Catch up on some related episodes:

How to feel confident in knowing what to focus on to grow your business (Path to Predictable Income Series)
The #1 strategy to ensure you're getting paid each & every month
The one thing holding you back from creating consistent income (Path to Predictable Income Series)

Today’s talking points:

Struggling to stick to your well-intentioned goals after setting them? I've got your back. I’ve got you. Let me show you how you can create goals you’ll follow through on.

Download The 12 Month Boss Game Plan

I want to start off today with two words for you: GOAL SETTING.

It seems like an easy enough process. You write a goal down on a sticky note. You put it on your wall so that you can look at it every single day and be inspired about what you're working towards.

But then five months later, that sticky note has gone missing. It is lost in the shuffle. You have no idea what direction your business is going in.

Oops!

This is one of the reasons that goal setting is often a practice that does not work for most people. We tend to only do it once a year and then completely forget about it.

That's why in part four of the Your 2024 Gameplan series, we are going to approach goal setting differently so that you can create goals you'll actually follow through on.

planning = flexibility

I'm all about getting you out of information overload and into implementation mode.

So I want to start off with some honest truth for you. We are all going to have years of highs and lows. We're not going to have steady, great months every single month where everything is exactly the same. We're going to have good months and bad months, we're all going to have seasonality that impacts our business, we're all going to have the economy that impacts our business.

But we want to make sure that we are building a plan that allows you both the flexibility and freedom you need with the focus. You need to be a resilient and proactive, boss. Learning to set strategic goals is going to help you stay more focused on what you are creating in your life and in your business.

Instead of getting distracted by another shiny object, we're going to make sure that we are all creating goals and we can follow through on that you can implement and see results.

make goal setting work for you

So, in part four of the 2024 game plan series, we're diving into goal setting. But let's be real—have you ever felt a love-hate relationship with setting goals? Like it just doesn't work for you? Let me ask you this: How often have you set a New Year's resolution only to fall off track halfway through January? Studies reveal that many individuals keep setting the same resolutions year after year without achieving them for up to a decade.

There are real reasons why goal setting can fail. It's not just about setting SMART goals—around here, we do things a little differently. Goal setting starts to crumble when there isn't a plan to turn those goals into actionable steps. Lack of support, accountability, or training often creates gaps between the goal and where you are standing right now.

So I want to guide you through a fresh approach to goal setting. We'll map out your top goals and explore what you need to make those goals a reality. Without systems, support, or strategies in place, goals often remain just words on paper. Let's ensure you have everything necessary to kick-start your journey towards your goals. That's what we'll be focusing on in this process. Ready to dive in?

goal setting - step 1: Brain-dumping

Alright, let's kick off with step one of this process: we want to brain-dump all of your potential goals for 2024. Here, I don't want you holding back; don't edit yourself. Just spill out all your ideas, everything you aim to achieve, complete, or wrap up in your business by the end of next year.

Here's a huge tip that's a game-changer. This is something I consistently share with my clients, and it's a big focus in the Embodied Boss Collective. It's easy to jot down a million things on paper. We're fantastic at generating new ideas. However, we tend to miss crucial aspects of our business that could make it run smoother, more efficiently, and with higher profits.

So, I encourage you to consider different aspects of your marketing, sales, and delivery. It's important because when I start working with business owners, their initial focus is often their revenue goal—front and centre, and then they dive into various projects they want to complete. Great, but they overlook aligning goals with their marketing, sales, and delivery strategies that ultimately contribute to the revenue goal they're looking for.

So we want to break this down: if you don’t have solid marketing, sales, or delivery systems in your business then these should be your priority before diving into new projects like a website redesign or creating a new product. Let's clarify this process.

You’ve heard me talk about my five-part process for crafting a marketing and sales strategy. The first three parts revolve around your marketing strategy. Then comes your sales strategy, encompassing your delivery strategy. This five-part process follows the sequence: attract, engage, nurture, invite, and delight.

If you lack a refined, repeatable system for each step of this process, it might be wise to set goals around these before adding new projects to your plate.

The first step—'attract'—is about reaching potential clients and customers for the first time. They might find you through search engines like Google or Pinterest, word of mouth, referrals, or by appearing in someone else's audience, like interviews or guest teaching sessions.
Once they find you, the 'engage' phase involves collecting their contact information to continue the relationship. This could mean joining your email list, scheduling a discovery call, or requesting more info.
Next up, 'nurture.' Here, you're building trust by showcasing your experience, expertise, and results through content such as blogs, newsletters, podcasts, or social media.
The 'invite' phase is where you make the sale. It could involve a sales call, guiding them to a sales page, or similar strategies to prompt the next step.
Finally, 'delight' involves delivering your product, program, or service, ensuring an exceptional customer experience and fulfilling the promised results.

