling of accomplishment when you reach a goal, often followed by a bit of a letdown because you have been focused on one thing for so long that it now begs the question of what comes next. This is why resolutions or goals should be seen as lifestyle changes rather than start-to-finish tasks. You can tell yourself, “I want to lose 10 pounds.” You can identify why and who is on your team and how you are going to accomplish it. But in reality, the loss of the weight should be a result of a change in a lifestyle choice that survives the benchmark of the weight loss.

    The healthier eating, exercising, etc. that got you to that goal is now a new lifestyle for you. The same concept can be applied if you want to save $100,000 for a house. When you implement a strategy of saving and investing to achieve this goal and bring in the right people to help, there is no reason to stop once you have reached the initial goal. It is a newly formed lifestyle choice you have developed.

    Ultimately, the real secret to resolutions is that the process you go through to achieve the goal becomes a permanent part of your lifestyle.

    Related: Why Most New Year’s Resolutions Fail and What You Should Do Instead

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    John Peitzman

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  • Become A Pro At Setting Attainable Business Goals With These Tips

    Become A Pro At Setting Attainable Business Goals With These Tips

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Business leaders are constantly setting lofty, impressive-looking goals for themselves and their companies. But what good are those goals if they’ve been thrown out the window within a couple of weeks? It’s time for business leaders to take charge and set intentions that can actually be achieved — not just high-minded ambitions that will fade away soon after.

    Instead of settling for vague directions, they should strive to make their objectives actionable and attainable with the right activities. Now more than ever, it’s essential for businesses to have tangible outcomes rather than empty promises.

    Related: The 5 Golden Rules of Goal-Setting

    Let your managers manage

    Sitting in the C-suite brings its perks, but it also removes you from many of the day-to-day operations your company executes. Your team leaders, however, are in the trenches. While executives set the direction, they should require their team leaders to set the milestones. These critical front-line players have an intimate understanding of how their team performs and what attainable milestones are.

    Without practical goals, employees risk simply shutting down or meandering aimlessly through flavor-of-the-month objectives. With realistic milestones, teams are fueled by purpose. Encouraging your team leaders to set these milestones ensures they are realistic and translates to buy-in.

    It bears repeating that your team managers require some direction. A clear, unbiased look at the last year can help set them on the right path. Executives should look at what was successful in that past year, determine why it worked, and figure out how to carry those same successes into the next year. Provide your front-line managers clear guidance on company goals and next steps, then step away. If you become a micromanager, you will squeeze your company to death.

    Related: 8 Reasons You Should Give Your Employees More Control

    Hold regular Azimuth Checks

    Once you’ve established realistic milestones for the year, it’s time to hold your team accountable for meeting them. One way leaders can do this is with quarterly reviews. And look, I get it. These meetings seem like a time suck. In practice, if it’s not ten minutes or less, I’m trying not to zone out on you. But at the end of the day, these quick check-ins can ensure that you and your team are on the same page and that everyone is clear on their expectations. Quarterly reviews vastly improve transparency as well as give leadership a chance to reinforce a united front.

    Regular meetings provide a great opportunity for communication down to the lowest level and create a more personalized feel than the typical canned newsletter. Most people send those newsletters straight to their trash folder anyway. Your employees want to know what’s going on in the organization and where they’re headed, and they want to hear it straight from the top.

    However, C-suite leaders can’t be the only ones presenting these ideas and goals. During these presentations, the entire leadership team needs to bring their A-game; the rest of the company needs to feel their excitement. We don’t have time to be company cheerleaders at every given second. More importantly, most people who work for your company barely see the CEO, so the front-line managers need to take that vision and share it with the rest of the team.

    Regular company-wide check-ins assure employees that their jobs are secure, that they’re working for a company with an actual vision and supporting goals, and that their leadership is motivated to succeed. On the ground level, I tell my team leaders that I want every single presenter to come to that room with three things they’re going to do this year to improve themselves as a manager, which helps them set personal goals that hopefully align with the company goals.

