The core principle of successfully pursuing Goals is to have a goal in the first place. As an entrepreneur, simply wanting an intangible desire won’t cut it.

Let’s think of the definition of a goal. A desired result that a is planned and committed to.

It might sound like a no brainier. But I guarantee that 90% of people who fail to really catch that goal do so because they never truly had one to start with. So how do you set a goal?

Let me explain.

First and foremost we need to think about how the subconscious mind works.

As I’ve mentioned before, the subconscious takes on the necessary and makes it happen with as little intervention as possible. So when you set a goal, it needs very clear and determined instructions in order to be worth focusing on.

Think of it as trying to find dinner on your sat-nav. You whack in food and set about your way. Where will you end up. Are you going to get to the restaurant that you’re hoping for where your friends are waiting with your perfect meal? Probably not.

You see, your sat-nav, your phone, whatever you dialled your request into, only knows what you told it. It will find ‘food’. That might be a supermarket, a Subway, a McDonald’s. Who knows where you would end up?It might send you to a promotion on 99 cent noodles.

And that’s how your Subconscious deals with instructions.

“Get Money” is NOT a goal. it’s a bi-product of a goal. An idea. “Be an entrepreneur” is not a goal, it is a lifestyle that facilitates your goals.

Why is that?

Well let’s step through it.

Let’s say your goal is to “Get more money”. That doesn’t have to be as an entrepreneur, it could be as a side-gig, employee, whatever. Your sub-conscious will take that on board. You start to take on some of the advise that you’ve been reading online or learning about through books etc and nothing immediately works. Then one day you look around the house and find $50 in your old jacket.

Congratulations, you have gotten more money. Goal accomplished, mission achieved, let’s go home. right?

Well that’s not what you wanted, surely. But now your focus has shifted into searching old clothes, steadfast in that it will continue to pay dividends. You see, your Subconscious also takes heed of learning and the feedback loop of having a goal and achieving it, teaches the subconscious a lesson in success.

And that is why pursuits often fail.

So what can we do?

One single, core component of any goal is the answer.

BE SPECIFIC, DAMN IT.  As an Entrepreneur, your Goals are the basis of your Blueprint.

How do you want to make more money? When do you want to do it? Why do you want to do it? How do you want to do it? Where do you want to do it?

“Get more money” was once my mistake of a goal. Over time I realised that it simply wasn’t happening. But when I really refined that goal, things started to happen.

That goal became “Get more money, by Establishing my consulting business as a niche consultancy with a focus on dispute management solution, with a target of $350,000 per year.”

My focus became laser guided and before long I had forged a niche claims consultancy, which was achieving its target of $350k / year in revenue.

Generic does NOT work.

And just as importantly, go big or at least, evolve your goals.

Because if your real ambition is to earn millions, well then, you need to make your goal to earn millions. That can be either by having multiple goals – or sub-goals – forging a pathway to your ultimate ambitions, or you need to reflect, measure and evaluate your progress. Think of the Japanese concept of  “Kaizen” or, continuous improvement. It makes for a continuous refinement by way of small changes to chase perfection.

You need to frequently take stock of how you are performing against your goals and we’ll discuss later how to do that, but for now just remember that your goal needs to be precise, specific and needs to either be big, or a goal that you ‘tick off’ or revise when it’s accomplished.

Or you will be destined to fail.

After all, how can you accomplish an idea?