Plan your year. Dream of all things possible.

How many times have you done this? You come to the end of a year, create tons of new goals to set yourself up to have the BEST. YEAR. EVER.

You know what? My birthday is January 15th… and every year around my birthday I hear people moaning and groaning that things haven’t changed.

They’ve fallen off their diet/exercise plan.

They’ve fallen behind on their business goals.

They’ve already splurged on a shopping trip and blown their new budget.

And most of them throw up their hands and give up.

But you know what? There are always a few of us who manage to (mostly) stick to our goals. And if we do fall off, we course correct and get back on quickly.

For YEARS I was the person giving up on my goals by January 15th. It just seemed SO HARD to change.

But then…

I decided that was enough.

I was done giving up on me. I was done giving up on what I wanted simply because it was uncomfortable.

But one year I quit all that.  That year I stayed focused on my goals. I had 3 big goals:

1. Redefine my business which included giving up my cushy corporate consulting to focus much more fully on entrepreneurs.
2. Stick to my diet plan that my doctor and I created.
3. Exercise for an hour at least 3 days a week.

I was mostly successful. Here are my results:

1. I walked away from a $16k – $20k/month corporate consulting contract I’d had for over 3 ½ years and now I’ve been able to work with so many more entrepreneurs and business owners doing work that is FUN and MEANINGFUL.

2. I lost over 60 pounds.

3. I exercised at least one hour 3 days a week except one week when I had the flu. And as a result, I completed two 5k races which I hadn’t done in over 9 years.

So what changed during that year, as opposed to all the other years I’ve tried goal setting?

Simple: I knew WHY I wanted to do this.

In the previous years, I had set goals I thought I **SHOULD** accomplish. But if I was honest, I wasn’t really committed to them. It was more *pie in the sky* unrealistic goal setting… I didn’t believe I could achieve those past goals, so I didn’t follow through.

So what’s the secret to successful business goal setting?

Be really, truly 100% clear on WHY I’m doing this. Why will I put myself through the uncomfortableness? Sleepless nights? Early mornings? Saying no to good opportunities so I can focus on GREAT opportunities?

Here are some questions I ask myself to get clear on WHY I’M COMMITTED TO FOLLOWING THROUGH:

—> What are the consequences of NOT following through? For example – will I lose my house by not doing this? Will my kids have to quit private school? Will I have to go back and get a job?

Be really clear on what’s at stake if you don’t follow through on your goals.

—> What are the benefits of following through? How will I reward myself? For example: a few family vacations? A new car? Hiring a full-time nanny?

Be really clear on the positive benefits of following through on your goals.

—> What do you REALLY need to pull this off? For example, what kind of support? Training? Tools?

Be really clear on your roadblocks so you don’t run up against them and quit.

—> Commit to specific ACTIONS I focus on every single day. For example, number of sales calls? Number of guest blog/podcast pitches? Number of webinars?

Be clear on what I need to focus on to hit my goals and track those numbers regularly.

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