Setting goals is a great practice because it helps you stay on point but some people approach this strategy the wrong way. I’ve always encouraged my clients to set goals when starting a business or even when doing work every day because when done correctly, it will help you stay focused on the bottom line. Over the years, I’ve played around with many techniques to improve my productivity and have found some to work better than others. The key is to try different strategies and test out which ones work optimal for you because your schedule will be different compared to others. However, once you’ve tested out and found a winning combination, it’s important to stay away from making common goal setting mistakes.
Here are “3” common goal setting mistakes made by people and entrepreneurs.
Wrong Priorities
Many of you are probably having a hard time understanding what I mean and the concept is very simple. It’s important NOT to focus on work that is not adding to your bottom line. You’re going to have a lot of work and many people like to focus on work that takes the longest, however, this work might not be producing the MOST results. You have to sit down every day and go through the list, adding a number to each assignment so you know what’s the MOST important on your list. However, here’s the secret…
The number should NOT represent what takes the longest time or is MOST important because you have to focus on which task makes the most difference when completed. By using this strategy, you’ll effectively organize tasks into what gets the MOST done for you and those that produce the most results.
Don’t Fantasize
Many times, your mind can play a lot of tricks on you, which, for some, might be sheer entertainment. However, in business, this can be a very bad thing because you’ll end up fantasizing unrealistic goals for you business and this is NOT a good thing. You have to have a clear vision about your business and know what to expect at all times so keep things realistic so you can focus on the right elements of your business. If you let your mind run wild, then you’ll fantasize too much about the future, when, in reality, you still have years of hard work and hours to put in.
Here’s what you should do going forward…
First, focus on now and what you have to immediately to get to the position you want to be. However, don’t look past the week or month to help you set small goals along the way. Going through a handful of small goals will keep your expectations realistic and over several months, you’ll reach a limit you would never have imagined before.
NOT Starting Tasks
I roughly write around 10,000+ words per week and sometimes I write late into the night. I have to admit that sometimes I’m just too tired but I’ve learned a value lesson through the years that starting to write is motivation. I’ve noticed I dread starting a task, but once I’ve started it, I’m in full swing so I encourage everyone to start moving. If you have the same mentality and work late into the night, then you might want to consider changing your approach. For example,
Push yourself to sit down and start doing work because once you start writing, you’ll be in full swing and motivated to finish. One of the biggest mistakes made by clients and myself is NOT getting to work when I have tasks to finish. Remember, all it takes is a 5 minute commitment, which will transform into a 2 hour commitment and get you on the right track of achieving your goals.
Keep these factors in mind the next time you are optimizing your goal setting strategy. It’ll help you stay focused and avoid some of the big mistakes going forward. These will also help you get more done, which is awesome for anyone who has a huge lists of tasks to complete on a daily basis.