New Year, Same Business: How to Set Goals You’ll Actually Keep

By Sean Brenner

It’s officially a new year, which means it’s time for people all over the world to halfheartedly pretend they’re going to change something in their lives and then give up within a month. 

Professionals can be the same way: We set all sorts of lofty goals for our businesses, and then we either fall far short of them or cut them back dramatically as the year goes on.

Now, that’s not always a fault. Goals can be something to continually strive for instead of something to achieve once. If that sort of goal motivates you effectively, more power to you. 

Still, it’s generally better to set goals that are actually achievable with modest effort. In this post, I’ll go through my approach to setting reasonable annual goals for my business and how the goals you set can keep you focused on the things that matter.

Assess the Last Year

As tempting as it may be to do your best to forget the last year ever happened, if you want to create a successful plan for the new year, you need to start by assessing the previous year. Start by asking yourself: 

• What did I accomplish? 
• What setbacks did I suffer? 
• Where was my business at the end of the year compared to where it was at the start? 

As you ask these questions, consider how to bounce back from the bad things and build on the good things. 

What you prioritize is up to you. Maybe your main goal for the coming year is to recoup losses your business suffered in the previous year. In my case, I lost a lot of income from my anchor client last year, so this year my goal is to find new clients to pick up the slack. 

Or maybe you’ll focus on building on your successes to grow your business. If you’re struggling to determine your priorities, consider signing up for a coaching session to get a better idea for where your business is at.

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Find What You Need

Once you define your priorities for the coming year, it’s time to set your goals. Always start with the things that are most pressing, be they diversifying your business, boosting your income, achieving a better work/life balance, or something else. What does your business need to look like to fulfill your requirements? 

Next, work on a plan for how to get there. Break your goal up into smaller steps that you can track as you go through the year. Where do you want to be by the end of the quarter? The end of the month? What do you need to do to get to those smaller goals? Start with daily or weekly tasks that build up to the long-term goals. Find ways to track your progress and keep yourself honest, so that you have as clear a picture as possible of how close you are to where you want to be.

For some people, this might be where the process ends. Pursuing a main, necessary goal might take up all the time you have for growth and development. Even if you think you still have room to add more goals, your main goal should still be your focus.

Find What You Want

If your business is in good shape, leaving you with plenty of room for development, then it’s time to dream a little. Think about what you want your business to look like by the end of the year, not just what you need it to look like. 

Once you have that image, pick one or two aspects of that dream to work for and set them as goals. That could look like reaching a certain number of clients, breaking into a new niche, attending conferences or professional development courses, or something else. Then make a plan to reach those goals—just be sure to keep your business stable while trying something new.

What goals you pick and how you plan to get there will naturally differ from person to person, but in every case, it’s important to make sure your goals are grounded and that you’ve prioritized them appropriately. 

It’s also important to remember that plans rarely work out exactly as you envisioned them. You may not reach your goals through no fault of your own. But have some faith in yourself: Even if you don’t meet your goals for the year, with effort you’ll get somewhere.