Everything.

Most people don't realize it but there really is no difference in some of the most important ingredients in creating and running a successful 'one person' home business of your own or running a large company!

A goal setting strategy must be implemented!

Just as it is very important to have goals in your own life to achieve if you ever hope to get what you want out of life, it is also just as important to set goals for your own business no matter how small it may be. Many of you reading this may already know just how difficult and important it is to define your own life's goals if you have not already done so.

You see, once you have a goal in life then reaching for it becomes much easier - most people simply go through life without a goal and that is what leads to their downfall. The reason they don't have a goal in life is because they really don't know what they want out of life.

This isn't the case with your own small business; you know exactly what you want that business to 'give you', so goal setting for this kind of operation is not a problem! You may want to build up an empire from home or you may only want to replace your existing 9 to 5 income. Both are possible - it is only a matter of goal setting and then implementing those goals.

There is a saying you may have heard of which goes "what the mind can conceive and believe, so it will achieve" and this is so true when applied to goal setting in general and in creating a small business in particular.

So when applying goal setting to your own small work from home business you only have to ask yourself the question 'where you want your business to be in a year from now?'. It is also important to set goals that are not totally impossible to achieve but at the same time you must set goals that will stretch and push you to give you pride in achieving them! Once you know this then the rest is easy.

As mentioned earlier there are great similarities between the small one man business and large company. No matter how small you are, business wise you are going to need a business plan to make your business succeed. In the case of your own small home business you will just create a business plan that should 'give you' what you want a year from now. This plan may be to go from zero to a million a month in the next 12 months.

Now you are not going to be able to do this in one giant leap or big bite, you will have to take little steps or bites to start with. So your plan would be broken into 12 steps over 12 month's maybe and each of these steps could become a goal on your way to setting up your business. Incorporating measurable goal setting in this way into your business plan will make the matter of becoming a success so much easier to achieve!
Leadership Theories
Leadership Theories

There are four steps in eliminating procrastination that can frustrate our goal setting process. They are 1) slowing down, 2) using your eyes, 3) redirection and 4) taking action. Each one is simple but combined they are a powerful methodology for eliminating procrastination from our lives. This process isn't a single instance because it is common to continue to apply this system time-after-time because habits are hard to break. Even after a long period of time, it is easy to slip into procrastinating again.

The first step is to take the time to slow down and mediate about the area we are procrastinating. Must we really accomplish this thing? How do we really feel in our heart? Where does this fit in our goal setting process? The outcome here is the determination to go on or to drop it. By deciding to continue, we acknowledge that the task must be done and that we are willing to accomplish it.

Next we must use our eyes and mind to see what's going on. What's good about it? What's bad about it? What's distracting me? What do I want or need to change? How and when can I change things to eliminate the obstacles? This insightful seeing really identifies what changes can be beneficial for us. It results in a new goal-setting plan, albeit a soft plan, which we can then refine. It also helps strengthen your resolve.

This moves us to the third area of redirection. We now examine the soft plan formed in the previous step. Here we use all of our skills to make it a concrete goal-setting plan. We decide how to accomplish it and perhaps create intermediate steps to get the big thing done. The outcomes here are to both create a concrete plan and also to strengthen our commitment in accomplishing it. We will become energized to accomplish that thing we had been avoiding.

Finally, we come to what was previously a wall--doing the task. At this point, we will be enthused, committed and have a plan of action. Now, we need to go out and work the plan. Because of the momentum toward accomplishing it we have created in the previous steps, this won't be as difficult as it once was. Having examined the task throughout this exercise, we have really been proving to ourselves that we must get it done, we can get it done and then how we will get it done. Those are the hard things. This final one--doing it is really just the culmination of what has gone before. We use all this momentum to carry us through accomplishment--We Win! Goal setting has succeeded.

In closing, here are a few additional points. Procrastination is a reoccurring phenomenon. Be easy on yourself, especially in the beginning. Old habits fight very hard to retain control. Even if you aren't entirely successful at first, the fact that you have made progress should feel good. As more time passes and your successes increase, your confidence and ability to kick the procrastination habit will increase. Sometimes, forward movement comes is jerky steps and not all of them are forward--Sometimes we go back. But, if we keep hammering the wall, procrastination will fall to our persistence.
Leadership Theories
Leadership Theories