    Related: The Real Secret to Entrepreneurial Success (That’s Not What You Think)

    Implement accountability to track progress

    Organizations move by the minute, so you must monitor progress and hold your people accountable. Establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) is a must, and it can be good practice to make progress open knowledge throughout the organization. My company displays everyone’s KPIs on centralized screens in our offices. This may cause many leaders to recoil in horror, but this transparency provides several key benefits.

    First, it helps your team look out for teammates. I don’t believe you should automatically eliminate your bottom 10% — you should motivate them instead. Displaying everyone’s progress on KPIs lets your subordinate leaders notice if someone is suddenly underperforming so they can spring into action and figure out the issue.

    One of our employees started missing KPIs, and our open tracking allowed her managers to notice. After some investigating, we found that her mother had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and she had tried to leave it at home to avoid burdening the rest of her team. You can’t leave things like that at home, though, and instead of jumping to conclusions and terminating her, we were able to help her get through this trying time by letting her work remotely so she could care for her mom. With this accommodation in place, her KPIs skyrocketed back in no time.

    The other benefit of KPI tracking is that it fosters healthy competition in your team. One of my companies had a banner year last year, and the top performers were able to double their salaries through bonuses. Peer pressure isn’t necessarily a bad thing. By encouraging some competition among your team, you can help them reach milestones you wouldn’t have thought possible. Your team may very well be capable of reaching new heights, but if you’re not holding them accountable, they almost certainly won’t.

    Related: Fostering This Trait Is One of the Hardest Things for Leaders to Get Right

    Your team deserves success

    A key responsibility of a good CEO is to develop the next generation of CEOs. I want my employees to be CEOs someday, and I want them to be millionaires. But to do that, we need accountability measures. You will always have individuals trying to set the bar as low as possible; you have to hold them accountable.

    The most important thing to remember is that you need to be self-aware when setting these goals and milestones. As a CEO, I have a BHAG. But that doesn’t mean your employees have to have the same. Be fair, be realistic, but encourage them to push the envelope whenever possible. Treating your employees like future leaders can help them develop the maturity and sense to carry out your company’s vision. Your team deserves success, and you owe it to them. Crafting realistic and attainable goals is only one small way to do that.

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    Shannon Scott

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  • 3 Easy New Year’s Resolutions Every Business Owner Should Make in 2023

    3 Easy New Year’s Resolutions Every Business Owner Should Make in 2023

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    New year’s resolutions are a bit of a joke these days. Let’s be honest. To the point that breaking them seems par for the course. Only 9-12% of the 41% of Americans who make resolutions in the first place follow through with them.

    As business owners, we face this every year too. We set goals for our team, or we have growth forecasts to hit. Right from the jump, we commit ourselves to deliver a long list of lofty promises.

    And do we come through?

    It would be very glib of me to accuse you of writing checks your…um…”bottom” can’t cash. But statistically, that’s precisely what you’re doing. In the warm, cozy confines of the Christmas holidays and new year celebrations, you concoct all of these wonderful new milestones for you and your business.

    Then reality hits. The day-to-day operational issues, supplier delays and client requests. They all conspire to slow your progress to a crawl. Before you know it, you’re preparing for Christmas again, having hardly achieved any of it!

    Related: 10 New Year’s Resolutions Entrepreneurs Should Make Every Year

    The problem is that you tried to change too much!

    We all look for magic bullet solutions, but your mind is just not set up to cope with massive and sudden changes. As much as 97% of your decision-making is done subconsciously. That means that no matter how strong your intellectual resolve is — unless you can internalize your intentions and communicate them favorably to your subconscious — you’re unlikely to see them to fruition.

    You might think that working on your subconscious is a personal indulgence you don’t have time for, but trust me: you have to. Like it or not, your business is an extension of you. It exists because you created it and gave it purpose.

    If you are locked in a personal battle between your consciously held desires and your subconscious emotional programming, your business will rapidly lose direction and focus.

    So with that said, here are three easy new years resolutions that every business owner should make in 2023.

