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online-business-attain-a-goal-4-step-processWe all have goals. Do you meet the goals you set?

As the end of the year comes closer, it’s time to think about goals. Did you meet your goals for this year? Are you planning for next year?

First of all,

  • Have you clearly defined your goals?
  • Do you believe in them?
  • Do you want them enough?

So first,  define your goals and make sure you believe in them and you really, really want them.

What is it you really want? It’s good to write this down, even if you think it’s impossible. Many people never achieve their goals because they think they’re too pie in the sky, too impossible. But you MUST KNOW what you want  in order to achieve it.

Now what?

To attain a goal, you need to take action.

Here’s a 4-step process. I called it DEBS.

  1. Desire: You need a strong desire and you need to know what your desire is. What do you want? Why?
  2. Endpoint: You need to know the endpoint, where you’ll end up. This defines what your life or business will look like when you’ve met your goal. It’s more specific than the desire.
  3. Blocks: If you haven’t attained your goal yet, there must be some obstacles, some blocks, right? If it was easy, then you’d be there already. What are they? Why are they a problem?
  4. Steps: What steps will you take to overcome the blocks and complete your goal so you can move forward? Think of a snowplow, which has to move forward, but must remove the snow first. As you remove blocks, you can move forward. If you don’t plan your steps, the blocks remain.

Work from the inside out

There are 2 types of blocks–inner ones and outer ones.

Inner blocks might be:

  • Fear
  • Lack of knowledge
  • Disorganization and lack of focus

The consequences of these inner blocks could be procrastination, wasting time, taking the wrong actions, etc. But they are the hardest blocks to overcome and often the basis of outer blocks, so you need to solve these problems first.

Sometimes a life coach, friend, or accountability partner can help.

Outer blocks might be:

  • Lack of time: If you have an online business that you’re doing on the side while you have a full-time job, your time will be severely limited.
  • Lack of money: On the other hand, if you aren’t working full-time but not yet succeeding at your online business, you might have a lack of money
  • Lack of experience: Until you try new approaches and complete some tasks, your lack of experience will hold you back.

Remember I said that outer blocks are often the basis of inner ones? So fear might be keeping you from leaving your job. Disorganization might be the cause of you not getting your steps done. Lack of knowledge might keep you from getting the right type of experience.

So, where to go from here?

Let’s repeat the 4-step process and turn it into actions:

  1. Desire: Write down what you want and why you want it.
  2. Endpoint: Describe what your life or business will be like when you have fulfilled your desire. For example, how many people will work for you? How much will you make? Which products will you have? How big will your list be? How many hours will you work per week?
  3. Blocks: Write out what you think your blocks are. You might think you don’t know, but you probably have a good idea. Why are these blocks a problem?
  4. Steps: What steps will you take to overcome the blocks and complete your goal so you can move forward? Start with a broad brush. For example, I will create 3 products and grow my list to 5,000. Then break down your steps into smaller ones. What will you do each month for the next 12 months to get there? What will you do each week? Each day?

Finally, put those daily and weekly tasks on your calendar.

How will you keep on track this time?

I’m sure you’ve tried to meet goals before. What will be different this time?

Consider coaching or working with an accountability partner. In fact, research shows that an accountability team of 4-6 people will increase your chances of success by more than 40%! That’s because when you work with one friend, that friend will often let you off the hook.

Other research has shown that having regular deadlines for small, concrete, achievable goals will lead to the best results.

Work with a coach

Working with a coach can help you keep on track and attain your goal. That’s because your coach will:

  • Hold you accountable
  • Give you the knowledge you need or tell you where to get it
  • Guide you through the process of visualizing your goal
  • Help you move through your blocks
  • Give you specific steps to take

If you aren’t meeting your goals, consider coaching with me.

I have several options. Research shows that when people have too many options, they choose none of them, but I’m taking that risk. I want you to choose at least something, because…

…it’s time to stop

  • Trying to figure out everything on your own
  • Spinning your wheels
  • Feeling overwhelmed and overworked
  • Going in 50 directions at once
  • Not getting the results you want

Reach the Stars Club

You’ll find the Reach the Stars Club to be an incredible value. You can choose from 1-on-1 coaching or group coaching, once per week. Here’s what you’ll get:

  1. Bi-weekly reports for 2 years covering all aspects of online marketing so you’ll know exactly what to do to reach the stars and succeed, plus a related step-by-step worksheet to spur you to action and achievement.
  2. 1-on-1 or group coaching on Fridays. On the last Friday of each month, I teach a lesson on a specific topic and you can ask questions.
  3. A private Facebook group where you’ll be part of a community of like-minded online business owners. I’ll be there to answer questions and help you break through any obstacles.

If you’re determined to succeed and fully take advantage of this program, you’ll make amazing progress.

Get the Reach the Stars Club.

Change the World Marketing Mastermind

This low-cost program is a small group of committed online entrepreneurs. We meet weekly and we hold each other accountable. We help each other out. We work with each other.

If you’d like this type of community and support, check it out.

Change the World Marketing Mastermind

Is it the right time for you yet?

What are you waiting for?

Leave a comment and let me know how you feel about this blog post.

Note: I want to give credit to Gabriele Oettingen who has a 4-step system she calls WOOP. I’ve reworked and re-organized her ideas but heard about the concept from her on a podcast.

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    8 replies to "How to attain your goal–a 4-step process"

    • Shelly Cothern

      Getting a coach or mentor for one’s business or any endeavor is indeed very important. I have reached a lot of milestones in my own small business with the help of a coach. If it weren’t for her, I don’t know where I would be now.

    • Billy C.

      2017 may be the right time for me to get a coach. Currently organizing my finances to make sure I have budget for something like this.

    • Ellen Finkelstein

      Shelly, thanks for that comment, and I can “hear” in your “voice” what a relief it is to have someone to guide you. Without a coach, many people feel helpless as they try to figure everything out on their own.

    • Vanessa Cummings

      This post reminds me of Stephen Covey’s “Begin with the end in mind”. We really have to know where we’d like our business to go and what results we are expecting so we can thresh out whatever needs to get done in order to get from A to Z. And when the tough gets going, it is best to get a coach or a mentor. They’ve already been there and their insights and advices for your own journey will be very valuable.

    • Ellen Finkelstein

      Vanessa, I think that Stephen Covey’s wise advice is perfect here. Good point!

    • Kyle Farris

      Really thinking hard about this especially the first part – to clearly define my goals. That’s where I’m having a hard time because I want to do so much that I end up not doing none at all.

    • Lisa Menelli

      I’m going to start with DEBS. I hope I can take off from here. Thank you for this post.

    • Lousie Banks

      I an’t believe it’s already the end of Feb and I still haven’t written down my goals for this year. I truly need the 4-step process you mentioned above. Hoping it’ll help me at least identify what really my goals are and start working on them stat! Thanks!

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