Now that we’re almost halfway through the year, it’s fair to ask: Have you stuck with your 2016 business goals? According to a study by the University of Scranton, only 8% of people actually stick to their New Years resolutions and as a business, you’re definitely not exempt from this list! It’s common for businesses to be just like that 21-year-old who signed up for a new gym membership in January – super focused at first but after a few trips to the gym, a busy schedule, and a few roadblocks, you’re now stagnant and staring at an unused yoga mat.
Never too late to refocus
When you first make business goals, it’s easy to feel pumped and get everyone amped up and onboard. Setting goals gives everyone a boost of energy and focus, but it’s common for that focus to tinker out as time goes on and tricky clients, business hiccups, and a new team member or two gets thrown into the mix. One trick to sticking to goals is revisiting them often. Dust them off and read them again to make sure they’re still realistic and relevant. Have you already surpassed your sales goal for the quarter? Bump it up! Did you still need to redesign your landing page or is that going to have to wait until next year? If it’s no longer on the radar, why not set smaller goals like rewriting your About page or beefing up your blog? Goals can quickly lose steam if they’re not relevant. Taking time to refocus once a month, once a quarter, or even just halfway through the year is an invaluable practice and will help you, and your business, stay on track.
Repeat, repeat, repeat
Creating lasting change doesn’t happen over night, and habits can be tough to form, especially at a company level. If you’re consistent with your goals, then you can create lasting changes. In this article by James Clear, he talks about “putting in your reps,” for your goals, much like working out at the gym, and how repetition is a key to successful goal keeping. If you want to have a steady blog, make sure you schedule your time to post every week so eventually, it’s like clockwork and now you have a timely, relevant, SEO-friendly blog. If you want to foster a more positive work culture with your employees, create monthly events and stick to them. Just like working out and getting good form, repetition of your priorities will make your goals stronger. Half the recipe of being successful with your goals is creating the right habits to go with them. Without the habit, how will you sustain the results of your goals? As you go through your list of business goals, write out the steps that you or your company will have to take to create a habit so you can see a clear path to the outcome.
Write it down and talk about it
Goals are really easy to set and forget! One way to avoid this is to write it down, not just in a journal or on a word document titled “Goals 2016” you’ll never open again, but somewhere BIG and visible so you will see it everyday. I once heard of someone who made his goal his computer password so every single time they logged in, he was reminded of his goal. We talked before about keeping goals simple, so writing them out on a big clear poster to post around the office should be an easy solution. You can have fun with this, too! Snag a designer to make you some cool posters, use a whiteboard, or create a post-it-note goal calendar and put it in a high traffic area, like the staff kitchen near the coffee maker or front and center in the lobby. The more everyone sees it, the more engrained it’ll become in their conscious and subconscious so everyone will continue to work towards the goals throughout the year. At the end of the day, sticking to your goals takes just as much dedication as the work you’ll have to do to achieve them. You can do it! Let me know in the comments how you stick to your goals or help your teammates stick to the company goals.