    1. Make ‘check-ins’ a part of your everyday routine

    What do I mean by this?

    I’m talking about taking five or ten minutes twice daily to take yourself off to a quiet space and check in with yourself.

    We can often become derailed as we go through our day. We unknowingly carry the baggage of the various issues we encounter into our subsequent decisions on unrelated matters.

    By checking in regularly, you’ll be able to hear and let go of your frustrations. Your ‘stuck states’ will be freed, enabling you to address your needs with a level head. Thus improving your ability to lead and your team’s ability to deliver.

    Related: This is Why Entrepreneurs Seriously Need to Take a Break

    2. Take regular ‘VIP Days’

    I do this at least once or twice a month, but it’s crucial in getting that 97% of your brain onboard.

    A VIP day involves you indulging in your favorite things to do. This could be shopping, a spa treatment, going to your favorite restaurant for lunch…anything.

    A big part of why you face so much internal resistance to change is because you are hardwired (thanks to millions of years of inherited, genetic wisdom) to resist it. The change represents the unknown, and the unknown is unsafe!

    Bearing in mind that this simple reasoning pre-dates language, reasoning and certainly globalization. It simply doesn’t have the awareness that your conscious mind does. What taking a VIP day will do for you is show your subconscious that you are a person who has taken chances and they have given your more security. Not less.

    A significant point of resistance to growth for so many of us is that we simply do not see ourselves as successful. By enforcing the taking of regular VIP days, you’re actively stepping into becoming that new person holistically. And your subconscious will notice.

    Related: Would You Rather Change or Let Your Business Die?

    3. Set micro-goals for your business

    It’s easy to drag everyone into a meeting on their first day at work of the new year and proclaim that “this year we’re going to aim to double growth in sales!” before dusting your hands off and returning to your office.

    Setting top-level goals is your responsibility, sure. But you won’t get there in one leap!

    Going back to what I just said about your subconscious programming. Looking at a high-level goal like that, with no conceivable way to break it down, is simply going to result in overwhelm for you and your team. You need to think about the lower-level steps along the way to achieving that end result and then walk those through with your team.

    Related: Do You Have a Love/Hate Relationship With Goals?

    Of course: delegate operational responsibility for them, but recognize your responsibility to understand what they are in the first place! When everyone can see the path clearly, understand precisely how to execute their part in it and feel confident in their ability to do so: you’ll be unstoppable.

    Limiting these to three and keeping them simple is to avoid overcommitting yourself and risking a shutdown. The reason for giving your three personal resolutions (rather than ones for your business directly) is to better resource you in terms of your mental resilience so that you can handle whatever comes your way.

    Make no mistake: the challenges of 2022 are likely to continue well into 2023. The best way to hedge against them is by better equipping yourself with the internal resources to guide your team decisively.

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    Daniel Mangena

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  • How to Make Sure Your New Year’s Resolution Becomes a Reality

    How to Make Sure Your New Year’s Resolution Becomes a Reality

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    It’s that time again! It’s a new year, and even though we’ve faced some challenges in years past, some of us still have high hopes for the future.

    So for those of you that have shouted your New Year’s resolution from the rooftops (and those of you that are keeping it to yourself), here’s how you can ensure you actually make your goals a reality this time around.

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    Desiree' Stapleton

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  • Happy New Year’s Eve? Many Business Owners Dread It — Here’s Why.

    Happy New Year’s Eve? Many Business Owners Dread It — Here’s Why.

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    For most people, New Year’s Eve is a big night of celebration, a chance to end the holiday season with a bang, a time to reflect on the year before and to make resolutions about the year ahead. But unfortunately, for some of my clients, New Year’s Eve is not a celebratory occasion. Some would even regard it as the worst night of the year. But, why?

    “Because every year I’m reminded that New Year’s Eve is the end of the year,” one client recently told me. “Which means having to start again at the beginning.”

