January is typically the time when we set our personal and professional goals. In part, this is due to the high of starting a new year, as well as it being the first quarter of the business year for many.
But we’ve also all heard the high failure rate that’s associated with New Year resolutions. If you can relate and often experience this yourself, you need to be aware that often you’re failing, because you’re not holding yourself accountable to your goals.
So how can you turn this around? What’s the best way to hold yourself accountable? Here’s a rundown on the top 5 things you need to do.
#1: Write your goals down and be clear on why you want them
There’s something special about the act of physically writing down your goals. It helps to cement in your desire to achieve them, but it also means you can put them somewhere where you can see and read them on a regular basis, as this helps raise those desire levels.
But, before you write them down, it’s important that you ensure you’ve set goals that are infused with your intention. This ensures you know what your personal core reasons are for wanting them and guaranteeing you’ll enjoy the process along the way.
If you want to refresh your mind as to why goal setting needs to include intention, check out this recent blog: The importance of intention in goal setting
#2: Value your time, if you want to hold yourself accountable to your goals
Know what you need to do and what you need to drop, in order to achieve your goals. It’s important that you find the time to work on your business and on achieving your goals.
But many business owners spend too much time working in their business and on tasks that don’t directly benefit themselves or their business goals. If something doesn’t fit into either of these two essentials, you need to start dropping the less important tasks and outsourcing to free up your time.
If you’re struggling to fit tasks into your day, here’s 5 ways you can find time to work on and not just in your business.
#3: Celebrate your mini achievements – not just the end result
Most goals need breaking down into mini-goals or steps. Not only does this help make the goal more manageable, it’s a great way to remind you about what you’re achieving as you aim for that bigger goal.
Those mini-goal achievements need celebrating too. It will boost your motivation and will ensure you’re not focusing too far ahead in your journey – it’s about enjoying and celebrating the journey!
#4: Track and review your progress regularly
What you focus on grows – and what better way to focus, than to track and review your progress? It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about sales or goals, if you’re focused on something and tracking your progress, you’re invested in the end result.
It’s only by tracking and reviewing your progress that you’ll see if you’re on the right course. You can then adjust your course, if you deviate from it. This gives you an added bonus of seeing what is and isn’t working, too – so you can amend your actions and plans, as needed.
#5: Hire in help
Finally, it’s important that you don’t do it alone. If you want to hold yourself accountable, get yourself support. That can include a coach or mentor, VA support [check out our support options, here] or an accountability buddy.
Knowing you’re investing financially in your goals will help increase your desire to achieve. There’s also the fact that a mentor or accountability buddy can help hold you accountable and become a great sounding board for advice along the way.
Hiring VA support on the other hand, is about enabling you to free up your time, so you can focus on achieving your goals. There are so many things in your average working day that can distract you and take up your time – things that you don’t necessarily need to do yourself. And as point #2 above illustrated, outsourcing is a great way to free up time!
As a VA is also a business owner their perspective is different to that of an employee – so you get your sounding board and support all in one package. Virtual Hand love to help you focus by asking those questions about why, what for, how and is there something better out there? This gives you clarity when digging deep to answer the questions. Let’s talk…
We all want to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. However, an important part of that is ensuring you hold yourself accountable. By using the five points above, you’ll have a rundown of what you need to do to ensure you’re doing just that – and increasing the likelihood of you achieving those goals you set this year.
Remember we’re here to lend you a helping hand when you need it. So check out the Services we offer and see how they can help you reach your goals. And when you’re ready, book in a call to discuss your requirements – and let’s get you reaching those goals faster!