So what could this look like for you?

Now, let me provide some examples from my own planning because concrete examples always clarify points. In my marketing strategy's 'attract' phase, I've set a goal for a certain number of podcast interviews in 2024. Podcasts are my prime platform to engage with new potential clients. Once they hear me there, I offer them a free resource, inviting them to join my community.

Moving into 'nurture,' my podcast remains the core content. From there, I steer them to other nurture platforms like social media and newsletters. After nurturing, my 'invite' stage involves an application process for potential clients to join my Embodied Boss Collective.

When they become clients, the 'delight' phase kicks in. I've structured a process to guide them through my 90-Day Boss program, ensuring they achieve their desired results.

At this point, because my system is so well-established and refined from repeated application, I don't stress over these areas anymore. The groundwork is set, the assets are in place, and the core systems are functioning smoothly. Thus, I can add new goals or projects without overwhelming myself.

So as you brain-dump your ideas, remember, that projects are great to include, however, if you lack systems for attracting, engaging, nurturing, inviting, or delighting clients, I'd strongly advise focusing there before adding more projects to your plate.

Once you’ve brain-dumped, I want you to think about how can we now narrow this down into the top five goals for the year.

goal setting - step 2: Identify 5 goals

Step two of the process is where we narrow down our top five goals for the year. I limit the goals to five because I've found that when you chase too many goals at once, it fractures your focus. When multiple things compete for your time, energy, attention, and resources, nothing becomes a priority. Focusing on your top five goals helps you gain real momentum as you strive to achieve them.

So, let's get into it. The second step of this process involves narrowing down your top five goals. I want you to think about what it'll take to make that goal happen. Consider factors like necessary systems, required support, essential training, tools, habits that might need upgrading, or processes to implement. This phase is critical because this is how we convert goals into actionable plans.

That's why I prefer the SWITCH method for setting goals, rather than the conventional SMART goal setting. SWITCH looks at everything essential to achieve that goal. After figuring out what it takes to reach the goal, ensure you've also thought through key milestones or specific action steps that will bring you closer to achieving it. There might be numerous action steps, but, for now, let's focus on the top five action steps or milestones for each goal necessary to make it happen.

So essentially, we'll have your top five goals for the year and then the top five action steps for each goal to make them happen.

Think of it this way: Suppose you decide to train for a marathon (and I'm no runner myself, so no marathon plans for me, either!). But hypothetically, if I were to take on marathon training, I wouldn't attempt to run a full marathon on day one. Instead, I'd consider training, support, planning, tools, and resources, and maybe join a running club or program to build up gradually—starting with shorter distances and gradually progressing. Rushing into a marathon without preparation would result in exhaustion, injuries, or loss of passion, leading to early defeat. It's the same with goals.

We don't aim to achieve a year's worth of goals in a day, a week, a month, or even a quarter. We want to set ourselves up for success, understanding that achieving significant milestones often takes years of focused effort. Limit yourself to five goals for 2024—anything else can go into an 'idea bucket list.' This is where I jot down additional goal ideas. After achieving my primary goals or finding extra time, I revisit this list to select new goals.

By setting a top five and creating a container for your goals, your resources align better, and you'll utilise them better.

The final thing I want to encourage you to do is to put a star by your ‘push goal’. A push goal acts like the first domino. Achieving it becomes the catalyst for knocking down other goals. For instance, let's say your goal is to hire an assistant for 10 hours a week at £25 per hour. To accomplish this, you might need eight clients paying you £1,000 each per month to support this hiring. Therefore, getting those eight clients becomes your push goal—once achieved, it paves the way for other goals. This goal takes priority as it sets the stage for the rest to fall into place.

So, think about your top five goals, identify action steps for these goals and then find that one goal that can push everything forward

Stay tuned for the final ‘boss your 2024 gameplan series’

I'm excited to hear about the goals you're setting and the thoughts that are shaping your priorities for 2024.

With just one episode left in this series coming up next week, when you've completed all five parts and have your 12-month game plan firmly in your grasp, it's grounded in what you want your business to look like next year. Stay tuned!

Here is last weeks episode, part 3 of the ‘Your 2024 Gameplan’ series, in case you missed it - How to run your business by design instead of default