![\"\"](\"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/new-years-day-4705447_1920-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It\u2019s resolution time. But if you\u2019re like most people, breaking resolutions has become as traditional as making them. In fact, a survey by the\u00a0Statistic Brain Research Institute\u00a0<\/a>found that over 40 per cent of respondents made resolutions, but only about nine per cent achieved them.<\/p>\n While people fail to keep their resolutions for any number of reasons, there are many steps you can take to help you succeed. And if you\u2019re a business owner, following through on your business resolutions is particularly important, because the repercussions of your success or failure can reach far beyond just yourself.<\/p>\n So how do you win at the resolution game? First, stop calling them resolutions and view them as goals. While the word \u201cresolution\u201d has gained a stigma over the years, most business owners would agree that goals are integral to the life of any organization. The trick is in learning how to set them, and to do so in a way that sets you up for achieving them.<\/p>\n First, have a vision.\u00a0<\/strong>Lewis Carroll said, \u201cIf you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going, any road will do.\u201d While goal-setting can be a helpful exercise, it can also be a waste of time if you don\u2019t have a concrete vision of your purpose. Whether you discover that purpose through thoughtful consideration or take a more hands-on approach and create a\u00a0vision board\u00a0<\/a>, having that big picture will allow you to set more effective goals that lead to long-term success.<\/p>\n Be specific.<\/strong>\u00a0Once you visualize your overarching goal, picture the specific steps to get there. Instead of saying you\u2019re going to make more money, define how\u00a0much<\/em>\u00a0money, or establish the specific incremental increases you need to make to eventually reach your end goal.<\/p>\n Know why.<\/strong>\u00a0If your goal is to make more money, know the reason\u00a0why<\/u>\u00a0you want more money. Maybe it\u2019s to expand the business, hire more staff or become a leader in your industry. Always keeping the big picture in mind gives you greater purpose, and will help you stay motivated if (when) your commitment starts to wane.<\/p>\n Create milestones.<\/strong>\u00a0They say every journey begins with a single step. No matter how big the end goal, success in the long term will be easier to achieve if you break it into achievable steps that continue to move you in the right direction.<\/p>\n Put it in writing.<\/strong>\u00a0A Dominican University of California study\u00a0<\/a>showed that people who wrote their goals down had a much greater success rate at achieving them. Taking time to write out your goals not only gives you something concrete to refer to throughout the year, it creates a benchmark from which you can plan in future years.<\/p>\n Get everyone onboard.<\/strong>\u00a0Another benefit of writing out your goals is that everyone can see them. You\u2019ll improve your chances of success if your staff is not only aware of your goals, but\u00a0in<\/em>\u00a0on them. Encourage their input on creating an action plan. Set measurable targets for achieving milestones. And keep your team members apprised on progress and any changes to the game plan.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t wait till next year to see how you did.<\/strong>\u00a0Your list of goals should not hide away in a drawer until you dust them off next year. Post your goals where everyone can see them. Refer to them at regular intervals so you can measure how you\u2019re doing, mark milestones, build on your successes, learn from what\u2019s not working and adjust accordingly.<\/p>\n Your ability to achieve your goals will be determined by the effort you put into making them and planning ways to reach them. Take the time now to set yourself up for success, and you\u2019ll likely find it easier to remain committed to your goals \u2013 and your ultimate vision \u2013 in the many months ahead.<\/p>\n Resources<\/p>\n www.forbes.com\/sites\/chuckcohn\/2015\/05\/29\/the-best-ways-to-approach-goal-setting-for-your-business\/#6d51c61512a6<\/a><\/p>\n www.forbes.com\/sites\/marciaturner\/2016\/12\/31\/want-to-achieve-your-goals-this-year-start-by-doing-this\/#67c525807618<\/a><\/p>\n hbr.org\/product\/stop-setting-goals-you-dont-actually-care-about\/H03DCN-PDF-ENG<\/a><\/p>\n www.al.com\/opinion\/index.ssf\/2017\/01\/instead_of_goals_focus_on_visi.html<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Image by\u00a0Gerd Altmann<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Pixabay<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s resolution time. But if you\u2019re like most people, breaking resolutions has become as traditional as making them. In fact,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":8658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/new-years-day-4705447_1920-300x200.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Set your business goals for the New Year and plan to achieve them","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[168,117,319,398],"class_list":{"0":"post-8648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-employees","10":"tag-goals","11":"tag-resolutions"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8648"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8657,"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8648\/revisions\/8657"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnstongroup.ca\/the-advisor-journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}