Let’s get 2019 started right with these goal setting tips!

My daughter ran up to me yesterday bubbling over with excitement.

“Only 22 Days till Santa mom!!!”

Which to her little heart, there was nothing but overwhelming excitement, and inside my heart it created a todo list of epic proportions for not only anticipating the arrival of Mr Claus come the 24th, but more so the arrival of the New Year.

And with the new year comes the plans for the New Year and goal setting!

I’ll be totally honest, when it comes to personal goals, I am not the best. I’m working on it, but that gym just doesn’t get hit up as much as I tell myself it will you know?

But when it comes to business, I do love to goal plan. To think out my year and figure out just what it is that I want for my business.

Being a solopreneur is intense in the ability to be bogged down on the day to day needs of my biz, and forget to look at the birds eye view and to ensure I’m still on the right path that I want to be on.

It’s been ever so helpful to use these goal setting tips and put in a date on my calendar for 3 months later to look at the goals again and see how they are doing. Because you can’t set and forget your goals and actually plan on achieving anything by the end of the year.

So here are some goal setting tips for you to think on this month.

Set yourself aside some time to think on and really dream for your business and how you want it to grow in the next year, 5 years and 10 years down the road.

Goal Setting Tips for 2019

Setting SMART Goals

While it may feel super awesome to have a biz goal that says “make more money”, you are not giving your brain the specifics it needs to work on that goal.

What does “more money” even mean. Do you want to make $500 more or $5000 or $50,000? Are we talking this year this month or this weekend? This is where SMART goals come into play,

You want your goals to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. SMART.

There are tons of free resources on Google if you want a spreadsheet or worksheet for creating SMART goals, but I find myself keeping it more of a guiding light.

Instead of a goal of “make more money”, create a goal of making an extra $500 a month in your business. This gives your brain the roadmap to be able to actually look for the opportunity to make that $500 a month.

This is a SMART goal because it’s specific, measurable , attainable, relevant and timely.

If you give yourself the goal of making that $500 extra a month, then you can start to brainstorm how to bring in the revenue, all these steps bringing you closer and closer to achieving that goal.

PUSH Goals

The Push Goal comes from Chalene Johnson. She’s a podcaster and business coach helping folks grow their business, and she has a specific Push Goal Journal. I have not yet found my sweetspot when it comes to the perfect journal, but the excerises here that helps you decide on your Push goal are amazing. Chalene says your push goal is the one goal that you can set that if you achieve it, it will help you achieve many of your other goals in whichever area of life you are working on.

So, if you pick work goals, and you brainstorm 10 goals for your business in the next 90 days, then look a little deeper for a bigger goal that if you achieved it, would help the ball rolling to achieve all the rest of the goals on your list.

In her journal’s daily tracker, she has you call out what your push goal is, the date you want to achieve it by as well as 3 push goal related 10 minute tasks to perform that day. By writing down the goal and the due date every day, it acts like a ticking clock in your subconscious looking for things to make the goal happen for you.

And if you do three small things a day that pushes you towards your goal, you’ll be surprised how quickly you can achieve them.

Daily Affirmations

Another fun trick that I’ve picked up this year which I’m going to continue into 2019 is to write 10 daily goals. For me these a goals that are a mix of personal and work based, and are bigger, longer term goals. The goals are written as affirmations which means I write them as if they’ve already happened. I write them daily because goals are only useful to you if you are reminded of them.

I learned of this through Rachel Hollis and the Rise Podcast. She’s done this for years it’s shaped the business and life that she wants to live. Let’s face it, we want to make sure our lives are balanced in work and biz.  That isn’t easy to do as small business owners, so we have to be intentional!

I write down lofty goals like where I see my business in the next 1/5/10 years. Goals like being a better and more patient mom, and making time and space for myself in the mornings. Also, being financially independent and other goals that put my head in the space to move to throughout each day.

There are so many ways to think about goals in life and business. At the end of the day, what matters is to take the time to think on and plan. Take 1/2 a day to step outside the daily todos of your business and create the goals that will take you there!

Add Goal Setting to your Calendar

This one is simple to overlook, but helps so much to put a reoccurring date every quarter in my calendar.  I sit down and really look closely at my goals. Look at where I started, where I’ve accomplished parts of it, and how I can work on what is being over looked. If you don’t set time to look and review, you won’t ever make it to the finish line.

Reward yourself

Do you have super lofty goal that would just change things for you and your business? If you do, what will you do if you accomplish it? How will you feel, and how will you celebrate??

It’s SO easy to just move right on to the next thing. But don’t underestimate the value of patting yourself on the back, and getting your nails done too 🙂 Whatever feel-good thing you can do after accomplishing that goal to reward yourself? Put that on the wall to remind yourself of what’s you get when this goal is hit!

To Recap on Goal Setting Tips for 2019:

1. Set a Smart Goal
2. Create a Push goal that will help accomplish all the other goals you have set if you just accomplish that one
3. Write your goals down daily to help create space in your brain to look for the opportunities to accomplish your goals
4. Set a reoccurring 4-hour date in your calendar ever quarter to look at your goals and where you are doing good and what needs to be recalibrated.
5. Reward yourself

Will you help me reach one of my goals? It will only take a couple minutes of your time!

One of my main goals in 2019 is to learn more from you, my readers and create the content that you love.  What will help you grow your business? You don’t have to feel like you are hitting your head against the wall! You can make your business better year after year!

I’ve put together this simple poll that I would LOVE if you’d fill out. Let me know what you would like to hear more about in 2019! in Anything related to marketing and learning photography for your business. Just click the link below.

You’ll even have the chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card if you fill it out! Call that a win win!

2019 Content Poll for Brand Your Small Business

Then hit up the comments below and tell me your favorite goal setting tips! What helps you create goals you’ll accomplish in your business? I can’t wait to hear all about it!