Why is goal setting important?

Start the new year by setting the right goals for you. Business Advisor, Daniel Lalic explains how setting clear and accurate goals will benefit you and your business. 

Do you often find yourself get through a week, month, or even a year and upon reflection wonder where the time went? Wonder what you actually achieved during that time? Without any clear goals, how can you ever really know?

If this year I wanted to climb Mount Everest, but all I did was trek up Mount Lofty, whilst I did not achieve my goal, all of a sudden, I have a way to measure my success. My target was 8,849m above sea level, but all I managed was 727m. I can now devise a training plan to close the 8,122m gap I had over the last twelve months. Although this might seem like an extreme example, what if you were to fast forward twelve months and during a family holiday to Tasmania, you decide to try to make it to the top of Mount Wellington, all of a sudden you have reduced your deficit to 6,851m and perhaps the following year you can attempt base camp. Suddenly reaching that goal begins to become very real.

This philosophy is no different in business, regardless of whether you are the employer or the employee, without clearly defined goals, it is very easy to lose your sense of direction and feel as though perhaps you are not really getting anywhere. If you set yourself goals which are clearly defined and can be measured, using either time or money, it becomes possible to develop a roadmap on how to achieve those goals. Wanting to work four days a week might be as simple as preparing a workforce plan and establishing who your next key hire is, which will free up the necessary hours to make a four-day working week a reality.

What you need to keep front of mind, is unless you dedicate the time to sit down and establish goals, these thoughts about your business or personal life are just dreams and the harsh reality is they will just remain dreams. Taking the time to sit down and clearly define your goals, which will ensure your daily actions have a purpose, as the outcomes of these actions are now defined and measurable, rather than just being random stuff, you do for the sake of it. Even better, you can begin to understand what needs room for improvement and can develop plans and strategies to fill the gaps.

Have you set your goals for 2021? If you would like to know more about setting the right goals for your business and how to achieve them, please feel free to contact one of our advisors for a chat about where to begin.