How to do Set Powerful Goals that Drive True Business Growth

by | Nov 5, 2021 | 0 comments

We know from experience that the women who succeed in business are those who set aside time to strategically plan their business goals for the year ahead and translate their goals into actionable 90-day plans. If you have a bit of an aversion to setting business goals and prefer to just ‘go with the flow’ (and trust me, I get it!), just know this: Business planning more than doubles your growth potential. Read on to discover how to set powerful goals for next year that will drive true business growth. #goalsetting #businessplanning #annualplanning #goals #businesscoachforwomen #fempire #fempirecoach #businesscoach

Energy flows where intention goes.

 

Business planning is one of the most powerful activities you can undertake in your business.

Do you feel resistance when it comes to goal setting? I know I have in the past. The whole process of setting goals can feel too masculine, pushy, or ‘corporate’.

 

But I’ve come to appreciate that goals are simply clear intentions for the things you want to create, experience and achieve in your business.

 

I’ve tried running my business both with and without clear goals, and I can safely say – hands down – that my business has thrived and grown so much more when I’ve started the year with clear intentions.

And over the many years of coaching women to start and grow their own businesses, I know this for sure:

The women who succeed in business are those who…

  • Set aside time to strategically plan their business goals for the year ahead. 
  • Set clear goals and intentions for their business. 
  • Get support from a business mentor to find the fastest and most effective path to achieve their growth goals. 
  • Translate their goals into actionable 90-day plans. 
  • Measure their progress and pivot where necessary to stay on track. 

 

Plus, stretch goals elevate you and inspire you, because research (like this) has shown that you feel happiest when you having something to work towards that allows you to grow, unleash your full creativity and potential, and contribute to something you care about (that’s larger than you). 

 

Business planning more than doubles your growth potential (Biz Trends, 2016). 

 

Business planning is one of the most powerful activities you can undertake in your business. At Fempire, we spend several days in October, November and December mapping out our annual goals and marketing strategy. It’s how we stay on top of our game and continue to grow, year after year. As the old cliché goes: Failing to plan is planning to fail. Read on to discover the 7 steps to setting powerful goals that drive true business growth. #goalsetting #businessplanning #annualplanning #goals #businesscoachforwomen #fempire #fempirecoach #businesscoach

And as the old cliché goes: Failing to plan is planning to fail. 

 

Trying to run a business without having a clear vision of where you’re heading and what you need to do to get there is like flying blind. 

At Fempire, we spend several days in October, November and December mapping out our annual goals and marketing strategy. It’s how we stay on top of our game and continue to grow, year after year. 

And while money goals are important, there’s more to setting goals than just focusing on revenue growth. Goals can be a great way to intentionally create a personal and professional life you love. 
 
 

What does ‘success’ mean to you?

 
 
 
An essential component of setting goals that work is the act of first tuning into how you want to feel.
 
I give full credit to Danielle LaPorte and her Core Desired Feelings concept that has been a major force in shaping how I now approach goal-setting. Danielle was one of the first people to make me aware of how we have our traditional goal-setting processes backward. Traditionally, we focus on an end goal without taking the time to figure out how we actually want to feel, which often leaves us feeling empty and discontent when we actually reach the goal, because it didn’t actually make us feel how we wanted.

 

Your goals should excite you.

The thought of achieving them uplifts, inspires and motivates you.

How to do Set Powerful Goals that Drive True Business Growth

 

Step 1: Acknowledge & Celebrate the Year that Was.

Sometimes we don’t give ourselves enough credit for everything we’ve done, and instead focus on what we think is still missing. The simple act of documenting, acknowledging, and celebrating everything you did in the previous year lights the fires of passion, purpose, and creativity for the year ahead.

Gratitude and appreciation for all the goodness that manifested in your life provides an inspiring and exciting platform from which to springboard into your goal setting process. The easiest way to do this step is to write it all down, making sure you document:

  • What you DID;
  • How you GREW;
  • What you LEARNED;
  • Which new CONNECTIONS or networks you established;
  • And any other highlights of the year that feel significant.

 

 
Make sure you find a way to celebrate and give gratitude for all the goodness that manifested in your life. If it feels right for you, close your eyes and spend some time in quiet gratitude. Perhaps light a candle. Practicing gratitude stimulates all the wonderful high-frequency emotions that are necessary for getting into an effective frame of mind for goal setting (including appreciation, joy, optimism, hope, grace, ease etc).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step 2: Tune into Your Business Why, Vision and Mission.

