It’s February again and another holiday season is behind us. Now it’s time to look ahead and set new goals for the upcoming year. We’ve talked about the things that go into goal setting many times so this year, let’s look at an example of what setting a goal might look like.

For example, one of your biggest sellers is engagement rings and you want to set a goal for 2019. The first thing you need to do is look back at 2018 and see how many in sold. If you sold 30, for example, then that’s where setting the goal for 2019 begins. If you struggled to get to 30, then maybe keeping the goal at 30 for 2019 is a good idea. If you reached 30 easily then it’s time to increase that number and challenge yourself. After that reflection, you decide that increasing your goal to 40 is a realistic goal.

Now you want to break up that year-long goal into short-term goals. If your goal is to sell 40 engagement rings in 2019 then it stands to reason that your monthly goal is to sell just over 3 rings per month. Remember, though, that’s an average. Chances are you are going to sell eight one month and maybe only one or two in another a month. As long as your average stays around three, then you are on course to meet your year-long goal.

It’s up to you how far you want to go in breaking down your goals; you can just leave it at a monthly goal, or you can break it down to weekly of even daily. Just because you set your goal at 40 doesn’t mean it has to stay there either. Goals should be constantly evaluated and changed if necessary.

It’s now May and you have already sold 25 engagement rings, which obviously puts you well ahead of the pace needed to reach 40. It’s at this point, you would want to scrap the goal of 40 and challenge yourself even more. If you are at 40 going into June, then 60 should probably be your new goal. Your short-term goals would also have to be adjusted to reflect your new long-term goal.

The new year means new goals, and it also means new opportunities to meet your goals. Take the time necessary to evaluate and set goals, and you will have no problem meeting them.

FINAO - Brad Huisken