10 Questions That Help You Set Your Goals for 2009

First of all : do you know what goals are? Why are we even bother to define it and try to achieve it ? Why are we trying to measure them ? In this article you’ll find the answers to all these questions and a little more. Goals are a reflection of who we are – it defines what we want to achieve and force us to think and find ways of achieving it. This is the starting point in the process of getting what we want while we stay in control with the progress.

What are goals and why are so important

Goals are points you’ll need to achieve in order to get the higher purpose. This higher purpose should be stated in a phrase and you also have to not connect it directly to money. For example Disney’s purpose was to make people laugh or smile – happy. I don’t know if I can find a simpler purpose and yet it produced a lot of money because of the way it was achieved. Usually purposes are a little bit abstract in the sense they don’t specify how to achieve it. This is where goals come into action. Different people might set different goals for the same purpose. That is why some reach success and some don’t – there aren’t that many purposes out there but there is a great bunch of ways to try and achieving it. Without goals it’s like you’ll go to battle with no action plan. Why are goals that important ? Because knowing how to set them right will decide your path and success.

How to plan your goals

To define goals you need to have a purpose – we already established that. After that starts the process of finding out the things you’ll need to do in order to achieve your purpose. This process can be developed in many ways but I prefer to use questions in order to define my goals.

So here is a set of 10 questions you can use(I’ve grouped similar questions under the same number to not create confusion) :

1. What basic needs are addressed by your product ?“Different persons adopt different solutions to the same needs”
2. Who needs my product ? Who are my clients ? How can I characterize them ? “Always look for different ways to sell”
3. People have different kind of problems in their lives. What are those problems that can be solved by your product ?
4. How is your client support ? Does it needs improvements ? Does it exists ? Do you get enough feedback from this channel ?
5. Can your product be improved ?
6. If you can offer a better product then what the price will be ? Can you do it at the same price ?
7. If you would get a better product can you address different clients ?
8. If so, should you try to identify the most profitable clients ?
9. When and how do you launch special offers ?
10. How do you interact with your clients ? There is a policy regarding this ?

Identify ways of achieving your goals

Establishing your goals doesn’t mean that you finished the job. You still have to go further and identify midterm and longterm tactics that you’ll put into action in order to achieve your goals. If you use this method of asking yourself questions to set your goals then you’ll find out the asking more related questions will also help you develop ways of achieving your goals.

Measure your success over time

It’s very important to see what you’ve accomplished or not in time. Many are afraid to do it. They prefer not to look. You need to look and measure because nothing turns out the way you planed. Everything needs adjustments and tweaks or last minute modifications. You also have to be careful to the outside factors that are not related directly to you but will influence your business (economical, political, financial).

What are your goals ? Share

So what are your goals for 2009 and how do you plan to achieve them ? I would love to hear your opinions in comments bellow.