It’s that time of year! Everyone is talking about how to create goals and step into the next year. Are you ready?

Maybe 2022 was a breath of fresh air compared to 2021. Or maybe it was a dumpster fire! Whatever is was for you, the good news is, you get to have a fresh start for 2023! A huge part of that starts with setting intentional goals for the new year!

Before you even think about diving into creating your goals, you first need to complete an annual review of your business! I covered how to do that in my post from last week, so if you haven’t done that yet be sure you go read that before continuing on!

Now that you’ve completed your annual review, let’s dive into how to create goals for 2023!

How To Create Goals For 2023

5 Essential Guidelines for Your Goals

1. Be Specific

What do you want to achieve? Get down to the nitty-gritty. Just saying you want to increase your YouTube subscribers won’t cut it. Instead try: “I’d like to increase my YouTube subscriber following by 1,000 followers.”Look out for any roadblocks that could keep you from reaching your goal, and make a plan to knock them out of the way. 

Questions to ask yourself: Who does my goal involve? What am I trying to accomplish here? When and why do I want to make this goal happen?

2. Make Goals Measurable

If you know your big hairy audacious goal (BHAG) is to pay off $24,000 of debt in the next year, that means you have to pay $2,000 a month to reach that goal (or about $460 a week). Break your New Year’s goal setting into bite-size chunks. Give yourself daily, weekly and monthly steps to take. Focus on those. When you accomplish one, tackle the next one.

Questions to ask yourself: How long will it take to reach my goal? How do I know when I’ve reached my goal?

3. Give Goals a Time Limit

It’s important to set a time limit—because you need a finish line. Take that goal of yours, create a plan, and break it all the way down to daily activities. Then, give yourself a deadline. Hint: Planners like the Cultivate What Matters Planner are perfect for this. They’ll help you manage your schedule, grow as a person, and crush your goals—no matter what they are.

For example, you might say, “I want to increase my YouTube subscribers to 1,000 followers by December 31, 2023.” To increase your subscribers by your deadline, figure out things like how many videos you need to put out, decide where to promote your channel, and poll your audience on the content they want to see. Then do what you can to hit that goal by your target date.

Questions to ask yourself: Do I have a deadline for reaching my goal? When will I hit this goal? How many times will I achieve this goal?

4. Goals Need to Be Yours

Let’s be honest—trying to go after someone else’s goals for your life never works out. Sure, everyone else is starting a mastermind or launching a course. But it won’t happen unless you want it to. Why? Working hard to win isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s tough and you won’t have the drive to stick with it if you’re working toward a goal you’re not even passionate about.

The goals you set have to be your goals. When push comes to shove, you’re the one who has to fight to make them a reality. So, get in there and start swinging!

Questions to ask yourself: Is this my goal? Or is it someone else’s goal for me?

5. Put Them in Writing

Something special happens when you write down specific goals. So get them down on paper, along with all the steps it’ll take for you to make them happen. Seeing your goals in black and white will help you hold yourself accountable and track your progress along the way. 

Questions to ask yourself: Do I know the steps to reach my goal? Have I laid out a blueprint for how to get there?

8 Areas of Life for Smart Goals

Need a good place to start for goal setting? I recommend you set goals for these eight meaningful areas of life:

• Financial Goals: Get out of debt, pay off the mortgage or set a salary goal.
• Health and Wellness: Hit the gym more often, take the stairs, or eat a healthier diet.
• Friends: Look for new ways to connect with others, say yes when someone invites you out, or start a book club.
• Personal Growth: Be more present, less screen time, declutter, or work on your mental health.
• Focal Relationship: Communicate better, go on a date once a month, or take a yearly trip together.
• Family: plan one-on-one dates with your kids, make a point to call your parents on Sunday Nights, or a family vacation once a year.
• Work + Learning: Take a course you’ve been eyeing up, go to a styled shoot, or improve in a certain area in your business (i.e. better flat lays or reception lighting!)
• Recreation: Get outside once a day, go camping, or travel more

Every goal grows little by little. From day-to-day or week-to-week, your goal progress might not look like much. But over time, with consistency, your small actions will add up! Focus on the progress you are making in each goal, not perfection.

Now go take 2023 by storm!