by Corey Fradin, Founder of QuickBooost
Running a business is a lot of things. Sometimes, it’s insanely fun. Other times, it’s a slog. But, you already know that. You know all about the ups and downs of operating a business.
You can picture the feeling of joy you get when you finally:
- Make that sale
- Hit that certain amount of email subscribers
- Or get that work published
The high points aren’t the problem. The low points are the ones that cause issues. It’s those periods of despair between the high points that make you want to quit. So, what do you do to temper your discouragement? Well, if you’re like many business owners, you probably feel the need to set goals.
To work towards a future checkpoint that gives you hope and a feeling that tomorrow will be better than today.
Goal setting is great, but many business owners set themselves up for failure by neglecting to implement the proper infrastructure for their goals. And that’s a problem.
More traffic, please.
When I first started my blog several years ago, I too felt the need to set goals. So, what kind of goals did I set? Traffic goals.
For example, I wanted to have:
- 100 visitors per day to my site in November
- 500 per day in December
- 1,000 per day in January
- And 1,500 per day in February
Things started off optimistically enough. I hit my initial traffic goal but would then go on to… miss every single month thereafter.
I failed.
A doomed path.
But guess what? I didn’t actually fail, I was building a new business! I couldn’t call myself a failure for missing the mark on my audacious goal.
Instead, I came to realize that I led myself down a doomed path. My effort wasn’t the problem. The goals I set for myself were. What I came to understand was that I set goals that were out of my control. I had (and still have) absolutely no power over the kind of traffic my blog receives.
I can try to influence it, sure, but I ultimately have no say in whether or not my efforts pay off.
Pinterest may love me today, but Google may not. Medium may prove helpful tomorrow, but my email audience may not feel like checking out my latest post. I have no control over my traffic. What I’ve learned to do instead, then, is to set goals that I can control.
I can’t control who visits my site on a given day, but you know what I can control? The number of posts I publish in a given month.
You need control.
When I set a goal to publish a certain amount of posts in a month, I am in full control of it. I either write the words or I don’t. Success or failure is solely on me. And because of that, I am able to thrive. This year alone I set business goals to:
- Publish 10 posts in a month
- Create a new email series
- And establish a coaching program
That’s just a sampling out of the many goals I have for myself. And good news! With each of my goals, I have successfully achieved every single one! Every goal that I set for myself, I’ve achieved.
How? Because I set ones that were within my control. I can’t control the amount of traffic my blog receives, but I can control how many posts I publish. And by creating valuable content that my audience appreciates, traffic has gone up as a result.
But I didn’t tie my success or failure to what my analytics said. Instead, my success was based on whether or not those posts were published – which they were.
Finally achieve your goals.
Looking at your own business, if you want to set goals that you finally achieve and help you grow, set ones that are within your control.
You have no say over whether or not someone purchases your software, but what you can do is set a goal to make 50 sales calls a day. Those 50 calls may lead to more sales, or maybe they won’t. Either way, if you make the calls you will feel proud of the work you put in.
And that feeling of accomplishment will inspire you and will keep you in the game long enough to finally make that sale.
The alternative? Setting a goal that’s out of your control, coming up short, and then folding the business the next month when you declare that you “just can’t make it work.”
You can though!
Set goals that are within your control and watch as you make more progress than ever before.
Corey Fradin is the Founder of QuickBooost – a blog that helps you do more with your time (productivity, goal setting, that kind of thing). Corey has learned first hand how being intentional with your time can lead to a more fulfilling life. Wondering where to start? Corey recommends goal setting! In fact, his passion for goal setting has led to him helping countless individuals finally achieve their goals.
