The importance of setting business goals
13.11.2006
I was recently asked by a group of people at a function what held most business people back from being truly successful. After reflecting on this question for a while, I responded with the following response:
"Most business people lack strategic focus and many do not even have an end goal in mind or in sight."
I am constantly surprised by the number of people who accept trudging into their business each day without a clear end goal in mind. I think this is crazy and one of my goals is to help people out of this madness!
I liken this approach to swimming in a really large pool of water. The edge of the pool for most is the place you go and hold on for a breather or maybe even take time to get out of the pool to relax for a while and re-energise before diving back into the water and continue swimming.
Sadly, many business owners are swimming in a massive pool with no edges in sight. I see many business owners and individuals stuck in the middle of this massive expanse of water. They are forever swimming, not knowing which direction to head. Some swim over-arm, some butterfly, some even backstroke! What concerns me is that not all are swimming in a defined direction. There are no lanes, no time limits, not even a plan in terms of how the swim will be conducted. In fact, I see an increasing number of "one arm swimmers" (the trouble with a one arm swimmer is that they end up swimming in circles!).
The last e-newsletter included an article entitled The Importance of Getting Away. This related to a trip I did last year to Uluru (or Ayers Rock). For me it was fantastic in terms of helping me redefine my business goals.
Last month I completed a similar trip to the Rock. This time however, I went away with five other people. Three of them were Kensington Partners clients. We travelled through some of the remotest tracks in Australia. The Anne Beadell Highway, Connie Sue Highway, Heather Highway and even the famous Gunbarrell Highway were some of the tracks taken this year. I have included some photos for you. I particularly like the one showing me wrestling with the gigantic lizard tearing my shoulder off!
Seriously though, I cannot say enough how valuable it is to be able to take yourself away from your business to reflect on where you are heading, why you are heading there and setting various goals to reach along the way. I am increasingly being invited to assist many of my clients set their goals and, more importantly, help to achieve them.
Don't stay stuck in that huge pool swimming directionless. Many have decided to take the challenge and take themselves down the track of setting some excellent goals for their business. It has to start though at some point involving you seriously thinking about where you want to be and then, piece by piece, breaking this end goal into a series of action plans
.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you have an end business goal in mind?
- Do you have an end personal goal in mind?
- Are these goals achievable in the timeframe you have set?
- Does your action plan provide you with quality time available to spend with your family?
- Do you know how to set a realistic goal for yourself?
If you have a well-defined business plan and a clearly defined strategy to achieve your end goal then I say "well done" to you. I look forward to helping you celebrate when you achieve your goals. For everyone else, please don't despair. There is hope in all of this. I very much look forward to chatting to you about where you feel you are at, where you think you would like to be and most importantly, assist you in setting some goals and strategic direction.
The results will be life changing!
If you feel that you are lacking direction or maybe even needing some goal setting assistance, please make the first step immediately by giving me a call. I take great pride and pleasure out of assisting my clients achieve their personal and business goals. The process is much simpler than you probably expect.