Hi! We’re talking about short-term goals this week. Are you overwhelmed by the long-distance race of working toward 1 year or even 3-5 year goals? Don’t you wish you could celebrate goal accomplishments more often and with more excitement? Let’s talk about “how to eat a frog” by breaking down our big, long-distance goals into short, impactful sprints!

Last week, I shared with you some tips on how to simplify your to-do list. We discussed how important it is to prioritize our tasks by asking these questions:

  • Is this something YOU need to do?
  • Does it even NEED to be done?
  • Is it a priority?
  • How can you outsource it?

As business owners or managers, it’s common for us to feel like we need to handle all of the fires that are igniting or raging around us. We’ve been groomed to think we need to get more and more things done when really, we could possibly see more productive results if we do LESS.

In the next step of this series, we’ll be talking about how we can “eat the frog” by setting smaller goals. 

STEP TWO: How To Eat A Frog

Have you ever been to a business meeting… a board meeting, a stockholder meeting, or an annual budget meeting? Have you ever noticed how they focus on ANNUAL or YEARLY goals? Or maybe their 3-5 year goals? That’s not necessarily wrong – in fact, it’s great that they have those long-term goals. But when you’re trying to achieve a goal that is 52 weeks, 12 months, or 365 days away, it is easy to become bored, discouraged, weary, or even doubtful. You are more likely to lose momentum. That initial feeling of passion to attain such goals become less important when you don’t see immediate results. 

HOWEVER, if you divide your year-long goal into 3-month sprints, each milestone you reach will boost your momentum and excitement to reach that goal.

Why 3 months? Because it’s not too long that it drags on. And it’s not too short that you feel rushed. Allowing yourself 3 months gives you plenty of time to plan, strategize and take active steps toward achieving your goal. Plus, it coincides with quarterly reports. 

For example, if your goal is to gain 100 new members or clients in a year, that means that you should gain around 8 people per month – which sounds kind of rushed. OR, 24 people in 3 months – which sounds way more doable for some reason. Maybe because it gives more ample time to prioritize and take action. 

Building a business is a lot like running.

Some people look at it as a long-distance race and get burnt out or exhausted after a while of not really noticing any growth or success. 

I think of building a business as more of a sprint. Reach those short-term goals with strength and passion. Then use that excitement to win your next sprint race! 

Sometimes, it’s hard for us to really know what our goals look like when we break them down. Let’s see what each stage of business looks like in sprints:

  • Launch Sprint: Launch your website and brand
  • Hustle Sprint: Get traffic, subscribers, and clients
  • Growth Sprint: Create courses, products, and funnels
  • Profit Sprint: Automate and scale

If you’re in the Hustle Sprint, your goals are to get traffic, subscribers, and clients. By identifying what sprint you’re in, you are able to focus everything you do to support your goals. That means when other things pop up, you put them on a waiting list or delegate them to a team member. Much like what we talked about last week – is it coming together yet? 

Next week, we’ll drill down even deeper on what those goals look like in detail! Join us for STEP THREE: Drill, baby drill! 

Thanks for reading – tell me what sprint you’re in right now? What is your goal for the next 3 months? 

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