Create your action plan with SMART Goals

 

Create your action plan with SMART Goals

The major question I get all the time from new clients is “How do I create this action plan you talk about and then achieve the goals I’ve set for my home business”? My response is always the same- create your wish list and then put a plan of action together that brings those wishes to reality.  But when you set your goals, be enthusiastic about them, find the internal motivation to achieve your goals, and if necessary, research 10 percent of your goals to ensure they are achievable. The two main objections to any plan are the plan itself and your commitment to making the plan become a reality. In other words, do you have what it takes to see that your goals are reached by ensuring hard work and dedication are built into your plan of action.

Let's make a plan of action that is achievable:

Create the plan:

a)     1) Be specific in your goals. For example, if you want to earn more money, put a dollar amount to that earned money and a timeline to when the goal is to be met.  You now have an achievable goal to go after.

b)      2) Make sure that the goal is measurable. For example, your goal was to make $10,000 this next 3 months. During the first month, you earn $2000 which means you have another 8 grand to go and the next few months to make it happen. This is how you measure your goals based on specifics and in this case the amount of money you wish to make in three months.

c)      3) When you set goals, be sure to set them high enough to ensure that you can challenge yourself while not stressing yourself and setting yourself up for failure. Always remember that attainable goals are both specific and measurable.

d)     4)  Making sure that your goals are relevant to your business and fit within your life but are specific, measurable, and attainable to ensure success.

e)     5)  Most important goal is setting limits on time to ensure you can obtain your goals in a timely fashion. In this example earn $10 grand within three months.

Break down the plan to what needs to happen to achieve your goals:

This is where you break down the specific goal you have to achieve. You want to earn $10 grand within three months, then let's break down the time frame into monthly achievable goals.  Obtain more clients at the rate of $ and how many clients will you need per month in order to meet your goal. If you sell specific items, determine how many items must be sold in order to achieve your goal and how will you meet that goal in time to successfully meet your goal.

Actions meet schedule

The best way to ensure you meet your goals is to put your plan into a schedule that is not only measurable but also obtainable.  Your task list should include marketing items and a daily plan. How many clients do you need to speak to each day, or how many sales of items do you need to achieve each day in order to meet your monthly goals. If you don’t have time management skills, learn some quickly because if you have an already busy life, adding more items to your daily task list could become a problem and you will fail at your attempt to succeed in business.

Setting your schedule in motion:

Now that you’ve got your goal listed, your plan and schedule created, now is the time to put it all into motion.  Your daily task schedule should be worked on first thing in the morning and hopefully be finished by noon. After lunch, if your to-do list is complete, review your plan and see where you can make improvements or better yet, what can you accomplish today that is on tomorrow’s list? The more you can accomplish each day, the better off you will be in reaching your goals. Each month you should review your plan to see if you’re meeting your monthly goals, if not revise them and tweak them as necessary.

 

Author Elizabeth Kilbride is a former political operative, author, scriptwriter, historian, journalist. business professional, and creative artist, and life coach consultant. Ms. Kilbride holds a Masters in Criminology and a BS in Business Management who stepped out of the loop for a while, but who is now back with a powerful opinion and voice in the direction of this country and our economy. As a life coach, she is available to counsel individuals to enjoy their dreams and a better life. Ms. Kilbride loves to travel, photograph her surroundings and is also a gourmet cook who loves to garden and preserve food for the winter months.