What every new coach needs to know about setting business goals

So I’m gonna bet you set some epic goals at the start of the year — to go full time in your biz! Launch a podcast! Grow your email list! Start blogging every week! Make a bunch of money!

You chose an exciting ‘word of the year’. You made a vision board and bought a shiny new planner. You were so ready to make 2022 THE year that your business takes off.

… And now we’re a few weeks in and you can’t remember your word of the year. Those big goals seem waaaaaayyy far off in the future and you’re feeling kind of crappy that maybe you’re just “not manifesting right”.

Because aren’t we all meant to just:

“Go for your dreams!” 

“Reach for the stars!” 

“Leap and the net will appear!”

Those motivational posts on Instagram make this whole business thing seem so easy. You just have to get your energy on-point, build a life you love and go get it, right? 

We’ve all been seduced by this kind of messaging at one time or another, but the problem is that it’s a) completely unrealistic and b) sets wonderful coaches and solopreneurs, (who could totally be successful in business) up for failure.

 

The expectation that business success should happen fast is just plain wrong.

 

To be clear, I am NOT saying you should aim low — but I AM saying that setting realistic expectations will help you achieve those big goals of yours. And actually yeah — sometimes that DOES mean aiming low. There — I said it! haha

I’ve heard SO many people come into Uncage Your Business and say “I must make this work within 3 months, my entire life/house/kids/future is on the line, I can’t afford for this not to work” 

It always makes my heart sink, because I know how much pressure they’re going to put on themselves. That mindset will get you into scarcity mode SO fast and every single thing you do will have the weight of the world on it — this is terrible for business building. 

And yeah, while a full-time salary *could* be possible in six months, in my experience of business, it’s all about the long-game. There’s no one timeline, but I can tell you that the “overnight success” is not a true story; There is ALWAYS grit, determination and lots of failure on the way to success. 

So if you’re feeling like you’re “failing” with your big goals or something you tried didn’t work yet, I want to encourage you to shift your mindset around those big business goals.

 

Stop setting yourself up for failure with HUGE goals and instead build a mindset of persistence, consistency and openness.

 

Think about a delicious chocolate cookie — do you think Nestle came up with the recipe for the first time? Or did they have to test a whole bunch of things out before they landed on the perfect cookie? Of course they did! If sales aren’t so good, they find out why and then make tweaks along the way to make the best cookie they can. They don’t shut down their entire factory because of one cookie failure — they learn from their mistakes and keep on going. Credit to Erin Foley, our amazing Uncage Your Business mindset coach, for that excellent (and yummy) example.

It’s the same with any business. There’s no magic pill. You don’t need to find the ONE thing that will make everything work. There is no ONE thing. You’ve gotta keep going and be willing to tweak and pivot. A “woe is me, business is hard, it’s never going to work, I must just suck, fuck this” mindset will get you nowhere.

Instead, stay open to the idea that it might take longer than you’d like, embracing the ups and downs and taking a lesson from each one will help make sure you’re always growing and moving forward.

 

So if you’re one of those people who keeps aiming high in your business but you never seem to be able to get there, things never quite feel like they’re working – it’s time to switch up your goals. Keep them low.

 

I LOVE the power of low expectations. I would ALWAYS rather crush my goal and wildly surpass it, then never quite succeed. Thus is the power of lowering our expectations and keeping our goals smaller and more realistic. I honestly think the coaching and personal development world is doing a HUGE disservice to business owners by encouraging you to aim SO high. Sure, it’s great for motivation. But what happens when you don’t get there? Instead of realizing you are TOTALLY in a normal business trajectory, you beat yourself up, feel bad, and maybe even quit.

Instead?

Set a tiny goal and show up every day for it — even when you don’t want to. Trust me – your business will thank you for it for the entire rest of your year – and for the rest of your career, for that matter.

• Instead of going from making $12k/year to claiming you want to hit 6-figures next year (that would be 8x your revenue), say you want to 3x it and hit $36k (and then be STOKED if you surpass that goal!)
• Instead of wanting to build your email list or social media following to 10k if you’re only at 150 now, decide you will 10x it and get to 1500 quality signups/followers. And if you get more than that? Amazing, you crusher!

Keep it simple, and keep it do-able. Your brain needs small wins in order to keep going!

Are you guilty of setting pie-in-the-sky (ie. too high) goals (and then feeling BAD when you don’t reach them?). If that’s you,  I would love for you to pop into our Facebook group and out yourself (sometimes just recognizing it and owning it can shift SO much!). or you can always DM me over on Instagram (are you following us there yet?) and fill me in on your new, smaller goal!

Then let’s set some LOW and tiny goals instead. Let us know what tiny goals you’re working towards so we can cheer you on! Me and our community are here to help you!

 

x becca