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Smart women understand that setting clear goals create a road map to follow and drastically increase chances of success in business. Regardless to where you are in your business cycle, the success of it is dependent on long and short term goals you’ve set and how a roadmap to getting there. What goals have you set for your business? Better yet, what actions have you taken toward accomplishing them? If you are not sure, here are 5 P’s of successful goal setting.

Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” Tom Landry, football coach

Why is passion an important ingredient in business? Starting and running a business is extremely challenging. It takes endless time and attention. When you absolutely love what you do, then you will be able to face every uphill battle to overcome difficult obstacles as you work your way to the top. That passion will enable you to see your goals to the end.

PRIORITIZE

Women are notorious for putting others first, especially their family and business. Unfortunately, doing so often causes stress, exhaustion or illness… if you are not careful!

Taking care of you should be priority! In setting your goals, it should be first about you, and then your family and business. Ultimately, you are in control of the ‘how, when, where and why’ of achieving your goals. Your goals must align, personally and professionally.

PLAN

If you take a road trip and fail to plan your route, how likely will you reach your intended destination? Just as planning your route is critical; determining what goals you want to implement and creating a plan to review and measure progress is also.

Your goals need to be specific and attainable. Just saying you want ten new clients in the next six months is not enough? A great way to measure your progress is by implementing SMART Goals. SMART Goals is a simple tool used by businesses to formulate an actionable plan for results. SMART illustrates the 5 characteristics of an efficient objective:

• S- specific
• M - measurable
• A – attainable
• R – realistic
• T – timely

Persistence is the key to success in business. It is the ability to remain steadfast when faced with adversity or opposition. Accomplishing your goals require consistent action. It’s easier said than done… but you must remain tenacious and push ahead! If you make a habit of tracking your progress and achievements so you can see how much closer you're getting with every step forward.

For example, instead of setting a goal to increase your internet marketing presence, you might want to list several specific ways you plan to do so, such as:

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Ultimately, people are in business to make a profit. This is extremely important for the health of your business. As a new or growing business, you need to be diligent about your finances. Some experts suggest reviewing your profit and loss statements, balance sheets and cash flow reports on a monthly basis. In addition, hiring a CPA or bookkeeper can be a wise investment.

Assess your present expenditures and establish goals that take into consideration your short and long-term financial objectives. Here are 3 helpful tools:

Goal Tracking Tools

• Goals On Track - This goal tracking software does so much more than just assist in tracking your goals. It will help you prioritize, visualize and stay focused on what matters most.
• 43 Things - An online tool to help you track your goals as well as motivate you through fellow member recommendations.
• Joe’s Goals - An easy to use and extremely efficient online tool that is great for tracking your everyday goals.
• Lifetick - a web based software that brings together goal setting and achievement like you've never seen before through its intuitive and easy to understand process.

Download your FREE SMART Goal Setting fillable worksheet!