Happy New Year! We’re diving straight in with our top 4 tips for setting successful resolutions.
December 11, 2023
Studio
The New Year is a perfect time to reassess business visions, set concrete goals for the upcoming year and commit to refining your brand from all angles. So as you settle back into routine, reply to emails and just catch up, we invite you to jump on the New Year’s Resolution bandwagon. Ours has good mileage, competitive insurance, performs superbly and will get you far away from this analogy if you just hold on. Here are our four top tips for setting successful goals.
Set intentions, instead of resolutions. That might just sound like semantics, but it makes a huge difference in your attitude. When you clarify what you want and call it a resolution, there’s an expectation and rigidity about the outcome. But when you set an intention, you shift the focus from the outcome to the actions. From what you want to achieve to what you’re willing to do to achieve it.
The key is to choose a broader, more general goal for an intention than you would for a resolution. Then, get specific about the ways to achieve that intention. BUT - and this is a big but - for an intention to stick, it has to be aligned with your brand’s core values. When your resolutions connect to a deeper sense of purpose, it compels you not to think small or play safe, but to dig deep and stay the course when things get difficult.
Not a clear goal. A clear direction. (But also a clear goal)
Commercially, it can help you outperform your competitors and better explain your proposition to the market. Operationally, they’re a powerful means of direct communication with your team and enable you to manage resources more effectively. Above all, a clear path makes sure you're both moving forward AND moving in the right direction. If you don’t, you may (will) find yourself falling off track as the year progresses.
And the key to perfecting this is to (1) be specific and (2) revisit. Describe your goals in ways that allow you to track your progress and measure your success. Get into the nitty-gritty. Define where you want your goal to be at each step of the way. When you can see the progress (or lack of) you’re making, it’s easier to make adjustments and work with your team to implement them.
Don’t underestimate the power of your environment to support or sabotage your success. Design your culture and workplace environment so that it’s hard NOT to achieve your goals - starting with your people.
Your team is your most valuable asset and that is never truer than when you’re defining your business goals. People support a goal they help create, so involving your staff in the creation of your business strategy will motivate and inspire them to help you achieve your goals.
They’ll feel valued, engaged and will also give you on the ground insight to make sure your goals are realistic and achievable. Our tip? Break down specific actions to be taken by specific people, designing someone in each department involved to be accountable.
The more involved everyone feels, the greater your chances of success
Money. Employees. Clients. It’s not going to be easy, a lot will be outside of your control, and you’re going to fail before you succeed. So be willing to. It seems obvious, but don’t let setbacks and failures mean more than they do. Reflect on the lessons they hold, make adjustments accordingly and move on.
More importantly, be ambitious but don’t be overconfident. Setting unrealistic expectations of the business and/or team will leave you feeling frustrated, despondent and disproportionately dejected when obstacles occur. And they will occur. So set realistic goals that are based on market insight, data, available spend and resources. Work within your limits and then push them further from the inside out.
