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Do You Know Where You Are Going [Setting Goals] – Episode 174

Do you know where you are going? Have you set goals?

Without a road map, you will never get anywhere.

LACK OF GOALS

We just lost a guy from our mastermind, because his goals were not clear. He let that get in his way.

The mastermind started back in February. We had intended to take it to three months and then evaluate the progress. We made it to six.

When the group began, we all described where we were in our business journey and where we wanted to go. We talked about our hopes and dreams. We started holding each other accountable each week to make progress on our dreams.

Each week, we would talk about our progress and accomplishments. We would help one member with their struggles. At the end, we would establish the steps we planned to take in the upcoming week to make further progress.

That is how you achieve your goals. You define your dreams. You put a deadline on those dreams. Then, you take baby steps each week toward those goals.

It sounds like an easy process. It is simple, but far from easy.

When we began, our guy talked about his dreams just like the rest of us. He had great goals of launching a business creating masterminds. He had been in quite a few over the last six years and was great at running them.

Our guy joined the group to have someone hold him accountable. He is a self-described “shiny object person”. Masterminds would be his side hustle, because he has a full-time job.

By the second meeting, we had helped our guy flush out his desires, strengths and path. He pivoted a little from group masterminds to a personal accountability coach.

On the third call, he reported he had launched a coaching website, but also had a few people interested in a paid mastermind. I thought, “At least he is making progress toward revenue.”

The next week he reported that he made no progress. He was working on a video for his coaching and still trying to launch the in-person mastermind.

By June, our guy had a few free mastermind meetings with friends, but was struggling to convert it to revenue. He was looking to pivot. He just wasn’t sure he was headed down the right path.

When July rolled around, he was exploring new aspects for his business and possibly a new niche. This is when he decided to start a blog for his content. The very next week he was interviewing people for a podcast he was planning to launch.

As we neared the end of July, our guy was back talking about the mastermind niche and how he could create a live workshop to help businesses launch a mastermind.

His distractions finally got the best of him. As we rolled into August, our guy decided he needed to get out of the group. After six months, he really spent most of the time battling the impostor syndrome. He let it prevent him from taking meaningful steps toward his goal.

LITTLE, CONSISTENT STEPS

If you want to reach your goals, you need to find ways to take little steps each week. Determine the next logical step in your journey and take it. Don’t worry about six months down the road. Worry about today.

What can you do today to simply make progress?

This is one of the benefits of having a coach. If you find the right person to coach you, they can hold you accountable to your progress. Then can give you a little push when you need it. Maybe help you create deadlines.

I do this quite often with my coaching clients. Sure, I help my clients shape their contents to be more engaging. They learn to be better interviewers. We work together to create a workflow that is more efficient.

But most importantly, I help podcasters stay accountable. Each week, we set little baby goals for the week that build on each other to reach the big goal.

Could you use a coach to help you stay accountable to your goals? Do you need that little nudge every once in awhile? I can do that for you. Check out the coaching tab online at PodcastTalentCoach.com.

The first session is free. We use that to set some goals and get to know each other. We see if we work well together. If we are both comfortable with it, we go from there.

I would love to help you reach your goals.

GOALS IN 7 AREAS AND 5 YEARS

So, let’s talk about goal setting. What can you do this week.

Grab a sheet of paper. Spend 5 minutes writing down your dreams. What do you hope to accomplish over the next five years. Big goals. Big things won’t happen unless you dream big.

Over the next five years, what does your podcast look like? What does your life look like?

Break these big dreams into seven areas of your life. Your long-term goals should include career, money, self-improvement, family, social, spiritual, and health.

Define your career. How are you employed? How many hours a week do you work? What does your work life look like five years from now?

With regard to money, how much do you have? How much are you earning per year in five years? What are you doing with your money?

As you begin to describe your self-improvement five years from now, consider things like your education, knowledge and the overall person you have become. What do you need to be a better person five years from today?

Family is a piece many people forget when they are goal setting. Money and career are easy. What about your family? What does your family look like in five years? How much time are you spending with them? What are you doing with that time?

Your social goals should include your friends and acquaintences. It is often said that you will become the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Who are those people five years from now? Be intentional with your friendships. Set specific goals in this area.

How is your spiritual life? How would you like that to look in five years? If you feel it could be stronger, let’s set some goals to make that happen.

Your health doesn’t improve because you hope it will. Goals will help you become healthier if you make it a priority. Set big goals in health that you can work toward five years from today.

GOALS FOR THIS YEAR

Now that you have big goals set, let’s figure out what you can do in the next year to work toward those goals. Sure, you have five years to accomplish them. That means we need to make progress each year over the next five to get there.

Big goals won’t happen overnight. It takes consistent effort. Break your five-year goals into smaller steps that you can accomplish over the years.

How far along will you be toward each goal twelve months from now?

MONTHLY GOALS

After you have determined your one-year goals, break those into twelve steps. This will be one step for each month. What do you need to accomplish each month in order to hit your annual goal?

Be realistic with your progress. This will be a snowball. It will get much bigger each time it rolls over. Very similar to compound interest. It doesn’t grow in a straight line. The line curves upward. Your progress will do the same.

Think of revenue for a business. Revenue doesn’t typically grow in a straight line, like 100 this year, 200 in year 2, 300 in year 3, and 400 in year 4. Revenue growth is typically 100 in year 1, 150 in year 2, 300 in year 3, 550 in year 4. The amount of growth increases each year. You build momentum.

WEEKLY GOALS

Now that you have monthly goals, break those into weekly goals. These are your baby steps. Little steps each week will help you reach your monthly goals.

Stack your monthly goals on top of each other and before you know it, you’ll reach your yearly goals. Your five-year goals are reach by taking little steps each week. Eat that elephant one bit at a time.

MAKE UP WEEK

I would suggest you build in a “make up” week every six to eight weeks. These are the weeks that will help you catch up. When you miss the goal, because it was a bit out of reach, these make up weeks will help you get on track.

It would be very easy to give up after you miss a couple weeks of goals. A make up week could be very beneficial to keeping you energized.

Keep your success front and center. You may not hit the goal exactly, but you will still be making progress. If your goal was 200 and you only hit 175, you are still better off than where you started. Keep your eye on the prize.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Would you like me to help you structure your goals and hold you accountable? Let’s talk about my coaching. I’d love to give you a hand.

I work with my clients on a weekly basis. We do a 30 to 45 minute call each week to review your goals, intentions and progress. I also listen to an episode before each call to help you improve. We discuss any struggles you are facing and how you can overcome those issues.

After our call, I send you a written recap of the podcast review and our call. That allows you to listen and ask questions rather than taking notes the entire time. I want the call to be packed full of information for you. I’m also available to you via e-mail anytime you would like.

Get my coaching info under the coaching tab online at podcasttalentcoach.com.

This week, take time to set goals. You cannot reach your destination until you have defined where you are going and how you plan to get there.

 

Do you need help with your podcast? E-mail me any time at Coach@PodcastTalentCoach.com. Let’s see what we can do.

You can find my podcast and other tools to help you create great content at www.PodcastTalentCoach.com.

Let’s turn your information into engaging entertainment.