I don’t think anyone will argue with me that goal setting in business is important. Perhaps even critical.
Go ahead and comment if you disagree with that statement.
There are, however, different types of goals.
And, I have an opinion on goal setting for businesses that may be a tad controversial.
Read on to see if you agree.
Types of Goals
There are different types of goals: Outcome Based, and Action Based.
Outcome based goals focus on what you want to achieve.
- Lose 20 pounds.
- Make $10,000.
- Sell 10 necklaces.
Outcome based goals are good. They help you focus your efforts on what matters to you.
The problem with Outcome based goals is that you don’t control everything that is required for you to actually achieve that goal.
And, therefore, often they aren’t achieved – even if they are completely realistic.
Realistic Goals:
- Lose 20 pounds in 6 months
- Make $10,000 in 12 months
- Sell 10 necklaces in 6 months
In the two business examples, the problem is that you don’t control your potential customers. You can’t force someone to buy from you. You can use your powers of persuasion and influence. You can make the most awesome necklaces in the world. But, in the end, you aren’t the one pushing the “buy” button and entering your correct credit card number.
That’s where the second type of goals come in – the Action Based goals.
Action based goals are set up as things you do that you have 100% control over (for the most part).
These are the things you need to do in order to achieve your outcome.
Example: In order to sell 10 necklaces, you need to:
- Make 10 necklaces
- List 10 Necklaces for sale
- Advertise your site, etc.
Barring extraneous circumstances (death, family emergencies, medical emergencies, etc), you have control over these actions.
And, if you are honest with yourself, you can set these up so they are 100% achievable even within the timeframe you set for them.
Both types of goals are important to have.
Outcome based goals help keep your focus.
Action based goals help you get your outcome.
SMART Goals
We’ve all heard the term SMART Goals.
Specific
Measurable
Actionable (You may have seen “Achievable or Attainable”
Relevant (You may have seen Realistic)
Timely (Time-bound)
Do ALL goals need to be SMART?
My short (and potentially controversial opinionated) answer is “No”.
The most important (and thankfully easiest) of these to have in a goal are Specific, Measurable and Timely.
Lose weight (Not specific or timely – you can actually measure it, but how do you know when you reach your goal? Is this indefinite?)
Make Money this year (Not specific – You can measure it, and you’ll know if you’ve made money this year, but did you really make your goal? or, is $1 profit good enough?)
Gain Confidence (Not specific, Measurable, or timely – There is no way to know if you have achieved this goal. Does this mean you can give 3 public speeches without vomiting? Or, are you just looking to be able to wear a bold outfit in public without feeling negative about everyone looking at you?)
If you at least hit the 3 parts: Specific, Measurable, and Timely (Time-bound) you have yourself at least an Outcome-based goal.
Just recognize that they, alone, won’t get you where you want to go. Be OK with not achieving them. This may be very hard to do. Keep telling yourself that if you don’t control all things in relation to the outcome, you cannot control the outcome itself, and therefore, may not achieve that goal.
You will definitely need a set of actionable goals to support the outcome-based goal.
These are the super important ones, the nuts and bolts, the foundation of reaching your goal.
You have to have control over these (again barring extraneous circumstances).
You may have seen the A Stand for Achieveable or Attainable. But I prefer the term Actionable for the above reason. More on that in a bit.
What about the R in SMART?
Realistic means that you can actually achieve them in the time allotted.
More on that in a second.
Relevant, on the other hand, means that this actionable goal will support the overall vision or big picture of what you want to achieve. It will support your WHY.
If your goal is to lose weight, then reading 3 books on athletic training probably won’t support your goal. It’s not relevant.
If selling 20 necklaces is your big goal, then making 10 pairs of earrings isn’t necessarily relevant. However, if your big goal is Make $10,000 selling jewelry, then making the earrings would be relevant.
Ok, let’s go back to realistic goals, and “Achievable” or “Attainable” goals for that matter.
So, how do you know if a goal is realistic, achievable, or attainable?
You might not.
Does it matter?
My short (and again, controversial opinionated) answer is “No”.
For Action Based goals.
You eventually want to get good at setting realistic goals. If you start out thinking you can do 10 tiktoks a day every day for the rest of your career, and then 1 week in find out that it’s NOT realistic for you, set a different goal.
Maybe you scale back to completely doable: 3 tiktoks a week. And then start building up from there to 10 a week etc.
But sometimes you don’t really know what you’re capable of till you try to achieve something.
And that leads me to setting realistic goals in general.
Warning! Controversial Opinion Ahead
I think it’s important to set both realistic and completely unrealistic goals. Of course, with the understanding that you might not reach the completely unrealistic goals.
Hear me out.
If you get super ambitious and set a 10 tiktoks a day, every day, including weekends. And you don’t make it, but you manage, somehow, to surprise yourself and do 10 a day somedays, and some days only hit 5. That’s still a HECK of a lot better than if you set (and hit) a goal of 2 a day 7 days a week.
Two things have happened here. 1) You achieved quite a lot because even only 5 a day 5 days a week, is still way more than 2 a day 7 days a week. And that was less than half the goal. 2) You’ve proven to yourself that you can, when you put your mind to it, sometimes get 10 out in a day. Maybe this isn’t something you even Want to do every day, but, you know you can. And gaining that knowledge and confidence is important.
This is also true for outcome-based goals.
Sure, set some realistic ones. Goals you know that if everything lines up, and you do all the actions that support it, you can actually achieve in the time allotted.
But. Allow yourself some dream-goals. I like to call these “Pie in the Sky” or “Shoot for the Moon” goals.
If you’re just starting out, making a million dollars might seem impossible.
But, let’s say you set that as a goal for a specific 12 month period. And you only achieve 50%. You “Only” make $500,000. That’s still 5 times better than if you set your goal at a “realistic” value of $100,000 for that 12 month period.
So, why am I so passionate about this type of “Shoot for the Moon” goal setting?
Well, I have literally seen people set a realistic goal, and achieve it. And never even CONSIDER going over because they “made their goal”.
Goal setting became a limiting factor.
Conclusion
You should set both outcome based and action based goals.
Outcome based goals help keep you focused to reach overall business goals.
Action based goals give you the steps you need to complete to reach your outcome.
You should set both realistic and “pie in the sky” goals.
Realistic goals will help you keep on track and build your confidence. Achieving them is worthy of celebration.
“Pie in the Sky” goals will stop you from limiting yourself by being conservative, especially when you may not even know what your limitations are yet. Don’t sell yourself short.
Regardless of your goals, be kind to yourself.
Understand that you won’t always achieve all your goals. Even the realistic goals. Sometimes, life happens and what was once possible, isn’t right now.
It’s helpful to periodically evaluate your goals. Make sure you have some of each kind. Make sure you are setting goals in line with your current conditions. And, make sure your goals still align with your overall business needs.