In this episode...

Laura Hargrave: Welcome everyone here at Boss It. We would love to hear from you. Join us in our Boss It community by heading over to our website, bossitclub.com, and join our mailing list. As we grow, we will be launching our community of fellow Boss It BFFs, and we want you to be a part of it.

Okay, Sophia Noreen, let's dig into this. I can't wait to tell them all about how we got here.

Sophia Noreen: Welcome to the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I took an Etsy startup and launched it in big-box retailers within 12 months. As a creative with an entrepreneurial drive, I left my full-time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family, and self-care. We believe you can have it all. Yes, you can launch and run a successful scalable business while maintaining harmony in all aspects of your life. We believe we can learn from each other and draw on many experiences to create the best life possible. During each episode, we will share proven life hacks that will keep you on top and striving every day.

There should be no hesitation. Make a plan. Take action. We are here for you.

Sophia Noreen: Hello, everyone. Welcome to another fantastic episode of The Boss It Podcast. I am going to be your host today. My name is Sophia Noreen if we have not met before. And today, I'm going to be providing three tips on how to accomplish your goals in 2022. If you're catching this recording when it premiers, we are in January 2022. And if you're catching the recording later, you can still use these tips because we have goals that come out at all times of the year. primarily, you know that when a new year hits, everybody is looking to put some big goals on the calendar and accomplish them. So let's talk about three tips that can make you more successful as you achieve these big goals. 
 
Now, I use these tips all the time for my personal life, to my business life, to my professional life. When I create goals, I am putting these three tips to use. And I think you should do the same because you would be surprised at how much you can actually accomplish when these tips are used. So let's get into it. 
 
The first tip is you need to be as specific as possible when you're creating your goal. So what do I mean by specific? I can be very vague about my goal. For example, many people have weight loss as one of their goals for the new year. I actually think if we Google weight loss and new year's resolution, it might come up at the top. So this is a really great example. Basically, if I say, hey, I want to lose weight. That's it? That's not going to help me move into momentum or action towards my goal. What's better is I want to lose a certain amount of weight, 30 pounds, let's say. And I'm going to accomplish this by, and we put an action. So I'm going to accomplish this by walking 10,000 steps every day. And that is going to be my action-oriented specific goal.  
 
So for every single goal that you want to accomplish, you need to put an action-oriented step and it has to be completed at a specific time. So for that example where I want to lose 30 pounds in the year, this is actually not really my goal guys, it's just an example. But if I wanted to lose weight and say it was 30 pounds, I would estimate that I want to lose two pounds a week, let's say, for example. That six pounds a month. And I would say, it's going to take me five months to lose 30 pounds approximately by walking those 10,000 steps a day. And I'm going to do that every single day. And that's how I'm planning on losing that weight.  
 
Another great example is people in business are always looking to achieve greater sales or a greater. brand name awareness. And how would you want to accomplish that? So, for example, I want my brand to have more sales in 2022. And I know that every time I speak about my business or every time I network, or anytime that I go on someone else's podcast, for example, I noticed that I have attracted more ideal customers for my business, therefore increasing brand name awareness and also, increasing potential sales.  
 
So my action-oriented goal would be that I will network with five different people a day on Instagram or on LinkedIn. Or I will ensure that I speak on somebody else's podcast or YouTube channel three times a month, things like that. So every day, I would be out there mingling and networking with other potential business owners or potential creators who may have a podcast or YouTube show. And that is an action-oriented step that will help me achieve business growth for 2020. 
 
Okay, so that is my first tip. You have to take your goal and create it into an action-oriented specific step where you can actually get going and get into momentum. And hopefully, this can occur daily. And I like doing things daily because it becomes a habit after a while and it will just become second nature, which is always amazing because we only have so much conscious energy available. And so, if you make something a habit, it's just much easier to continue sustaining the momentum and continue towards your big goal.  
 
The next tip is time-blocking and committing to a specific time on your calendar. And this goes along the same lines as doing something regularly. So doing something daily for example. Now, I know that daily may be a very ambitious goal. And with walking as an example, daily could be achievable and required. But for something like networking for your business, this may not be needed. A daily time block or daily commitment may not be needed. However, you should schedule the specific action-oriented step that will help lead you towards your goal in your calendar.  
 
This is a time block that you have protected for the specific action. For example, when we are committing the time to go for a walk, that is amazing because you can say every morning at 6 AM, I'm going for my walk, outside or inside. It doesn't matter. But I'm going to be on my walk at 6 AM. Or I'm going to be going to the gym when gyms reopened, because in our area right now, they are locked down due to the pandemic. So as we speak, in many parts of the world, the gym is still operating. So this can really work to people's advantage where you can say, I'm going to dedicate and go to the gym three times a week. And these are the time blocks that I'm going to do this so I can do some resistance training. For the business, you can say, I am going to ensure I time block between 10 AM and 11 AM to mingle and connect with other business owners on Instagram, or on LinkedIn. And that really ensures that the activity gets done. You are actually reserving that spot in your calendar to accomplish that goal. And that's massive. I really do feel you do need to time block when you do need to commit that time because life gets so busy. And even if you have that goal and that intention to complete a task, in my experience, unless you schedule it, it won't happen. 
 
So really do yourself a favor. Don't skip that step. When you get really intentional on what that action-oriented step is going to be towards your goal, ensure that you have picked a time block at a specific frequency amount that you feel is reasonable for that goal and ensure you schedule it into your calendar. Put it into your phone, put an alarm, do whatever you need to do, but just make sure you have committed to it in a calendar, either electronic or paper and ensure it gets done. 
 
