Last week we discussed a stretch goal I made for hiking in 2016. This week I said I would discuss how to reach a stretch goal. Sometimes, we think people reach their goals without very deliberate practice. Ha! That has not been my experience.
Let’s say your stretch goal for 2017 is to grow 50% more this year than you did last year. Say, you grew 8% in revenue while maintaining a 5% net profit margin. This year,you want to grow 12% at the same margin.
Ask yourself a number of questions including these:
What are the activities your team would need to do each period to achieve that goal?
If that is not enough, what other channels do you need to enter?
Will you need more staff?
Does your team need more training?
Do you need to bring in outside help?
How much will you have to invest to reach the goal?
Once you have laid this out, run it by your team. What did you miss? Add those steps, too.
Once you have laid out a step by step plan to reach the goal, be sure that each step is in the company calendar.
What happens if you miss a step? Do you have accountability conversations as a tool in your tool chest? If you don’t, check out Mike Scott’s tool chest for accountability.*
Are you prepared to add steps as you go along, and to change up your strategy as the world changes around you?
If you put this amount of daily focus on reaching your goal, you have a high chance of achieving it. If you do not calendar the steps on a weekly/monthly basis,and hold yourself and others to the action steps required, it will be dumb luck if you reached your goal.
We all would like luck to be in our favor. Sometimes, it is. Make it a small plus to your careful planning and it may shower you with much more.
Illustration courtesy of ASK a PR Expert.