How to Reverse Engineer Your Business Goals: What Would Arlene Say?

Setting Annual SMART Goals

Once you’ve determined how you want to develop in the next 12 months, you can set yourself up with SMART goals. SMART goals take your theme, and your ideas for development, and make them actionable. A SMART goal is:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-bound 

You know I love a good acronym!  In all seriousness, SMART goals are key because they take your ideas for professional and personal development and make them less nebulous.  

Following our previous example, let’s say your theme for the year is Growth, and one of your development ideas is to focus on business development. The truth is that, while business development is certainly a valid step toward growth, it’s not specific enough to be achievable. Annual SMART business development goals might be:

• I will have booked 50 prospect meetings by the end of this year, and signed 25 of those leads.
• In the next 12 months, I will write and publish a prospect-facing white paper.
• I will achieve a new designation.
• My team will have grown by 1 new executive assistant, and 1 new outsourced paraplanner to make scaling easier.

These goals are all growth-oriented, and they’re all focused on helping you develop your business. However, they’re also specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Looking at these goals, you can easily determine what you need to do each quarter, month, or day to achieve them.

Break Down Your Annual Goals Into Micro-Goals

Now you have a clear idea of where you want to be a year from now and an annual theme to match it. You’ve come up with development ideas and transformed them into annual SMART goals. Your next step is to break your annual goals into micro-goals that keep you on track.

You’re not going to sit down on December 31st and finish a full white paper, or magically sign 24 new clients. Those big, annual goals are going to take time and consistent effort. I recommend having either monthly or quarterly micro-goals that will move you toward accomplishing your bigger annual goals. Looking at our SMART goals above, there are a few clear ways you can break them into 2-3 micro-goals each.

• I will have booked 50 prospect meetings by the end of this year, and signed 25 of those leads.
  • Each quarter, I will meet with 12-13 prospects, and sign 6-7 new clients.
  • I will do one prospect-facing webinar each quarter to encourage prospects to book a discovery call with me.
  • I will attend one networking event each quarter to meet new potential clients.
• In the next 12 months, I will write and publish a prospect-facing white paper.
  • Each quarter, I will complete two sections of my eight-section white paper.
  • I will submit my work to an editor two sections at a time to break up the work.
• I will achieve a new designation.
  • I will spend my first quarter researching different designations and gaining information about which will positively impact my business.
  • In quarters two and three, I will enroll in coursework to gain my new designation.
  • In Q4 I will focus on wrapping up my designation and promoting this new achievement in my prospect-facing marketing and to both my clients and professional network.
• My team will have grown by 1 new executive assistant, and 1 new outsourced paraplanner to make scaling easier.
  • In Q1 I will focus on writing out each of my processes and organizing my workflows.
  • In Q2 I will determine whether I need an assistant or a paraplanner first to free up more of my time to meet with new clients and post a job opportunity accordingly.
  • By Q3 I will have made my first hire and will determine how much additional revenue I need to feel comfortable making a second hire.
  • In Q4 I will post my second job opportunity and hired.

These micro-goals are broken down quarterly, which I find works best for most busy entrepreneurs. However, if you focus on a monthly client service calendar and action items, monthly micro-goals may fit your business more seamlessly.

Once you’ve set your annual theme, and determined your micro-goals, open up your calendar and set dates for yourself to do quarterly intention check-in’s. These should be 30-60 minute sessions where you look at any KPIs you’re tracking, and whether your time is being spent in a way that aligns with your theme.  

The truth is that you’re going to get off track at one point or another. Nobody is perfect, and even if you’re dedicated to your annual theme, you might make decisions that don’t fit with the end-goals you’re trying to achieve. Be honest with yourself, and don’t be afraid to course-correct if you get off track.

Daily Habit Building

The only way you’ll achieve your quarterly goals is by building daily habits that support them. These habits should be small, high-impact ways that you can work toward accomplishing your quarterly micro-goals, and ultimately your larger annual goals.

For this example, we’ll just look at writing a prospect-facing white paper. If your goal is to write two sections of your white paper each quarter, you might try setting aside an hour every morning to work on research and writing. If blocking an hour each day seems overwhelming, start smaller. Try writing for a half-hour at the beginning of your workday.  

If you find that setting daily habits to achieve your goals is challenging, try habit stacking. Starting new daily or weekly habits can be hard, and “stacking” them on top of existing habits can make it easier to commit to them.  

For example, if you’re trying to write for an hour every morning (new habit), you could “stack” it on top of waking up and enjoying a cup of coffee at the kitchen table (existing habit). Grab your laptop and set it at the kitchen table each night. That way, in the morning it’s ready for you to sit down with a fresh cup of coffee for an hour to dive in.

Forming new habits is challenging regardless of whether they’re for your professional or personal development. I find that it’s key to explore different habit-forming strategies to find one that works for you.  

You might click into your new routine immediately, but it may take some time. Be open to different ways you can accomplish your new habit and incorporate it into your existing routine. If you’re not a morning person, dedicating 30-60 minutes each morning to writing likely isn’t going to work for you even if your colleague swears by their morning routine. Give yourself some grace, and keep plugging along until you find what works for you.

Remember: You Need to Plan For Both Personal and Professional Development for Well-Rounded Improvement

Focusing on only your business, or only your personal life could result in a pretty uncomfortable imbalance. For well-rounded improvement, you need to focus on both to some degree. If your annual theme is Growth, this might mean focusing on both business development and self-improvement through therapy. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to overhaul both your life and your business, but make sure that your annual goals are reasonably balanced.

Of course, there will be seasons where our personal goals outrank our professional goals or vice versa. Even if you have the best of intentions to create balanced goals that contribute to your theme, it’s just not always possible. When you’re setting your goals, think about the season you’re in.

Is being an emotionally present parent your #1 growth goal right now? Will that take time away from your business growth goals? You can always make progress, even in seasons where one aspect of your life is secondary. Keep your current season in mind, and set SMART goals that respect your own boundaries.

Remember: a key to SMART goals is ensuring that they’re achievable. If you know that the next 12 months are going to be full of family-related goals (like having a baby, or caring for an elderly loved one), set your goals in a way that is achievable given your circumstances. 

I recently spoke to an advisor who was a single parent. She had just launched her business, but it was her daughter’s senior year of high school. She was determined to not miss anything before her daughter left for college, and that meant slower growth in Year One. When her daughter went to college, she was able to lean into her business confidently, and she shot off like a rocket! My point is, the more you give space for the season you’re in, the more likely you are to find both fulfillment and success in the long-run.

Remember: You Can Do Anything, Not Everything

The beauty of reverse engineering your goals and development from an annual theme is that they’re uniquely tailored to you. The life you envision for yourself a year from now is the life you’re actively working toward with each new daily habit. However, as you’re setting your theme-based goals, it can be easy to bite off too much at once. If you find you’re falling into this trap, remember: you can do anything, not everything.

Stay focused on goals that align with your theme, and go all-in on a limited number of true “goals” you want to accomplish in each area of your life. The more focus you can give them, the more success you’ll have.