Before launching into your goal setting process, it’s important that you tune in again to your business why, vision and mission, to align your compass in the right direction.

If you don’t yet have powerful and succinct why, vision and mission statements for your business that excite you, I highly recommend you take your time to develop them. To help you, I’ve written an article all about that called Why You Need to Know Your Business ‘Why’, Vision and Mission.

My ‘why’ statement is: Because I believe the world needs more successful female entrepreneurs.

My vision and mission statements are below. What are yours?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Step 3: Prioritise Yourself First: What do you need to be the best version of yourself next year?

This reflection is relatively new for me. I used to be someone who put my work before everything else, but that led to severe burnout in my mid thirties (you can read my story here).
 
Now in my forties, I make sure I do everything I can to protect my emotional, mental and physical well-being. As a businesswoman, you need to get into the habit of prioritising your personal needs, because your business is a reflection of you.
 
That means prioritising and fiercely protecting the things that I need to do to feel happy, healthy and balanced.
 
So here’s what I invite you to do. Reflect on these questions.
 
1. What are your personal needs and what do you need to prioritise to be the best version of yourself in 2021?
For example, I know that I need a sound healing every two weeks, plus a yoga retreat twice a year, plus regular date nights with my husband, and two family holidays (just to name a few), in order to stay balanced. So I book them into my calendar for 2021 NOW so that nothing interferes with those things. 
 
2. Block time in your calendar for your personal needs and make them non-negotiable.
If you have to change it, just move it somewhere else, but don’t ever delete it!
 
3. If you have children, get all the school holiday dates and pupil-free days into your diary so that they never take you by surprise.
As someone who’s often been taken by surprise when school holidays are suddenly upon me, I’ve learned to get them all into my diary at the start of the year so I can plan around them.
 
4. Decide how you want to FEEL in the year ahead.
 
I believe this is the critical missing piece in all of our goal-setting processes. Failing to take the time to do this step can set you up to achieve goals that don’t necessarily make you happy or satisfied or fulfilled – or burn you out, even.
 
To tune into how you want to feel, take some time to get quiet. Take a few deep breaths in and out. Place your attention into your chest area if you can. Take a few deep breaths and really feel into the energy in your heart centre. As you try to keep your focus there, ask yourself:
 

 

“How do I want to feel this year?”

 
 
Write down whichever words come up for you. My words for this year are:
 
 
 

If you need some inspiration for possible feelings, take a look at my Core Desired Feelings Library inspired by Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map. Click here to go to the Core Desired Feelings Library.

 

 

  

Step 4: Engage in Divergent Thinking to Imagine Quantum Leaps for your Business.

 
If you want to set exciting stretch goals that drive business growth, it’s critical that you undergo some form of DIVERGENT THINKING before you narrow yourself down and choose goals that you want to shoot for in the year ahead.
 

 
So many people go straight into convergent thinking in their goal setting, without going through divergent thinking, which makes them choose goals that are ‘same old-same old’ – and don’t stretch them beyond conventional thinking into a true growth zone.
 
We use divergent thinking to CREATE CHOICES, and then we use convergent thinking to MAKE CHOICES.
 

Do you struggle to set goals for your business that feel really inspiring and motivating? Annual goal setting is so critical. The act of setting business goals more than doubles your growth potential. Trying to run a business without having a clear vision of where you’re heading and what you need to do to get there is like flying blind. Read on to learn seven steps that we follow at Fempire to set powerful goals that drive business growth, year after year. #goalsetting #businessplanning #annualplanning #goals #businesscoachforwomen #fempire #fempirecoach #businesscoach

An important part of the divergent thinking process is allowing yourself to DREAM BIG and to expect ‘quantum leaps’ in your business. Price Pritchett defines Quantum Leaps in his book You2 – A High-Velocity Formula for Multiplying Your Personal Effectiveness in Quantum Leaps. I highly recommend reading his book if you want to learn more about his approach, which integrates quantum physics principles into personal effectiveness tools.
 

