2018 Goal Setting: How to Set Goals and Achieve Them in 2018

Planning

Dec 26

Well, in case the flood of promo emails in your inbox didn’t tip you off, the holidays are officially upon us!

I absolutely love this season because I get to gather with friends and family and reflect on everything that’s happened in the last year.

But this season is also a fantastic time to chat about goal setting. Because ready or not, 2018 is quickly headed our way!

In this video, you’ll learn how to go through the 7 easy steps to setting goals for next year and what you need to do to set yourself up for success!

STEP 1: SET YOUR VISION

Picture this… no, really, picture it! Where do you see yourself next year? What is different about your business and what is the same? Who are you hanging out and chatting with?

When you picture your end game, it becomes easier to define what you’re really going after. It also makes your goal a tangible endgame rather than a broad concept.

STEP 2: SET YOUR BIG PICTURE

At the root of it all, what are your big goals for the year? What do you want to accomplish in 2018?

A good starting point for big picture goals can be revenue, but I challenge you to think more about the things you want to have done instead!

Do you want a bigger revenue so that…

You can attend more networking events?
You can outsource a certain kind of work?
You can create a new launch?

Those are all goals in and of themselves, so don’t limit yourself to just revenue!

STEP 3: SET QUARTERLY MILESTONES

Now that you have your big picture goals, it’s time to start breaking them down into actionable steps… starting with quarterly milestones. This ensures that your goals are realistic, attainable, and primed for success!

Here’s an easy example of quarterly milestones: say you wanted to grow your email list by 12,000 subscribers. In order to stay on track, you would need to gain around 3,000 subscribers every three months. So your quarterly milestone would be 3,000 new email list subscribers.

Similarly, if you want to launch a product the end of Q3, ask yourself what needs to happen in the quarters leading up to make that happen.

STEP 4: SET MONTHLY MILESTONES

Now that you have your quarterly milestones mapped out, divide those into monthly milestones. Is everything clicking yet?

To avoid overwhelm, don’t go into detail for the quarter right now. Focus on quarter one for now. Each milestone for quarter one should be represented here -- even if they seem small!

Ask yourself what needs to happen by the end of each month in order for quarter one to be a success? Fill your answer out on the workbook.

STEP 5: SET WEEKLY TASKS

Still focusing on quarter one, break each monthly milestone down into a list of tasks that need to happen. Put these tasks in order and use them to create a weekly action plan!

This specific action plan allows you to map everything out in advance and ensure your success for the month, quarter, and year.

2018 goal setting was never easier!

STEP 6: PUT EVERYTHING INTO YOUR MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Now that your quarterly, monthly, and yearly plans for your big picture goals are mapped out, start to transfer them into your management system. Utilize your systems to make sure you’re well informed and on track as you move throughout the week and month.

Whether you use Asana, Trello, ToDoist, or something else, take the weekly plans you just made and put them wherever you typically put your tasks and projects. Use it to set up alerts, schedule team meetings, and even assign tasks so that everything flows efficiently.

If you don’t have a go-to management system, this is the time to get one set up! Check out some of my tutorials below:

And if you don’t have a project management system at all, give this a read.

STEP 7: RINSE AND REPEAT

As you may have guessed, you’ll need to repeat steps 4, 5, and 6 each quarter. You may need to tweak based on your progress at the end of each quarter.

Be sure to do these steps BEFORE the quarter starts to avoid any delays.