Setting Targets

What most business people are looking for is more money, more time, and more freedom.

The first step is identifying what’s missing in your current situation that’s preventing you from striking your ideal balance. Generally speaking, what I recognise as missing from my clients’ lives comes down to three things:

1. They don’t have the time to work on their business.

2. They don’t have the right team on board.

3. They haven’t set specific targets.

What I want to focus on in this article is that last point: setting specific targets. This is often where we need to get started before we eventually tackle all our other aspirations.

So how do we go about setting clear, specific, and holistic targets for our business growth?

Let’s start by defining exactly what areas of our business make up our growth.

At the very basic, we have our delivery. What product or service do you offer, and how do you go about providing it? Then we have our process of converting prospective clients. This looks different for every business, but if you’re interested in reading up on my strategy to convert successfully, check out the other two articles I wrote about it here and here.

Finally, we come to the process of attracting new business. Getting our business in front of our ideal clients.

So how does this all tie in together? We’re looking at the standard practice of Attract. Convert. Deliver.

Now, as you know, without proper foundations, we can’t build a strong structure. To help you grow your business across all aspects, we need to set clear targets across the board. I

In our Mastermind group, we tend to focus on three general areas for growth, and they can mean different things to different people:

1. Money

2. Time

3. Freedom

Which of these three things resonates most with you? For many people, it’s a combination of all three. Regardless of what your goals are, there’s a simple process to get there. It begins with setting your specific target and ends with your desired outcome, whatever it may be.

Let’s break it down into steps to achieving those outcomes.

1. Set your target.

Be as specific as possible. Is it a dollar figure? Is it a holiday destination?

2. Determine your ‘why’.

Why are we setting these targets? What will they help us achieve?

3. Get down and dirty.

Work through the specific things you need to do to get you there.

4. Desired outcome.

See all your hard work pay off by working strategically.

What happens when we do all this in the right order?

We find clarity and direction, which ultimately help keep us on track by reminding us of the relevance of why we’re doing what we’re doing. Let’s dig deeper. Roll up your sleeves. Grab a piece of paper and let’s do a short exercise.

First off, write down your target. Whatever it is, right off the bat, whether it’s money or time or freedom, right it down.

Then ask yourself, what will that get you? Repeat the question over and over again until you come to an answer that isn’t material. For many people, the answer is more quality time with the people that matter most.

Now that you have a clear target and a deeper understanding of your ‘why’, it’s time to figure out how you’re going to get there. Again, be specific. Write down 3-5 action items at the very least. This is your new to-do list. You can do this exercise as many times as you like, and I suggest you do it for every goal that you have.

The outcomes will come to you in due course.

The lesson here is that when we get specific about what we want and how we’re going to get there, all our big-picture goals that once seemed daunting and far-off suddenly become much closer and much more attainable