SMART Goals -

Conduct A SWOT Self-Analysis Frequently

I am going to give you a few ways to conduct a SWOT self-analysis. I conduct a SWOT self-analysis to take an inventory of my life. Looking at different aspects of my life to see where I became better, stayed the same, and where I’m worse off. Some of the areas that I look at are my goals, my plan, my education, and my expenses. In each area, I evaluate my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Your Goals

Since our goals are simply what we want they are easy to analyze. Did I accomplish them or not? Doing a SWOT self-analysis of your goals is crucial to set goals for next year. I break down my goals to make sure they were specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bounded. If I accomplish my goals easily, I know I need to set more challenging ones for next year. If I did not accomplish my goals, I want to find out why. Maybe I overestimated my abilities and set unattainable goals.

Your Plan

The next thing I do when conducting SWOT self-analysis is going over my plan. Accomplishing the goals I set for myself all depends on my plan. If the plan I had didn’t succeed then I need to change my plan. By analyzing my plan I don’t waste time doing things that didn’t achieve the results I expected. Achieving great results means my plan is working so I continue with the plan. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

Education

I always like to go over my education. I look at courses I purchased, books I read, and people I listened to. Writing down what I learned, if anything, from these different educational tools, helps me to see if I’m on the right path. You can analyze what you learned about yourself, your business/career, and your relationship.

For me, education is important and I never want to stop learning. This analysis of my education also helps me to analyze my goals. For example, if I didn’t achieve a goal in my business but I learned some new marketing tactics then I know I’m on the right track. If you are failing, don’t beat yourself up. As long as you are learning and doing you’re on the right track. Everything you’ve done in the past is like sowing seeds that will begin to sprout soon.

Expenses

Finally, I analyze my expenses. I want to see where my money is going. Am I investing my money or spending my money? For my business, some of the things I look at are courses I purchased, marketing expenses, as well as apps and plug-ins. I want to see if they were worth it or not. By conducting this analysis of my expenses I get a good indication of my return on investment. I can then determine what expenses I cut and what I continue for next year.

Decide today where you want to be this time next year. Conduct a self-analysis and put together a winning plan for next year. Commit to working on this plan every day and you will be a different person a year from now

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This is Episode 49, SMART Goals And Mistakes To Avoid. In this episode, I provide a technique to use when setting your goals. It is important to properly set goals so they work. In contrast, I talk about mistakes to avoid when setting your goals.

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Setting SMART Goals And Avoiding Mistakes

In December, I wrote a post wrapping up 2020 and getting ready for 2021. Last week di a podcast about five things to change in 2021. Today is a great time to ask yourself, “Am I where I thought I would be this time last year?” If your answer is, “No,” then now is a great time to see what went wrong. Think about where you want to be a year from now and what you want to accomplish. Today is the time to start setting goals for the next year and beyond.

I’ve written a few posts about goals and as always, I like to keep things simple. Goals are simply something that you want. Think about what you want, write it down, put a date on it, and that’s a goal. They’re your roadmap that will keep you on track and get you to your destination.

Mistakes To Avoid

Many people have goals but never accomplish them. There are several reasons for failing to accomplish what you set out to do. Firstly, you fail because you don’t commit to achieving your goals. Secondly, you don’t have a good plan. Third, you don’t put in the work. There is nothing free in this world, you must put in the work. Fourth, you don’t know how to properly set goals.

One of the mistakes you make when setting goals is your goals are too general. They don’t have an end date for them. Your goals can’t be measured so you cannot tell if you’re on track. One of the biggest mistakes is they didn’t write them down. An example of a poorly designed goal is, “I have a goal to read more next year.” This is too general; it is not specified what you will read or how much.

SMART

One of the techniques I talk about in my course, Setting Goals That Work, is using the acronym SMART. In conducting research I found that some people like using this approach and others don’t. I believe there is no one cure for everything. Find what works for you and use it.

S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Achievable
R – Relevant
T – Time Bounded

Using the example above, a properly set goal will read like this, “I will read 24 Self-Improvement books by 12/31/2021.

Specific – It Specifies exactly what you’re going to read, Self-Improvement books.
Measurable – You’re going to read 24 books.
Achievable – If every book averages 400 pages then you would need to read 27 pages per day. This is very achievable.
Relevant – If you are looking for self-improvement then this is a relevant goal.
Time Bounded – There is an end date, 12/31/2021 attached to the goal.

Break Them Down

You can also break this yearly goal into smaller goals. Write down how many books you would want to read every month. Set a weekly goal of how many pages or chapters you will read. Also, set daily goals of reading for a specific time or number of pages. This will keep you on track and you will be able to see how you are progressing toward your yearly goal.

This SMART technique can be utilized in setting different types of goals. I always set three types of goals, personal, business, and relationship. You can set goals for wealth building, your health, and improving your relationships.

Develop A Plan

Once your goals are set, the next step is to develop a plan to achieve your goals. Set up a time frame of when you want to check your progress and analyze your plan. If you find yourself off-track and not making the progress you expected, change your plan but never change your goal. I hope you enjoyed this latest episode of my podcast and learned about SMART goals and mistakes to avoid.

If anyone has any tips or techniques on setting goals or stories on how goals have worked for you, I would love to hear them in the comments section. Don’t forget to like, follow, and join our team by subscribing to the email list.