20 Meaningful questions to set awesome business goals (for those who hate goal-setting)
If you’re like me, you became a business owner so you could create the life you wanted for yourself…
But so often we operate on auto-pilot based on what we’ve done in the past, or we pattern our behaviors after other businesses, or (in my case) we let our whims dictate the actions we take.
How is any of that going to help us truly create a fulfilling and peaceful life for ourselves, if we’re not even being intentional with our day-to-day decisions?
This is why aligned goal-setting is so important! But believe me…
I used to hate goal-setting because it always felt pointless to me.
Like how am I supposed to know what I can achieve a year from now? Why should I put together these arbitrary metrics to hit when I don’t even know why I’m aiming for that? Why would I try to predict the future only to feel like a failure when it doesn’t come to pass?
I always felt like goals were there to discipline me and make me work harder. And if you know anything about my personality, you know I repel the idea of restriction and being made to do things I don’t want to do.
So I would typically just go with the flow and whatever happens, happens. Can you relate?
Here’s what I’ve learned from my amazing business coach:
The plan should be based on what will make YOU fulfilled.
Instead of looking ahead and trying to decide where you “should” be a year from now based on the way others have grown their business — start with the ultimate dream in mind and work your way backwards into an action plan that is exciting & sustainable for you personally.
When you’ve set the right goals for yourself, it shouldn’t feel like they’re nagging at you. It should fuel you and get you excited about the future :)
here are 20 questions you can ask yourself to feel more connected to your goals
I strongly suggest opening up a Google Doc, Notion page, or your trusty notebook and journaling your answers. Treat this as a brainstorming exercise in order to open up possibilities you might not have considered. Give yourself at least a few minutes to pause and reflect on each question.
Have fun!
Start with the big picture
1. What is your IDEAL lifestyle? Don’t hold yourself back from dreaming here, and describe it in detail.
2. Design your ideal workday. What hours would you like to work, and what will you be working on? What sort of non-work things will you be doing regularly?
3. How would the business you build need to support you to have that lifestyle? Remember, the possibilities are only limited by your imagination.
4. What are you currently doing/not doing that doesn’t fit in with that long-term vision?
5. What kind of habits, systems, or outsourcing need to be created to help you get to that place?
Envision the near future
6. What would it look like for you to be “comfortable” in this next year?
7. How much money would you need to pay yourself (take-home pay) each month in order to make that happen?
8. What do you want to see happen in your personal life this year? (Relationships, activities, habits, health, financial, events, purchases, etc.)
9. Are there any tasks in your personal life that you would love for someone else to help with? (Childcare, grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc.)
10. In what small ways can you change how your business is run in order to prioritize your personal goals?
Reflect on the recent past
11. What things did you not enjoy doing in your business last year? (Client work, marketing tasks, administrative, etc.) Be specific.
12. Which of those things absolutely have to keep getting done?
13. Are there any skills that you personally want to get better at?
14. What did you do last year that you want to keep doing more of?
15. What were the things that made you feel the most aligned or fulfilled?
Think in practical terms
16. Which marketing methods did you enjoy the most? (Platforms, content, frequency, etc.)
17. Where did the majority of your good-fit leads come from last year?
18. What kinds of content or offers did your audience seem to gravitate towards?
19. What will you stop doing next year?
20. Which tasks could be wise to outsource next? Think both personal & business.
After reflecting on all these questions, try to draw connections between them and look for patterns or anything that seems particularly clear.
For example, if you’ve been making yourself post on Instagram for the past two years and it hasn’t gotten you any leads… maybe you should stop! Or if it’s something you want to learn to do better, maybe you could invest in mentorship. Maybe you’ve been wanting to try your luck on Pinterest but haven’t found the time, and this could be your sign to switch. OR, a final maybe, if most of your leads came from Google last year, then it could be a smarter use of your time to pour more resources into SEO.
It’s all about choosing goals that will support your ideal lifestyle. And sometimes that means doing LESS of something.
Now try to break all your goals down into manageable chunks: things you think you might be able to accomplish in 90 days, 6 months, and 1 year. It’s important to have a reasonably attainable goal so you can really shoot for it, but as my coach says, it should also be a little bit scary :)
Here’s the thing though: there’s nothing less helpful than journaling all this out only to never look at it again. I speak from experience.
I recommend using the free Goal-Setting Chart (below) to clearly list out your goals in every category. This really helped my scattered brain to focus on less things at once and not get overwhelmed. It also just acts as sort of a “goal calendar” that can be easily referenced every week:
Remember to make your targets finite or measurable too, so you know when you’ve hit them. That way you can check it off and celebrate, each and every time! (Which is super important.)
For example, instead of the goal being “improve work/life balance”, you could say “stop taking calls on Friday for a full month”. Something you can track!
This method of business planning actually started making me feel motivated to create a plan and stick to it — and I hope it does for you too! You can even check in with yourself on these same 20 questions every 3-6 months and see if your priorities have shifted.
In case you need a reminder: You deserve to have peace, security, and joy in your life. And you can design your business YOUR way in order to make that happen.
Now get to journaling — I can’t wait for you to get excited about the future!
