I know you’re thinking, it’s not even January yet Jenna and you’re talking about goal setting? Yes, I am and think you should be too. So where will I be investing in my business in the next 365 days? Let’s walk you through exactly where I’ll be investing and how I go about goal setting in my own business in the hopes that it will help inspire you too. You ready? Let’s dive in.

1. Clarify what you want.

The best way to begin to identify your goals for next year is to start with a brain dump.Writing down your goals makes them real and make it more likely that you will take action on them. I actually do this pretty regularly, not just with the big picture items on my list but my week to week projects as well. I find getting everything out of my head and on paper make things feel more manageable and I’m less overwhelmed and stressed by what I want to accomplish. I would challenge you to not judge this list and just get every thought and idea no matter how little or big and scary it might be. We will spend time in the next few steps refining and diving deeper into them.

2. Refine to make specific and measurable

Listen to your gut when reading through your goals and be honest with yourself about what’s important and needs to be a priority. Pay attention to the ones that light you up and deserve your time and energy. Too often we are vague about our goals which in turn makes us less likely to achieve.

With every single goal, you need to be able to confidently say “Yes, I did this” or “No, I did not.” So it needs to be more specific than “make more money” or “take more time off.” Instead, you could specifically say “I am going to book 20 weddings” or “I will take the month of March off as a sabbatical.”

3. Put them on the calendar

I get it, it’s fun to dream, but too often as entrepreneurs it stops there and I want to make sure you adopt the idea that goal setting should be on-going and not just a practice for January 1st. Break your goals up into smaller, actionable steps and put them on your calendar. Most importantly, honor these tasks and deadlines.

As our own boss, it can be easier to keep promises to others while our own goals and dreams take a back seat.  Make sure every goal you have has a date of completion. Without a date, you’ll likely keep pushing it to the bottom of your to-do list, never to get done. Be aggressive with this but also have grace for yourself that dates can be adjusted. Even your wildest dream goals can come to fruition if you take the time to put the action steps down to achieve them.

4. Be honest about your fears

Too many people don’t acknowledge the fears they have in their business, heck, we frankly suck at dreaming because we’re too focused on what can go wrong. What would it look like if you believed everything would go right for once? Simply acknowledging these fears and then letting them go can be crazy powerful. When you recognize that something terrifies you, you free yourself up to start thinking about how it’s going to feel when you accomplish your goal or the steps you’d take it you had to face that fear. What would it look like if your fear actually happened? Usually, it’s not as scary as we make it up to be in our head and bringing our fears into light takes the power away from them.

5. Invest in your dreams

When you write down the goals it will help you see the finish line even when things get tough and you undoubtedly run into troubles. You’ll better be able to gauge if you should say yes or no to all of the opportunities that land in your lap and allow you to stay focused and set boundaries to protect your vision and goals. And my favorite part, it will enable you to see and celebrate your progress when you accomplish them.

My top goal for the next 365 days? On-going learning. This looks like investing in courses, education, and training for both me and my team. It looks like investing in a mastermind and running one myself. It looks like reading business books and connecting with other like-minded entrepreneurs. An investment in yourself as an entrepreneur is always a good bet and one that is at the top of my list for the next 365 days. Those investments that get my heart pumping and make me face a decision, “Am I going to really go for this” have proven to be the best investments I’ve ever made as an entrepreneur.