Setting quarterly goals can seem overwhelming and discouraging. This is especially true when you create audacious long term goals and then try to determine how in the world you can hit those goals by setting quarterly goals. Before we can truly dive into setting quarterly goals there three guiding principles that you need to use in order to set your quarterly goals.
IE 51: Setting Quarterly Goals with Three Guiding Principles
Let me ask you a question. Have you ever looked at a new year ahead of you and said something like – “YES!! This is my year!! I am going to make this the year that I reach all my goals and do amazing things.”
I’ll bet almost every one of us has said something similar, if not those exact words. That’s fantastic! I love to see women set big, crazy, audacious goals. The problem comes when we look at those goals and feel overwhelmed with how in the world to accomplish them. If you have set some huge goals for 2018, but aren’t sure exactly how to start making progress toward them, that’s what I am going to be talking about today.
I firmly believe that the only reason I was able to leave my teaching career and ultimately bring my husband home from his nightmare career in retail was that I not only set quarterly goals, but I wrote them down and I shared them with others.
In today’s episode, I am sharing 3 principles you need to know in order to break your huge goals for the year down into quarterly goals so that you have an idea where and how to begin to achieve those amazing things you have set for yourself this year!
Principle #1 for Setting Quarterly Goals – Accountability
If you have set huge goals for yourself and you hope to achieve amazing things this year, you absolutely must have some way of being held accountable.
Your accountability partner can certainly be your life partner or spouse, or even a friend, but I highly recommend that you choose someone within the blogging world to be accountable to. Why? Because that person actually understands what it is that you do.
Here’s another reason that you need someone outside of your immediate family/friend circle. Because you need to hear the truth. Your loved ones are naturally going to think that pretty much everything you do is fantastic. Amazing even.
And that’s just not always going to be true.
Another blogger will tell you when you aren’t doing the best that you can. She will be able to offer ideas and suggestions on how to improve. She can give you ideas on things to create or work on.
Be sure you choose someone with a personality that you react well to. Not everyone will mesh well together. You need to know what kind of advice and help you need from your partner.
Are you the type that wants some “hard-core coaching”, where the person can just lay it on the line for you? Or do you need a gentle, friendlier touch? More encouraging words and less “here’s what you need to do”?
Figure out what style of accountability you need and don’t settle until you find that person. It might take some experimentation, but don’t give up if the first person you try isn’t the right fit.
Principle #2 for Setting Quarterly Goals – Commitment
If you are setting goals with no intention of following through, you might as well save yourself the time. That may be tough to hear, and you may be saying, “Well, of course, I plan to follow through”, but if you aren’t truly committed to them, you will never achieve them.
Committing means that you know what it will take to reach your goals and you are committed to doing each and every little task that will be required along the way. (Performance goals and outcome goals are 2 different things to discuss here and I will be breaking those down further in a future episode.)
Committing to your goals looks like setting them, writing them down, finding someone to hold you accountable to them, working through the tasks you have set up to get you there, and reevaluating along the way.
When you first set your goals for the year, they might seem too big. That’s okay! Committing to reaching them means that you will take those pie-in-the-sky goals and you will break them down into manageable, quarterly goals that you absolutely can reach. And you will constantly be evaluating along the way and making adjustments as needed.
Principle #3 for Setting Quarterly Goals – Greatness in the Moment
This point is so crucial to the process. You have to be able to look yourself in the mirror and say, “Yes, this is what I’m aiming for. I have my goal set. I know what I have to do to get there. I will do whatever it takes to strive toward it. And I will accomplish it.”
Let’s say your goal is to make $60,000 for the year. That’s your greatness in the moment. You are looking at the big picture of what you want to accomplish over the entire year. But in order to achieve it, you need to break it down into quarterly goals.
So you divide that number by 4 (for your 4 quarters), and you get $15,000. That’s what you need to earn per quarter in order to hit $60,000 by year’s end. Divide further by 3 (for the 3 months in each quarter), and you know you need to earn $5,000 per month to hit your quarterly goal.
Now you need to figure out which tasks will get you to your quarterly number. What do you need to focus on every week, and even every day, to hit those goals? You need to set those tasks and then follow through on them!
Set yourself up to succeed and you will! In future episodes, we will talk more about how to set your tasks so that they become more of a habit than just extra hard work. Be sure to come back next time. Thanks so much for listening.
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