Goal setting and planning essentials to success, every business owner needs to know.

By Tracey Watts Cirino

Hi, I'm Tracey Watts Cirino and I help business owners get clarity and focus in their life and business by setting up systems that work with their strengths. And I'm the author of Beyond Common 12 Essentials for Success in Life and in the Workplace.

Let's discuss the many benefits of creating a goal-setting plan that works for you and your business instead of using outdated methods that don't work, especially not right now in the rapidly changing business landscape.

Let's dive into what really works right now for business owners so you can have your best year yet, grow sales and work on your business instead of in your business.

For years, I struggled as a creative business owner and was just running around and doing a lot of busy work but not being productive. When I started really applying these 12 essentials for success, I really started to thrive and have predictable growth in my businesses. It is such a great thing and I want to share it with you. 

I get so excited to share the things that have worked for me, things that don't work, and just things that will really drive your profitability so that you know why it’s so important to be working smarter instead of harder.

The biggest mistake I see business owners making when it comes to goal setting and planning is they don't really spend the time on reflection. They don't spend the time figuring out, hey, what really worked for me last year, why should we keep doing what is not working or where do I need improvement?  What do I need to stop doing because it is just a big waste of my time?

Really digging deep and giving yourself the time to reflect is so important. If we don't spend time learning from our mistakes, we end up being the type of people that keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. If you feel like you're slamming your head into the wall and asking why does this keep happening over and over again, I strongly encourage you to take a minute and go back and really reflect over the last 12 months, even if you do the last three months, really reflect over things that happened. 

Identify where things may have gone wrong and start looking at it in a way that's new.

 For the longest time, I continually made the same hiring mistakes. I would fall for people that said, oh, I want to do this. I want to do that, but then their actions did not line up with that statement.  I would keep spending so much coaching them to their potential and what they "said "they wanted. It felt like I was dragging them up the mountain. And the thing is, that is not good for me, because I love growth and inspiration, and helping people achieve success and all I was doing was wasting energy.

If someone is not genuinely all about growth, then it is depleting my energy to be forcing it upon them, when they never had any intention for growth anyway.

It's not fun for them and it's not fun for me. So we need to get out of that arrangement or relationship. Once I finally took the time to really, really reflect on those mistakes that I was making over and over again.  I realized my pattern and how I was the one making that same critical mistake over and over. Without reflection, I would have constantly stayed in that loop and never been able to get off the hamster wheel.

Through the pandemic and the time away from my day-to-day business, I really had a lot of time for reflection. I realized that both in my personal life and in my business life, I was having this incessant need to people, please. It was making me miserable.

And I'm sure it was making other people not very clear on what was next. So I really am so grateful that since that time, I have made so many huge decisions that have allowed me to just put that to bed. So I feel like once and for all my lesson is learned. But again, like all things, they creep back in. So I was unaware that I was putting that on others and not taking ownership for what I really wanted to do.

If you don't take the time to reflect on this and learn from your mistakes, it is going to show up again and again in an uglier way, in a different way until you actually learn the lesson. 😂😂😂😂

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they’re planning and goal setting is not to take the time to learn from their mistakes. It takes a lot of courage, it takes tremendous heart. It takes you not bullshitting yourself. It takes you not lying to yourself and having the courage to dig deep enough to realize, you know what, this is my fault and I own it! 

I was doing this and it's good to have people around you that can help you through your blind spots. You need to surround yourself with people who are strong enough in both courage and mind to tell you the truth, then you'll be able to uncover your blind spots a lot quicker. I am so grateful to have those people in my life. If you don’t have those people currently in your life. I strongly suggest you hire a business coach immediately to help you have honest conversations.

Another thing that I discovered this year was that even though I've always been very social being in the salon and traveling around the world teaching, I realized this year from my reflection that I actually really enjoy being alone and working independently.

I really love it and I wouldn't have expected that. So that's something that surprised me and I found that very interesting.

Another thing is that it's tremendously important is to have an inner circle, a group of people that do help push you to be the best that you can be and don't try to drag you down with any negative energy.