Okay, the third and final tip for you that I think is the utmost risk at the utmost importance. They're all very important tips, but this one really does help you seal the deal. I've talked about this before as well, but accountability is your best friend. If you tell somebody, your business BFF, your spouse, your partner, your sister, your brother, your best friend, you can even tell your dog if you like. But I want to make sure that you feel you have ownership of this goal. We're not talking about when you will actually achieve the goal. That's a whole other conversation. All we're saying today is you have committed to an action-oriented step that will move you towards your goal accomplishment and you're committing to a specific time block in your calendar, a specific time and frequency throughout the week. And now, they're going to go and tell somebody about it. Which means you are going to be held accountable.  
 
Now, you could tell somebody who doesn't really care. Or you could become a little bit more savvy and you could put money on the table. Some people use a trick where they'll write a cheque to their friend. For example, say you write a thousand dollar cheque to your business BFF or your best friend, your brother, your sister, your mother, whoever it is. And you say, if I do not do this action, you are allowed to cash the cheque. Simple as that. And if it's a significant amount of money, and I know money motivates people, that's the reason why I use this. If it's a significant amount of money, you might in fact ensure that you get that goal done. And you don't even need to use money.  
 
I actually have a class that I go to, or I was going to before the pandemic hit and shut down my gym again. But with the pandemic, our gym had to become very organized and they started reserving our yoga spots using an app. So I would actually have to reserve my spot many days before the yoga class to ensure that I had a spot and we weren't too full. And because I had committed to going to that class on that spot at that specific time and it was in my calendar now because I booked it in the app, and then the app put into my calendar, I was so much more committed and accountable and I actually attended the classes more frequently. So just a simple action of me committing externally to the app, I was more likely to finish the action. 
 
Isn't that crazy? I think that's pretty incredible that there was no money on the table there but it was just me committing to the app. I guess, really, I was really just reserving my spot in the app an hour before the class. Of course, if I had not unenrolled from the spot I was committed. And they said that if you don't show up for that spot and you do that three times, then we are going to pause your ability to reserve any spots in any class for two weeks. So I, of course, never wanted that to happen.  
 
So at the last minute, I might feel like, oh, I just don't feel like going to my yoga class. I'm not going to go today. And because I go and I looked at my phone and I'm like, oh my goodness, I'm already within the hour. I have to go now because I don't want to be that one that gets banned from booking a class for two weeks. So talk about shame, but it doesn't really matter. The point here is if that works for you if you need somebody to hold you accountable, but it doesn't have to be with money. You could even try out a system where somebody else has access to your calendar and they may be like, okay, well, it looks like you booked in. Did you actually go for your walk? Or did you actually go for your gym resistance training? Or did you actually meet and greet with five potential business leaders that can help you expand your business and sales? That's what you need.  
 
You need that level of accountability. And remember, it could be that you need to put money on the table to really get you moving. It could be that you just even need to publicly announce it. So some people will even publicly announce that they're doing something and because they've publicly announced it to the world of social media or even to their family, that holds them accountable. So that is a great trick.  
 
One other trick that my friend uses, and she now is in the weight loss space, she will actually go book a photoshoot for herself. So she'll book a photoshoot that is meant for people who are training and she will have that six months or five months down the road. And now she's like, shoot, I have a photoshoot that I booked and I want to look amazing for it. So I need to train every single day. So those are other acute examples that I think work very well. And I want you to really try to find something that will make you push into action because it's great if you pick a specific action-oriented step that will push you towards your goal, which is the first tip we spoke about. And it's great if you go ahead and you schedule it into your calendar and your time blocks it. But if you don't have that accountability, that's where a lot of people really slide with achieving their goals. And we want to make sure that 2022 being the way it is, we want to make sure that we make it the best year possible.  
 
We know we've had two crazy years with pandemic. And it looks like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel with all of the vaccines and boosters coming out, so we need to now take this time and own it. If you had not been able to achieve your goals over the last few years because the pandemic kept interfering with your plans, make this a year that you actually go for it.  
 
All right, that is the end of my little pep talk there. I hope you guys can take a feel for these tips. If not all three, take all three and put it to work. If you have any questions or comments, you can always send us a DM on Instagram. That is where we're the most active. So do not feel shy to do that. And we release new episodes every Tuesday so ensure that you have gone ahead and hit follow or subscribe. And if you are watching this, you can hit the bell as well so you always get your notifications and you can always leave a review. If you feel that you love these talks, go ahead and leave a review wherever you are listening. You can always share this podcast as well with anybody else you feel would benefit. So go ahead and do that. And remember, make a plan and take action. And yes, you can have it all. I'm wishing you guys the very, very best 2022. You got this, and we are going to see you guys again next week. Take care. Bye.

So my fellow Bosses, did you enjoy that episode? Now, it's time for you to make a solid plan and take action. But first, remember to subscribe and follow the Boss It Podcast so you receive a notification whenever we drop an episode. Remember to leave us a review on iTunes. Take a screenshot of your review and share it on Instagram as a post or a story, and tag us at Boss It Club. If Instagram is not your thing, no worries. Email your screenshot to [email protected]. As a massive thank you, we will be sending you our top 50 tips for starting and scaling a business. This list is exclusively for podcast reviewers so don't miss out. Now, remember Bosses, make a plan and take action in all aspects of your life. Yes, you can have it all.