Entrepreneurs should all have a goal-setting strategy. Many use a goal planner or self-journaling system where you can jot down ideas, organize thoughts, plan out your day and set a short-term goals.

Determining your strongest reason for taking the leap to fulfill your wildest dreams (figuring out your “why”) will set you on a path for success, especially when life throws a few curveballs your way.

Finally reaching this point may give you a rush and a sense of urgency to achieve your goal as soon as you possibly can. However, just blindly going for it without an actual plan to follow can limit the rate at which you succeed.

This is why goal setting is so incredibly important. For instance, if you fail to implement a strict set of goals for yourself, you will have no way of properly determining the progress you have made. As an entrepreneur, there is never enough time to accomplish everything, so working as much as you possibly can will get you somewhere, but it is a poor way of maximizing your potential.

And you want to achieve your dreams as soon as you can, right? So why not have a goal setting plan in action to speed up the process, ensuring you are working as smart and efficiently as possible.

Writing Down Your Goals

The easy process of writing goals can have magical benefits, including psychological and emotional support.

In a recent Harvard Business study, the researchers found that only 3% of MBA graduates wrote down their goals, yet this 3% went on to make ten times more than the 97%.

Ten times more!

As you may notice, it’s the small things that matter most. Taking a few minutes each day to write down your goals can offer you an incredible return on your success.

However, just writing your goals without a proper structure in place is one of the most common mistakes people make when setting goals for themselves. Remember, working smart instead of working hard is how you get to where you want to be in the quickest way possible.

Setting SMART Goals

As we discussed, writing down your goals is crucial, but there is an art to making sure the way in which you write your goals are helping you achieve as much as possible. Writing SMART goals can make the difference between simply setting goals and writing goals in a way that is proven to help you achieve your dream life.

S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Achievable
R: Relevant
T: Time Bound 

Example of a SMART goal: I will email 100 food bloggers who are interested in organic dieting and request to send them free samples of my product to build the reputation of my brand. I will complete this by midnight on April 15th, 2018.

This goal is specific, it’s measurable since there is an actual number of how many bloggers to email, it’s achievable, it’s relevant since my goal is to increase brand reputation and it is time bound since there is an exact deadline to complete the task.

By taking the time to reformulate your goals using the SMART goal setting system and writing your goals down on a planner, you’ll be shocked at the progress you make towards achieving your dreams.