As a virtual assistant, setting goals can be a powerful tool for helping you focus your efforts, stay motivated, and make progress towards the things you want to achieve in your business. But what are the specific benefits of setting goals, and how can you go about setting them effectively?

Benefits of Setting Goals

• Clarity: Setting goals gives you a clear sense of direction and helps you focus on what matters most. It’s easy to get sidetracked or overwhelmed with all the tasks and responsibilities that come with being a VA, but having specific goals in mind can help you prioritize your time and energy.

• Motivation: Goals provide a sense of purpose and can help keep you motivated when things get tough. Having something to work towards can be a powerful source of motivation, especially when you can see progress and get closer to achieving your goal.

• Achievement: Setting and achieving goals can be a great source of personal satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. It can give you a sense of pride and confidence in your abilities, and help you build momentum for future success.

How to Set Effective Goals

Now that you understand the benefits of setting goals, how can you go about setting them effectively? One helpful framework is the SMART criteria, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

• Specific: Make your goals as specific as possible. Instead of saying “I want to grow my business,” say “I want to increase my monthly revenue by 20% by December 31st.” The more specific your goals, the easier they will be to work towards.

• Measurable: Your goals should be measurable, so you can track your progress and know when you’ve achieved them. This could mean setting a specific target (e.g., “I want to acquire 10 new clients this year”), or using specific metrics (e.g., “I want to double my website traffic over the next six months”).

• Attainable: While it’s important to stretch yourself and set ambitious goals, they should also be realistic and achievable. Consider your current resources and capabilities, and aim for goals that are challenging but not impossible.

• Relevant: Your goals should be relevant to your overall business goals and aligned with your values and priorities. Make sure your goals are something you are truly passionate about, and that they will make a meaningful impact on your business.

• Time-Bound: Set a specific deadline for achieving your goals. This will help you stay on track and make progress towards your objectives.

By following the SMART criteria, you can set effective and achievable goals that will help you grow and succeed as a virtual assistant in 2023.  Personally I don’t like SMART goals but they are often the method that we know from our corportate days. 

I prefer the Mountain of Goals method for setting goals.  

The Mountain of Goals theory is a helpful tool for visualizing the process of setting and achieving goals.

Imagine a mountain as your ultimate goal, with various smaller goals along the way that represent the steps you need to take to reach the top. Each of these smaller goals represents a “plateau,” or a level of achievement that you must reach before you can progress to the next one.

The idea behind the Mountain of Goals theory is that you should focus on one plateau at a time, rather than trying to tackle everything at once. By breaking your larger goals down into smaller, more manageable pieces, you can more easily stay motivated and on track.

To use the Mountain of Goals theory, start by identifying your ultimate goal, or the top of the mountain. Then, think about the different steps or plateaus you need to reach in order to get there. These could be specific tasks, skills to acquire, or milestones to achieve.

As you work towards each plateau, you’ll build momentum and gain confidence, which will help you keep going as you progress up the mountain. And eventually, when you reach the top, you’ll be able to look back and see all the progress you’ve made along the way.

The Mountain of Goals theory is a simple but powerful way to visualize your goals and keep yourself motivated as you work towards them. So the next time you’re setting goals, try thinking about them in terms of a mountain, and see how it can help you stay focused and on track.

I layer the Mountain of Goals theory though with the Good, Better and Best approach.

The Good Better Best approach is a technique for setting goals that helps you focus on progress and improvement, rather than perfection.

To use the Good Better Best approach, start by identifying your ultimate goal, or what you want to achieve. Then, think about three different levels of progress: good, better, and best.

• Good: The “good” level represents a minimum level of progress that you are committed to achieving. This could be a baseline level of performance, or a specific target that you want to reach.

• Better: The “better” level represents an intermediate level of progress, where you are striving to improve upon your good level. This could be a more ambitious target, or an improvement on a specific metric.

• Best: The “best” level represents the highest level of progress you can reasonably achieve. This could be an aspirational target, or a stretch goal that pushes you to your limits.

By setting goals at each of these three levels, you can create a sense of progress and improvement, rather than feeling overwhelmed or frustrated by a lofty, unattainable goal. You’ll also be able to celebrate your successes along the way, which can help keep you motivated and on track.

So the next time you’re setting goals, try using the Good Better Best approach to focus on progress and improvement, and see how it can help you achieve your goals with more confidence and motivation.  In particular, I use this for financial goals – Good being the thing I am aiming for, while Better starts to make this goal a bit bigger, and Best – that’s a stretch but if achieved I will be very happy!

So as you begin planning for the new year, don’t forget to set some goals for yourself! With a clear sense of direction and a plan in place, you’ll be well on your way to achieving success in your business.

Not sure about setting goal and would like some help and direction, come and join my free goals setting webinar on Wed 11 Jan 23 at 8pm GMT.