Goal setting isn’t some charming little task we all get super-pumped to tackle. At least it didn’t used to be. There are some WAY cool tools out there now for goal setting. I want to share one of my faves with you since it is definitely that time of year. Resolution season is upon us. And if you’re an entrepreneur, you NEED goals. Big, scary, push-you-to-be-better kind of goals. So let’s dive right in.
The most life-altering tool I have discovered is Powersheets, Cultivate What Matters. The concept behind this tool changed my business and personal life last year, and if you only have budget for one of the items I recommend this week, this is absolutely THE ONE. It’s a spiral bound workbook, that basically holds your hand through setting goals and then breaking those goals down into actionable steps. That, right there, is the genius of Powersheets. Never before have I seen goal setting that helps you break the goals into “bite sized” pieces that you can actually accomplish. For a video tutorial, scroll to the end.
There’s a large intro section that helps you dissect who you are, where you’re at now and where you want to be. While not totally necessary for everyone (especially if you’re short on time), but I found the reflection time to be moving and a great way to end the year. The exercises on “letting go” are some of my favorite as I tend to be that person that over-commits myself. There are pages for realizing your fears and kissing them goodbye, a beautifully thought-out page on gratefulness and those who impact your life. Gratitude is always a good idea. Then we move into the goal setting.
Again, Powersheets has some exercises for figuring out your goals for the coming year. The “What Fires You Up” page is a fun one! Then there’s room for 10 major goals. Mine last year included things like, grow Realtor® on the Road blog, improve my photography, get 12 real estate listings for the Midwest team, read 12 books and complete a full calendar workout program. Now this is where it gets totally awesome. The action plan worksheets.
There’s an action plan sheet for each of your 10 goals. You re-write the goal, add your “why” (this is great to reference when you are ready to quit!!!), and then the starting steps. I’ll give you my action plan for the goal “get 12 listings for the Midwest team.” I broke it down into 6 steps. 1. Send expired packets. (Create one first!) 2. Property blogging and social media. 3. Add IDX to midwest team website. 4. Update all our marketing – create a team logo, new website, cards and marketing materials. 5. Get involved in a club or organization. 6. Create a schedule and stick with it.
Down the side of the page are a couple more boxes to fill in with things like, who can help with this goal, what positive result will this goal have on my life, what does progress on this look like and how will I celebrate this goal when it’s complete.
Last but not least you move into the monthly tending lists. You will fill this out every month. It contains 3 main sections for daily goals, weekly and monthly. These can be different each month, or the same. Whatever you need them to be. My daily items included things that helped me towards my goals like 15 minutes of reading, a strict morning routine, etc. My weekly items were things that advanced my bigger goals. Like writing X amount of blog posts. Sending X amount of expired packets, etc. Then my monthly items were the bigger tasks. For example one month I redesigned all our mailing cards, another month I created a totally new expired packet from scratch. On those bigger items, I just spent a small amount of time, a few times a week and before the month was over, I made sure that task was done!
I believe in this method and am blown away by the fact that breaking down goals into small steps isn’t something people talk about often. I’m guessing it’s exactly why most people never achieve their goals. A year goes by, and nothing has advanced or changed. Sad. I don’t live like that anymore. It’s such a great feeling to look back on 2017 and see all the things we accomplished, thanks in large part to Powersheets.
I’m not an affiliate or getting any kickbacks for this post. I just really believe in this product and wanted to share it. You can purchase your own Powersheets planner HERE.
The Cultivate What Matters shop is also home to my favorite daily devotional. Pick up a pack of those HERE. This is part of my powerful morning routine, every day! If you’ve added reading to your list, Make it Happen book was a great read too, and can be found HERE. I won a copy in an instagram giveaway. Definitely worth a read!
Comment below and let me know one of your goals for 2018!
https://youtu.be/JZaGefWu4Qs
This actually sounds like an awesome method for goal setting and achieving. I usually bite off more than I can chew. Or I let fear stop me in my tracks. I am a perfectionist too and if I feel like my work isn’t up to my expectations (typically compared against other experienced people in whatever area I am focused on), then I usually stop. I freeze. I’m frustrated that I do this to myself.
Example: I don’t have a gym to go to… so might as well give up working out. I need the gym to be fit and I need my group exercise classes to stay motivated. But I can get into better shape on my own. I can do some things in my tiny apartment. I am doing push-ups, planks, squats, etc each day. I am seeing improvement.
Another example: my website doesn’t look anything like the Blonde Abroad or the Traveling Blonde or Nomadic Matt, so guess I won’t publish it. Yup. That happened to me last year. I set it up in a tedious way and had some grand vision that was just too much to start with. I need to start out small. Maybe just a regular blog section first. Then slowly add other things. So I have to figure out what I am going to do with that this year.
Thank you for sharing this post! I’ll use some of these techniques to aid in my goal setting for this year.
You’re so welcome, Ann. You definitely don’t have to buy the book to use the technique of breaking the goals down in to small, actionable steps, and also the Monthly tending list would be super easy to recreate on your own!
As for your blog and website, I’m sort of the same way. Wanted them to be perfect before launching. But I also have heard so many people say that starting something is better than nothing. Even if it’s not where you want to end up, it’s good to just get going and start! Some of us (Cough cough, ME!) would love to read your blog… regardless of it’s level of “perfection.” My blog has taken over 2 years of morphing to get to something that looks like my original vision. But I’m glad I didn’t wait to start, because now I have two years of content and some readership/subscribers too. I wanna see a blog from you in 2018!! 🙂