That is something that I am so proud of myself for creating and so grateful for,  truly only have people in my life right now that I absolutely love and adore and intentionally want to spend time with. I personally have not had that in so long and it feeling absolutely amazing. 🙌🏻 It is just the most exciting and joyous place to me. Surrounding myself with  people who like having fun and it's joyful in the process. Then, things start getting really, really amazing and you're able to see accelerated growth.

If 2020 taught us anything, it is that time is precious and we're not promised what tomorrow is going to look like. 

In moments of reflection, it's all about planning what is going to help us really shine and step into the light of being and becoming our best selves, not for anyone else but for ourselves.

There's a quote that says focus on what lights you up, focus on what brings you joy in your heart, and just do that.

Often, when business owners establish goals, they forget to ask...

What does the world need?

What problem can I solve?

What solution can I offer?

And that's awesome because we need that. But you first have to take that step back with your goal setting and planning and ask...

What really gets me excited and what makes my heart sing?  The thing that makes you lose track of what time it is because you’re having so much fun.

Yes, I'm working hard but it doesn't feel like work because I'm doing what I love.

If you can do that, that's what the world needs more of. The world needs more people that are lit up doing what they love. From that place, then you can solve the problem or structure of your business to serve from that higher purpose.

In the past, I didn't take those moments to really listen quietly to what my heart really wanted and where I felt I could best serve others. When I didn't take the time to do that it’s when I look back and realize, even if we achieved something, it was hard to get there. 

It just was a struggle. It wasn't with joy in my heart. And so that's the thing that when you realize, looking back, any time you kind of got talked into something or did it because someone else said you should or you thought that's what you were supposed to do, but you didn't take the time to really listen and ask, Is this what I want to do?  Am I being called to serve that higher purpose? Is that really what my heart is called to do?  Without that clarity, that's when things go off the rails. So really take the time to stop and reflect on why it’s isn't working, what is working, what your heart really wants to do, you are going to get yourself set up for so much more success because you're starting from a place where you've made mistakes, you've made corrections, and now you're working from a place of knowledge. Again, the number one mistake people make is that they do something that isn’t working and they keep doing it again and again. And they're like, yeah, I know you're supposed to make mistakes on your way to achieving this great thing.

But if you make the same mistake five hundred times, have you actually learned anything, or are you lying to yourself again?  Are you're learning and growing? If you keep making the same mistake, that's not going to serve anybody.

You're going to be angry, frustrated. You're probably quit before you get to success. But if you take a step back and you make five hundred different mistakes on your way to that success plan, then maybe you step back and laugh and enjoy this moment. You will  have joy in your heart for the process of getting there, and that's what is really important because we don't know what tomorrow brings. We don't know what's going to happen ten minutes from now. We only can be present at this moment right now and not lie to ourselves about repeating the same thing or mistake on autopilot. While secretly expecting a different result.

If you need help getting clarity and focus and starting a practice of reflection. 

I have created the Beyond Common Goal-Setting Guidebook and Training to walk you through the step-by-step process.

Everything is broken down 90 day periods because 90 days keeps it top of mind, keeps it fresh, keeps us interested, and we can achieve much more in 90 days than we really think we can by applying these goal-setting principles and essentials so that you can really achieve your best life, and become the best version of yourself. The person you were designed to be.

These are just some of my insider secrets on goal setting and how to use different questions and the guidebook to achieve maximum success.

I hope that this is helpful to you. I would love to hear what you're working on, what your goals are. So please tag me on social media at @TraceyWattsCirino

I would love to hear what you come up with for your goal setting, so share those with me and let me know how it is working.

To get your guidebook go to  BeyondCommonBusinessSecrets.com/guide. 

 We put a lot of time and energy into this and I think you'll find it really valuable. 

This is something I usually charge $997 for the guide, but you guys are getting it at this reduced cost because I am on a mission to help 1 Million business owners, who need help now more than ever! So enjoy it.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Tracey Watts Cirino