When you get into your car, you know what your destination is and you have a route to get there (perhaps satnav-assisted!). When you decided to set up your own business, did you have a destination in mind and were you clear about when you wanted to get there? And if you weren’t clear about either, how are you finding the journey so far? How do you know what turns to take; when to take them; and what to pack?
To translate that into business terms, what are your goals; what plan do you have to achieve them; and what skills and resources will help you to execute your plan? If your aim is just to pay your bills, guess what? That is all your business will achieve!
If you want your business to work for you rather than you work for your business, ask yourself the following questions –
- What are my personal goals and ambitions (holidays/lifestyle etc)?
- What does my business need to generate to enable that?
Make your goals visible
MAKE YOUR GOALS VISIBLE so you see them EVERY DAY. Then put a plan in place to realise those goals; identify what you need to learn to facilitate that; and hold yourself accountable to the actions you need to take. And regularly ask yourself, “what have I done today/this week to move me towards achieving my goals”.
By having a powerful set of personal goals and aspirations (your destination) that matter to you, that will deliver the motivation (fuel) to take action. And by looking at your dashboard on a regular basis (reviewing progress), you are able to measure whether you are on track to reach your destination on time and have the confidence to change route if you are not. “regularly ask yourself, “what have I done today/this week to move me towards achieving my goals”