How to Set Better Business Goals Using Intention

Many company owners are enthusiastically winding up their 2021 objectives and getting ready to establish new goals for the new year as 2022 approaches. However, before you dig into goal-setting, it's vital that you take a step back and establish clear goals for the following year.

Why is it important to establish goals first?

If you think of your company's development as a trip, your intentions are the final destination - the vision for how you want your company to appear and/or how you want to feel about it in the future year.

It's a chance to think about the broad picture so you can see what your company needs to concentrate on in the next year to come closer to your ultimate vision and aspirations.

What is the difference between intentions and goals?

Intentions are often more free-flowing future visions with no clearly defined boundaries. For example, an entrepreneur's New Year's resolutions might be: I want to be confident that I'm bringing in more than enough money each month, or I want to feel like my business is making a difference in my customers' lives, or I want to build a business that has a positive impact on my local community.

Your aims are the "why" and "what," and your objectives are the "how."

Another approach to think about your objectives is to conceive of them as points on a map that get you closer to your final destination (your intentions.)

Sometimes your goals will be a direct path to your intention (for example, I want a stable income = my goal is to be able to pay myself $X amount each month), and other times they will be a small but significant detour (for example, I want a stable income = my goal is to launch my business by X date).

In the second scenario, where you're starting a company, you're probably not going to reach that steady income right soon, but you're taking the first step on the road to get there.

What makes establishing intentions so effective?

The benefit of purpose setting is that it helps you figure out why you're starting or expanding your company. Business development is seldom a one-way, straight-line path. Instead, it's usually full of twists and turns, as well as highs and lows.

Setting clear objectives for your final destination today will not only help you establish clearer, more meaningful goals, but it will also serve as a tremendous motivator as you navigate the inevitable peaks and troughs.

Thanks to Michelle Palacios at Business 2 Community whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.