Here’s how to set goals for the new fiscal year

It’s a brand-new fiscal year! It’s a great time to reflect on what learnings you can take from the past year and into the new one.

Start by thinking about what worked and what didn’t - which of the things that worked do you want to keep doing this year, and which ones are crossed off your list for good? It helps to look at things from above before you start to zoom in on your goals for the year.

Here’s 3 goal-setting tips that can help you reach the next milestone:

 
1. Form the right habits and adapt the right attitude.

We’re not just talking about waking up early and having a planner. We're talking about accepting the fact that entrepreneurship and running a business is an experience that can throw you curve balls sometimes. Gauge how you react to these things – are you practicing mindfulness? Are you letting small setbacks affect your big picture goals? Are you comfortable being out of your comfort zone?

Try immersing yourself in activities both old and new to you – read a different article every day, try a new recipe, sign up to free online courses or training. Practice stretching the time you spend on these activities from 5 minutes a day to 30 minutes and allowing yourself to fully absorb what these things offer you. This helps prevent you from being too one-dimensional in your thinking and can help you be more adaptive to changes.  

 
2. Set clearly defined goals.

 Are you applying the principles of SMART goals?

• Specific. Pinpoint exactly what it is you want to achieve and map out how you’re going to get there. We mean to get very specific – generic or vague goals don’t map out the direction you should take and might hurt your goals in the long run. Make sure you know where you want to go.

• Measurable. Because you set specific goals, you should include a way of measuring this. For instance, instead of saying you want to expand your earnings next month, you can rephrase it and say you want to generate an added PHP10,000. Setting the amount gives you a concrete marker of whether you’ve already achieved your goal.

And don’t worry, even if by the end of your deadline you haven’t quite completed everything yet, it will still show you how far you’ve come and how much more you need to go to achieve this goal. It’s a win-win!

• Attainable. Set goals that challenge you to raise the bar, but not so far-fetched or impossible that you end up feeling demotivated if you don’t achieve it. Don’t set it too easy either, so you don’t run the risk of dismissing the goal as a non-achievement.

• Relevant. Make sure you’re trying to achieve it aligned with the big-picture goals you have for your business, career, or life.

• Time-Bound. Set a deadline for your specific and measurable goals – take for example generating an extra PHP10,000 income. Until when are you allowed to build up to this? How much time do you have? Should it be achieved within 30 days? 60? Is it six months? Making your goal time-bound lets you know when to celebrate and look at what you’ve achieved.

3. Track your performance

Now that you know about SMART goals, you know that what is measured gets accomplished. Tracking your progress, even with the smallest and easiest of tasks, is a great way to increase the belief and resolve in the approach. Even if you find resistance or blocks to your progress, being able to look back and see how far you’ve already come is a great motivation that will keep you going.

If you’re running a team, make sure you share the progress with them – they’re a part of achieving this goal. Share the hardships, the excitement, and the happiness. This not only confirms their effort and contributions, but it helps them keep their eyes on the prize.

As you get started on planning your year, enjoy the journey and take in the lessons as they come your way. If you’re worried about failing, remember that hitting goals or missing targets is part of the process, and even in failure, there are lessons to be had. Practice mindfulness, be present and give everything 100%. Good luck!