Don’t you think it’s a pretty amazing thing that the only thing limiting us in life is our imagination? That we can literally do anything we want if our heart and soul want it badly enough? We get to literally dream up the life we want to live. As Price Pritchett says in his book You2:

 

“Seeking the quantum leap means violating the boundary of the probable. It means achieving well beyond the obvious. So don’t limit your desires to what you think you ‘can have’ …. start going after what you ‘want’. This means you must give yourself permission to dream, to risk. You must set yourself free.”
– PRICE PRITCHETT

 

What kind of goals would represent Quantum Leaps for your business next year?

What could you strive for that would drive quantum business growth?

Do you struggle to set goals for your business that feel really inspiring and motivating? Annual goal setting is so critical. The act of setting business goals more than doubles your growth potential. Trying to run a business without having a clear vision of where you’re heading and what you need to do to get there is like flying blind. Read on to learn seven steps that we follow at Fempire to set powerful goals that drive business growth, year after year. #goalsetting #businessplanning #annualplanning #goals #businesscoachforwomen #fempire #fempirecoach #businesscoach

 

Step 5: Choose 3 – 5 Goals that Will Drive Business Growth.

 
 
Now that you’ve been through a process of divergent thinking to dream big, now it’s time to ‘converge’ and choose which goals you want to aim for in the year ahead. When doing this, remember that ‘more’ is not necessarily ‘better’. Choosing a few quality goals that are closely aligned with your vision and mission – and represent quantum growth – will position you to have a great year.
 
Choose 3 – 5 big goals that feel exciting and motivating.
 
If you’re looking to increase profits in the year ahead, check out my article Profit Queen: 5 Powerful Wats to Optimise Your Business Model for Greater Profit to understand your leverage points to grow your business.
 
 
 
 

Step 6: Translate Your Goals into Milestones and 90-Day Plans

Now that you have your high level goals, it’s time to translate them into:

  • Your business plan
  • Your marketing plan.
  • Your marketing schedule.
  • Your financial budgets.

This is where the rubber hits the road and you get super specific and clear about what you want and need to achieve in the year ahead.

Each year at Fempire, we spend several days planning out our goals and translating it into major marketing  and business initiatives. We then get those events or milestones into our calendar with specific dates that drive all of our efforts.

There are many reasons why 90-day goals are the most effective in driving business growth. Go here to learn all about it: How to Quickly Grow Your Business with 90 Day Goals.

I’m sure you’ve heard of SMART goals before.  We recommend using the PACT system instead for defining your goals, which stands for:

P: Purposeful
A: Actionable
C: Continuous
T: Trackable.

To learn more about PACT goals, go here.

 

 

Step 7: Get your Goals and Milestones into your Calendar.

To make your goals real, you’ll need to schedule them into your Yearly Planner so that you can work towards them. Put them somewhere where you can see them and be reminded of them consistently.
 
Lastly, have a think about some support structures you can put in place to make sure you regularly check in with your goals and modify them if needed if they’re not aligning with your desired feelings.
What support structures can you put in place?
A vision board?
Hanging your goals up somewhere where you can see them?
Telling your partner so they can remind you? Telling a friend and asking them to check in with you?
Joining a group that will actively support you in pursuing your goals?
 
One of the most powerful things you can do to stay on track with your goals is to get a Business Coach who will support you and keep you accountable. The average return on investment for business coaching is five times! Invest in mentoring now to take your business to new heights.
 
If you’re interested in learning how I can support you to grow your business, book your Discovery Call (at no charge to you) with me to see if we’re a good fit. Book your call now.
 
 
 
 

Do You Need Help with Your Strategic Planning for 2022?

 

Have you started thinking about your business goals for next year yet? If not, you need to! 

Business planning more than doubles your growth potential.

How would you like to: 

  • Arm yourself with strategic business goals that feel clear and exciting – that are achievable but will stretch you in all the good ways. 

  • Go away on your Christmas break knowing you’re ready to hit the ground running in 2022. 

  • Start 2022 stress-free by getting all your business planning done now. 

  • Feel clear and inspired about the year ahead. 

I have a very special offer for you and I only have FIVE spots open for November – will you be one of the wise women who invest in strategic business planning to make next year your best ever?

Be quick! These always fill up FAST.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.

 
 
In service to your success,
 
 
Kate De Jong, Ph.D.
Fempire Coach for Thriving Female Entrepreneurs
www.katiedejong.com
katie@katiedejong.com

 

Are you starting or growing your own business? Get your FREE Fempreneur Success Handbook and discover everything I wish someone had told me back when I was starting my business in 2014!

 
 
 

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