    Despite all the reports of an economic slowdown, the fact is that most of my clients had a pretty good 2022. But none of them will say that it came easy and this year was particularly hard, what with higher inflation, rising interest rates and continuing economic challenges. But they battled and hustled and worked hard to make the year a success. So what’s their reward at the end of the year?

    They get to do it all over again. Yay! All of our prior accomplishments were short-lived. They’re already in the past. They’ve been wiped clean. January 1st sets everything back to the beginning. And for many business owners, the future is uncertain and unsettling. That’s why they hate New Year’s Eve.

    But it doesn’t have to be this way. If you’re like many of my clients and dread the beginning of a new year I’ve got a way for you to ease your concerns: forecast. Ask yourself this question on December 31st: Do you know what your cash will be on March 31, a mere 90 days from now? If you can reasonably predict your future cash, then won’t feel a little less uncertain about the future?

    Related: 7 Must-Dos Before the End of the Year

    Of course, you will. That’s because when you know the future you can make a plan. and when you have a future plan you can feel better about the present. And you can do all of this with a simple, basic cash forecast. It’s not as hard as you think. All it takes is these four simple steps:

    Step 1: Determine your overhead for the next 90 days

    This should be easy: You know what your payroll will be. You know your lease, debt and rent payments. You know what your utility, internet and other operating costs should be. I’m not asking you to forecast this for all of the year. Just the next 90 days. Write this down.

    Step 2: Agree on a reasonable estimated margin — or two

    This doesn’t have to be exact. Forecasting is an art, not a science. By now I’m pretty sure you know how much gross profit you make on a typical sale which is the sale price less the direct cost of materials and labor to make or deliver it. If you have a lot of products take an average. If you have just a few product lines and it’s easy to calculate, then use two margins and split it amongst your sales accordingly. Again, this is just an estimate. Maybe it’s about 20%. Or 30%. Whatever it is, pick a reasonable number.

    Related: 3 Stress-Reducing E-commerce Tips to Prepare You for the Holiday Rush

    Step 3: Now the “hard” part: Forecast your cash sales

    I put quotes around “hard” because every client I have thinks this is difficult. But it’s not, really. You’re just thinking of 90 days, not the whole year. I’m sure you have a listing of open quotes and open orders (which haven’t been converted to sales). You’ve got receivables that will convert to cash during that period. You probably have some sort of pipeline report from your customer relationship management system. You can talk to your sale team to better understand what deals are cooking. And, assuming you were in business before the pandemic, you’ve got historical sales from similar periods. Put all that together and I bet you’ll come up with a reasonable estimate of sales over the coming three months.

    So now, take those sales. Apply the estimated margin against them and then deduct your overhead. Congratulations: You’ve now forecasted your operating cash. But you’re not completely finished. There’s one final step.

    Step 4: Consider any extraordinary items

    Do you have any big debt payments coming up? Large purchases? A pending large sale? Estimated tax payments? Bonuses? Is there anything else significant you think of that’s out of the ordinary? Figure that in too.

    And there you have it, your final cash profit for the next 90 days.

    Take your cash on New Year’s eve, apply the final number to it (hopefully it’s positive) and you’ll know your cash 90 days from now. Not so tough. What’s tough is doing it the first couple of times. Once you get the process down, and you’re doing it every month, something big will happen: you will feel better. Why? Because you’ll know the future. And that’s what my best clients do. They don’t like surprises. They’re always looking ahead. They do their best to know what’s coming later so they can make their plans now. They take the time each month to forecast their cash because they don’t like to run their businesses in the dark.

    Forecasting is easier than you think. And it’s a critical management tool to help you run your business. Done consistently you will find yourself making much smarter decisions. But best of all, you’ll find yourself enjoying New Year’s Eve much, much more in the future. So Happy New Year.

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    Gene Marks

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  • How to Set Measurable Goals and Achieve Maximum Success

    How to Set Measurable Goals and Achieve Maximum Success

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As an entrepreneur or business leader, there are myriad reasons why you should care about goals: They help lead you in the right direction for your vision; they motivate teams and hold them accountable; they help leaders make decisions, clarify priorities and eliminate day-to-day distractions.

