Are you a small business owner, startup founder, entrepreneur, or a little of all three? If so, you already know what it takes to achieve your goals—but is there a better way? Studies have shown that setting both long-term and short-term goals is the ticket to success. Long-term goals are important for the big picture, but without short-term goals it’s kind of like saying, “I’m going to run a marathon in one year” with no running experience and no plans to start training.
Most of the time, the bulk of our work and inspiration is in those short-term goals. Make all your goals “SMART” (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based), which is the recommendation for goal-setting in a number of environments including the National Association of Sports Medicine (NASM) personal training approach. If your goals aren’t SMART, they’re unlikely to be achieved.
Taking the “ladder approach” is a way of piecing short-term goals together to reach long-term goals. Numerous short-term goals can also be applied to a number of long-term goals. Physically draw a ladder and hand-write the goals. We tend to better remember items that we write by hand, even though it’s convenient to type or use speak-to-text features.
Each step of the ladder is a short-term goal that brings you closer to your long-term goal. Creating a ladder is also a way to help you map out what needs to be done and in what order. For instance, if you’re considering buying another franchise or opening a brick and mortar establishment to complement your online business, what needs to be done first? Who do you need to contact, are there licenses or certifications you need to acquire? Can business be conducted from home? And what about the legal issues? Simply thinking, “Let’s buy a franchise!” is a very long-term goal that can instantly seem overwhelming. However, when you take it one step at a time, suddenly it’s attainable.
The Toughness of Goals
How challenging should goals be? If they’re too easy, you might bypass them or complete them without any sense of achievement. If they’re too demanding, that’s going to increase your stress and your odds of burnout and ditching the project. Goals, whether short-term or long-term, should be challenging yet realistic (there’s that “R” in SMART). It’s tough because only you know what’s challenging and realistic for you, and you’re also the one setting these goals. It requires honesty with yourself.
Another approach is asking someone else to help. In many cases, unbiased third parties are best, such as a connection at the Small Business Association (SBA), which has offices around the country. You can certainly ask a spouse, friend, or business partner, but they naturally have biases that might not be beneficial to your business-related goals.
A life coach or therapist may also be a resource for helping with goal-setting. They have enough distance, and professionalism, to help you stay honest about the difficulty level of each goal. Once your ladder is complete, know that it can and probably will change. That’s okay. Nobody’s forcing you to abide by the ladder. Feel free to change and modify as is necessary, add in more steps, or change the date that a step has.
Dates can be key in steps, helping to hold you accountable. Some steps are date-friendly and others aren’t. When crafting your ladder, consider whether a date or timeframe will benefit each step. Long-term goals should all have dates attached, though they can vary based on the goal. However, any farther than 18 months out, and you risk the ladder becoming outdated and unused.
If it seems like some people are better at achieving their goals than others, it could be an illusion. They might be more vocal about their success than others, luck could be at play, or maybe they’re using the ladder approach. Where will your ladder take you?
Image source: Pixabay