Setting and Meeting Goals for Your Business in 2009

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December 23, 2008 by Amanda | Comments (0)

This week the conversations in our office have centered around New Year’s resolutions. We found that in the past, each of us has been guilty of setting overly ambitious, unatainable resolutions. We wondered what the trick is to setting reasonable goals, and making them stick. Luckily, we came across this helpful advice from Persephone Zill on WomenAndBiz.com (the original article is here). Read her article below, and get more tips on setting business goals on their website.

As a Career and Business Coach, I’m here to say that committing to goals and creating a framework to work toward them really works. Back in the mid-’90s I created the following goal sheet: I wanted two children, to own a home, to start a business, to teach at a major university, and to be on the Board of a non-profit organization. Now, ten years later, I have achieved all of these and more! I’ve actually taught at three major universities and I am on my second Board and counting.

How could all this happen in just a decade? Well after all, I am a coach! But there really is something quite magical about writing down what you want. It forces you to dream, to aspire, to plan, and—most importantly—to commit. But what’s most interesting to me is that if you believe your goals are possible you often attract the right people and circumstances to help you achieve them with little effort. Take for instance when I wanted to teach at a major university in New York City: I took a course at that school, became friends with the instructor afterwards, and—in what at the time seemed like an incredibly lucky break—it turned out that she happened to be in charge of hiring for the continuing education program there. End of story, she later called me to teach when she was trying to fill a particular course. Now, did I have to take action to get what I desired? Yes—I took the course. Did I have to network? Yes—I tried to connect with the instructor. Self promote? Well, yes again—I told her about my background and future desires. But I liked the course she taught, I liked her, and all in all it was the right landscape for me. She was doing what I aspired to be doing, so ending up among the right people and circumstances to reach this particular goal weren’t hard or stressful. In fact, they felt fun at the time.

Alas, some goals are easier to achieve than others. But I have found that when you start seeing them realized one after another you grow your “courage” or “deservingness muscle” and start setting bigger and bigger goals: Hey—if those happened, why can’t these new ones?

So I’ll walk the walk: My goals for this year are to get my book published, to substantially increase my exercise regime, and to research and apply for a second master’s degree. They all feel big—especially committing them here—but doable all the same. So what are yours? Check out the following websites for resources to help you:
dreambuilderscommunity.com
changingcourse.com
everydayadventure.com
janepollak.com
goalsisters.com
PersephoneZill.com

Here’s to manifesting your dreams!

Happy New Year,
Persephone Zill

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