Theres lots of literature on goal setting. I want to give my two cents on the topic.
Firstly, what I’ve come to realize is that there are two distinct types of goals: Outcome and Process goals.
Outcome goals are those that are not fully in control, but represent a desired end result. For example: Earning $10,000 per month (seems to be a popular goal).
Process goals are under your control. By implementing and achieving your process goals, you will be moving closer to your outcome goal.
I think that when goal setting it is important to work with these two goals hand in hand.
I’ll give you an example of my own personal goals in the business sphere:
Outcome Goal:
I am earning $1,000,000 per month as of the 1st of July 2017.
Process Goal:
We are releasing 4 games per week as of the 1st of July 2016.
There are a couple of other points you should not about goal setting.
Firstly, there’s a stream of thought that says to write the goals out in the present-tense, stating it as if you have already achieved the goal (shout out to Muoyo Okome of Daily Spark Media for that). I like the idea of that and think it definitely can’t hurt.
Write down your goal every day as part of your journaling habit. That will always keep your goal top of mind and hone your focus and creativity towards achieving the goals that you’ve set. It also gives you the opportunity to constantly refine your goal so that the goal is properly aligned with your intrinsic desires.
It’s also important to set a date on the goal, because that allows you to plan around this constraint and puts some time pressure to achieve it.
You should work back from the outcome goal and create a realistic plan for your process goal.
In our case, from looking at our initial metrics and taking very conservative estimates, to reach the target revenue we will need to have about 200 apps.
To reach 200 apps in one year’s time, we need to be releasing 4 apps per week. Simple maths.
If you don’t have some initial metrics, take your best guess or base your estimate on market stats. You can always refine the goal later.
It’s important that you set a goal that stretches you, but is within the realms of achievability.
Lastly, a word of caution about the date. It’s absolutely FINE if you don’t hit your goal by the target date, you can always push the date back. But don’t compromise on your goal (as long as it is still important for you).
