This month we've been focusing on goals, a CRITICAL part of running a successful business! Last week, we talked about the importance of reviewing your yearly goals. And some of those goals may be a PUSH goal for you! What are those? They are goals that push you out of your comfort zone, that really stretch you and move your business in a significant way. But that doesn't mean that smaller goals aren't important, too!! Let's look at why you need BOTH!

1. Motivation vs. Determination

We can all accomplish BIG things! Every one of you has the grit to do it, I just know it! But we also need the motivation to get there, especially if one of our push goals is a very long-term goal. The biggest motivator for ANY business owner is to be able to celebrate a win (or two!). And that's exactly what a small goal can do for you. We all know what a great feeling it is to check things off of our to-do lists, and that's the same way you feel when you finish a small goal. They are motivators and they can give you the boost you need to keep working on those BIGGER goals!

2. Steps vs. Stretch

I like to set up my small goals in two ways. First, I have things I would really like to accomplish in a month and then also quarterly. They are definitely achievable and may even be steps on the way to a larger goal. So for example, I may have financial benchmarks that I want to hit this quarter and those will be smaller goals for me. But they can lead to the PUSH goal of a VERY successful 2024. Feel free to have small goals that are literally stepping stones to your push goals. That can be like the old saying of eating an elephant one bite at a time. It makes the push goal less intimidating if you have a series of small goals leading to it.

3. Short-Term vs. Long-Term

When you're setting deadlines for your goals, remember that small goals should have shorter timelines. I don't want any of those to be longer than a year, and most of them are either weeks or months to completion. Push goals, on the other hand, can take a LONG time to achieve, and that's ok!! They're meant to STRETCH you! A push goal can even be the end-term goal. In other words, how you may want to end your career with your business. Maybe you want to be able to sell your business, or you may want to be able to make enough to retire in style. Or your push goals could be that you want to have several partnerships that help bring in more income. Just remember to think BIG for those types of goals and be sure you're ready to be patient with the timeline.

4. One vs. Many

As you probably guessed by the paragraph above, I do have a lot of smaller goals. They really do keep me motivated and I like to use them as those stepping stones I talked about. But when it comes to push goals, I usually have one or two. Period. It's very difficult to stretch yourself to MANY big targets! You could burn yourself out, or completely lose your motivation. Don't do that to yourself! Limit your push goals so you are able to keep your eye on the prize. 

5. A Coordinated Effort

As you can see, the idea behind these two types of goals is to have a coordinated effort to get you and your company where you want to go! Using those small goals as motivators and as a way to get to the push goals is a smart system for success!

To help you achieve even more, download my Quarterly Goals Worksheet. It will help you start to form those small goals that can lead to BIG things!