How can you set goals with your online business that will create success rather than possible failure? That’s a question I’ve asked myself and others a number of times. With my different online business ventures I’ve been fortunate to have had considerable success. I attribute a good portion of that success to the online business goals I’ve set for myself, yet I have also seen those goals kill my online business just as quickly.
We all listen, or should listen, to the motivational speakers and professionals who coach us on our outlook, attitude and “goals”. There are some great ideas and concepts that these people tell us are keys to success, yet often we fail to act on those ideas even though we hear them over and over again. I can get totally charged listening to a live or recorded message by one of those speakers. I feel like I’m on top of the world and spiked with energy to “get it done”. I rush to find paper to write ideas down, or quickly click on notepad to type out my next mission. This all sounds great, right? Well, it should be, as long as I take all that positive energy to the next and most critical step of all… set my goals!
OK, so now I’m motivated, have ideas running rampant in my head, and I’ve wisely decided to sit down and establish my goals for this gaggle of new ideas I’m cooking up. This is all in preparation for my next online business idea, my next big purchase, my next… you fill in the blank. Now it’s time to take a deep breath and call on a little reality to set in. It has been my experience that when setting your goals for anything it is CRITICAL to think this process through completely and accurately. Over set your goals and your doomed for failure, under set your goals and you will most likely flounder.
There are those that believe in setting your goals extremely high. While looking for and planning for success with an online business, or anything else in your life, setting goals that are most likely never to be reached often leads the goal setter down a dismal road of self destruction. Contrary to what some may believe, often setting goals to high is more detrimental than setting your goals to low.
We all want to succeed. This drives most of us to some degree, and those of us who venture into online business are often very motivated towards success. This is where setting goals to high can break the back of the business and the person. When I get to the point that a goal is no longer attainable, I find myself loosing ambition. Why waste time on something that is not going to work. Thus the business crashes and all is lost. At least with goals set low, I would have reached the goal and then hopefully reevaluated my situation and my goals. Yes, stretch goals that may be just a little out of reach to push us to move forward, but keep the carrot in front of the horses nose, not way down the road where it can’t even see the bait.
How to keep your goals in line:
• Keep your goals sensible and within reach
• Reevaluate your goals from time to time… push yourself within reason
• Remember that a stretch goal is just that, a stretch… not a mile away
• Don’t be afraid to “downgrade” your goals when you see changes in your online business
What am I saying with all this? Well, it’s really fairly simple, as are most things in life. Keep your goals realistic, but also ensure they push/pull/drag you to move forward. Don’t set yourself up for failure by not writing down your goals, but don’t set yourself up for as much failure by writing down goals that you realistically will never reach. Your online business will be a success if you have realistic online business goals and work to meet and exceed them, rather than chase to reach high goals that will never be.