    But most importantly, the measurement of goals will help you track progress and explain the direction of your business to funders and other opportunities for financial capital — and the best way to do this is to include goals in your strategic plan.

    A strategic plan captures and communicates your goals to various audiences. The strategic planning process includes a document that summarizes your vision for the future of your organization and lists the goals and objectives to reach that vision. The result of this process is not only meeting the goals you were seeking, but also achieving greater organizational capacity, hitting your mission, generating greater revenue and being more financially secure. Here’s how to do it right.

    Related: How To Create A High-Performing Strategic Plan

    A common challenge with goals

    You’ve likely been hearing about goals since you were a kid. They’ve been taught and promoted to you by your teachers, counselors, coaches, bosses and so on.

    As a result of all of the different inputs, you have likely learned different definitions of goals. In fact, I bet that if you ask members of your team to define a goal, then you’d get a variety of different answers — and that’s a major problem.

    One of the challenges that I frequently encounter as an obstacle to successful strategic planning is the varying definitions of goals that team members have. When your team members define goals differently, they approach goals and performance with different perspectives and ends in mind.

    So let’s get everyone on your team on the same page with a common definition of a goal.

    I take my goal-defining guidance from the world of sports. In soccer, for example, a goal happens when the ball crosses over the goal line. In hockey, a goal is scored when the puck crosses the line. There are numerous other sports examples, but all of them provide crystal clarity for when a goal is scored.

    Applying this concept brings me to the following simple definition of a goal: a specific and measurable desired achievement.

    Related: A Guide to Goal Setting

    How to write strong goals

    You may be familiar with the well-known SMART mnemonic acronym for writing goals:

    • S: Specific
    • M: Measurable
    • A: Accountable
    • R: Relevant
    • T: Time-bound

    Over the years, I’ve found the SMART acronym to be quite useful. My definition above highlights the specific and measurable elements of the SMART acronym.

    Most of the time, the “A” in the acronym refers to either “achievable” or “attainable.” While that works, I think “accountable” (or even “assignable”) is stronger. All too often, I see teams create goals that don’t have people identified as being accountable to them. And, not surprisingly, the goals don’t get completed.

    Regarding the “R,” as in “relevant,” your goal should be taking you in the direction of a long-term vision.

    One other thing: I like to add a “goal topic” to the beginning of goals on a strategic plan since it helps readers get a quick idea of what the goal is about. For example, when setting a goal of receiving a specific score on a staff survey, I’d use the goal topic of “staff engagement.”

    When developing your goals for your strategic plan, ask yourself the following questions:

    • Is it specific?
    • Is it measurable?
    • Does it have accountability?
    • Is it relevant?
    • Is it time-bound?

    You’ll know you’ve got the right goals for your plan when the answer to each of those questions is “yes.”

    Related: Define Your Short-Term Goals With These 3 Components for Long-Term Success

    Goal guidance for your strategic plan

    There are two different types of goals that you can develop for your strategic plan: results goals and process goals. Results goals are accomplished when a specific metric has been achieved. Process goals lead to the completion of a plan, process or system.

    That said, you may be wondering about how you can measure process goals. Those goals are complete when you have a documented process in place. Sure, it’s not a number, but it’s still a measurable achievement.

    This leads me to a very important piece of guidance. Several years ago, I started to notice that organizations I worked with that were really succeeding in strategic planning utilized a high percentage of process goals. In other words, they created and achieved goals that helped them develop capacity-building processes. So, be sure to consider including process goals in your strategic plan if you want to create the changes you’re seeking.

    I recommend having goals on your strategic plan that are organization-wide that have a completion timeline of several weeks to one year. You can also list action items, the individual tasks of the larger goals, that will take a shorter amount of time to complete.

    In summary, it’s critical that you and your team have a common approach to how you write strategic goals. This guidance will help your organization solidify its strategic plan and achieve greater success.

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    Eric Ryan

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