I’m a huge believer in the power of goals. Both personal and business goals.
Goals are at the driving force in what Earl Nightingale refers to as The Strangest Secret in life:
“You become what you think about most of the time.”
In short, you become, or create, what you think about (what you focus on) most of the time.
When you combine a burning desire to achieve a very specific goal in your business with intense focus and attention, you create an almost “magical” force that works to make your goal a reality.
The Monthly Financial Rhythm of Business
Setting goals and targets is an integral part of the Monthly Financial Rhythm of business. There is a natural rhythm to business and money. And goals and targets help you get into the natural rhythm of improvement that is necessary to maintain and grow profitability and cash flow.
The Monthly Financial Rhythm, when implemented well, is one of the most powerful processes I have discovered for driving financial health, wealth, and freedom in business.
Putting an “Upper Bound” on Your Business Goals
Paul Jarvis, the author of the book Company of One, has an interesting perspective on setting goals in your business, especially when those goals impact your growth trajectory.
Here is a quote from the book:
“Most businesses set goals and targets, but few consider having an upper bound to them.
Paying attention instead to the lower bound of a goal, they focus on ever-exceeding increases in areas like profit and reach and set goals like, “I want to make at least $1 million this quarter,” or, “We need to grow our mailing list by 2,000 people per day.”
They set the minimum threshold they want to reach, with the implication that if more happens, that's even better.
What if we set upper limits to our goals instead? For instance, “I want to make at least $1 million this quarter, but not more than $1.4 million,” or, “We need to grow our list by 2,000 people per day, but not more than 2,200”?
In most areas of business, there's a magic zone for sustainability that relates to the concept brought up at the start of this book about having “enough.” If growth happens too quickly, problems can arise like not being able to hire fast enough to keep up, or not having enough infrastructure to handle increased volume.”
This is an interesting approach to consider as you set goals and targets in your business.
Especially when you are growing rapidly and need to make sure you are growing wisely.
NOTE: You can grab a copy of my newest book at Amazon.
A Quick Start Guide to Financial Forecasting: Discover the Secret to Driving Growth, Profitability, and Cash Flow Higher provides a straightforward, easy-to-understand guide to one of the most powerful financial tools in business: a reliable financial forecast. It will transform the financial future of your company and help you make better, faster, smarter business decisions. Order the book at Amazon.