Setting Goals: Here are the things you aren’t doing

By Jennifer Taylor, Taylor’d Events

We all have goals, whether in work or in life, but what’s the point of a goal if you’re not making any progress towards it? Many people have intentions without further plans to reach them and often find themselves disappointed when they realize they’re no closer than they were one year prior. The good news – this problem can be combatted with a few simple steps to create a plan of attack for obtainable goals. 

Put pen to paper

Oftentimes, people think up a list of goals that they would love to achieve – but that’s where it stays. Instead of trusting your brain to keep you on track, writing down your aims is the very first step to reaching them. In school, they told you that writing notes will help you retain the information – well, it’s the same concept! Putting your goals down on paper will give you a visual perspective of what you want to do and the steps that will get you there. Pin them up in a place that you’ll see them every day to maintain your drive. I keep my list up in my office so my team can see them as well. This is especially important if you’re tying incentives into goals, which we’ll cover in a bit.

Dream big

It sounds cliché, but dreaming big is indeed your key to success. Many people are afraid to set such lofty goals with fear of failure or the assumption that they’re not capable or worthy of these ambitions. While this may be a difficult mindset to overcome, it’s important to have faith in yourself and aim high. At the end of the day, even if you haven’t met all of your goals, you’ll at least know you’re making progress and you’ll have a better idea of what your next steps are.

Share them

After you come up with your own goals (see steps 1 and 2!), it’s imperative to share them with your team. Encourage your team to come up with their objectives and set some time aside for everyone to express their top goals for the upcoming year. Some people are afraid to share their ideal numbers, but transparency is crucial in this situation. Your employees need to know your mindset as you go into the next year and you should have an idea of what your employees are aiming for in order to help them along the way. Ask them how you can help support them – they’ll be thinking the same for you! In addition to a built-in support system, your team can also hold you accountable and vice versa.

Offer incentives

We all need something to keep us motivated, so be sure not to forget about your employees while you’re planning out your own year. While your employees may have their own big goals, it’s important to work with them to create smaller milestones along the way as incentives to keep them motivated. It doesn’t have to be a cash bonus – it can be as simple as an extra day off, a spa day, or a trip to an industry conference. When your employees are able to track their progress and feel validated for their accomplishments, they’ll feel much more motivated to keep striving towards their big goals.

Feeling motivated? You should be! Remember that you can achieve only as much as you allow yourself, so take these tips into account and stay confident. Now, about that pen and paper…

Jennifer Taylor is the owner of Taylor’d Events Group, a planning firm that specializes in celebrations of all kinds in the Pacific Northwest and Maui. She is also the creator of The Taylor’d Plan, a self-administered class for wedding planners who are new to the industry and looking to grow and develop their skills.