Not Hitting your Money Goals? This is Probably Why

I cover this in more detail in the goal-setting chapter of MAKE MORE MONEY AT CRAFT FAIRS but it’s too helpful of a concept to not share with everyone.

Do you ever notice that when you want something so incredibly bad, it seems like it’s never going to happen? While on the other hand, when you’re a little more impartial to something, it seems to come to you with ease?

That’s the power of letting go.

 

It’s a bit of a hard mindset to master.

You need to hold on to the belief that your goal is possible and put energy and action into it (wanting it real bad) but at the same time, let go of the outcome (impartial to it).

We want to set big goals and envision achieving them (wanting it really bad) but be okay if it doesn’t happen when and how we envision it (impartial to it).

The key isn’t to be apathetic about our goals. It’s to be happy with where we are.

The problem with setting big goals and being so attached to them is we set our expectations high and then feel crushed when we don’t hit it out of the ballpark on the first try. We want that big goal so badly, we won’t be happy until we get it.

But being happy with your current situation is the key to letting go and attracting your goal faster.

If you set a goal of getting 100 sales you need to be just as ecstatic over one sale as you would be if you hit 100.

Be excited. Be grateful. Know that there are more on the way and let go of when and how they’re going to happen.

Here are my 5 tips for being more successful when it comes to achieving goals:

 

1) BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR GOAL

You’ve heard it before but this goes beyond just setting S.M.A.R.T goals. You need to be able to picture it. If you have a goal of working from home but you can’t even imagine what that looks like because you’re currently so stressed about paying the bills, you don’t have a space to work in, and you don’t know the numbers your business needs to produce to quit your full-time job, you’re not going to know whether you’re on the right path or not.

 

2) BE SELECTIVE ABOUT YOUR GOALS

Don’t take on too many goals at once. In THE SUCCESS PLANNER, I suggest setting ONE financial goal for the year, and that’s it. Getting your products into a retail store, or selling at 10 craft shows during the holidays aren’t goals. They’re projects that will help you reach your financial goal, and projects require you to plan strategic steps. Following this process creates a step-by-step plan that makes reaching your goal inevitable.

Focusing on too many goals or projects at once leads to being scattered, overwhelmed, and losing precious time by constantly switching your focus.

 

3) BELIEVE IT!

One of my favorite sayings that has always stuck with me is a play on the common phrase “I’ll believe it when I see it”. If you want to see results, you need to “Believe it before you see it”. Do you really believe you can achieve that goal or is it something you would love to have but don’t really think it can happen to you?

Only you know the answer to that and it takes some quiet time and soul-searching to determine if, deep down, you believe in yourself. If you feel a little doubt when you state a goal in present terms (i.e. I love my job and work from home full time) then just start reflecting.

I knew there was self-doubt with a couple of my big goals when I felt a little drop in my stomach after telling myself it was happening. If you feel that too, just start asking yourself questions and answering honestly. Simply asking “why?” can dig up a lot of answers and uncover a lot of deep-rooted beliefs.

I was never good at school, I don’t have the proper education, my family has always struggled with money, I’m too introverted…these are the subconscious thoughts you need to be aware of so you can work on correcting them.

 

4) LOOK FOR THE LITTLE THINGS

Quit searching for those 100 sales in a day or huge spikes in traffic or overnight success. Those are not the norm and you’ll usually find when someone is an “overnight success” they’ve had several failed business attempts and put in tons of work to get where they are (just check out my failed business story when it comes to Made Urban…and that’s just one of my business “failures” that came before I found success). But we only hear about the tip of the iceberg, not what’s underneath and took years to build.

What should you do instead? Look for any reason to be happy in a day. I’m talking little reasons. A cup of coffee, the sun shining, planning a yummy lunch, or spending 5 minutes each hour getting outside or talking to a friend. They may only give you a few minutes of joy in the day but add them up and you’ll find yourself spending more and more of the day being happy.

Happiness is what we’re all after right? Who cares if you’re getting it from coffee or from sales? When you’re clear on what you want, and you’re in the happiness zone, good things start coming to you from across the board.

Your one and only job today is to be happy 🙂

 

5) TAKE ACTION

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve become demotivated during a slow phase and began my procrastination routine. I usually use slow times to brainstorm which leads to multiple ideas for speeding things back up, which eventually leads to analysis paralysis; not taking any action because I’m overwhelmed with options, analyzing them, and trying to decide what to work on first.

As soon as I stop procrastinating and just take action, I see results. They may not be directly related to the area I’m working on but I always take a small improvement/response/result in any area of my business as a sign that I’m doing the right thing.

A task is never as bad as we make it out to be in our heads. So just start. Take the smallest step and cross off the first tiny task on the to-do list. You’ll feel better once you start.

THE SUCCESS PLANNER will help you break your goals into small steps and ensure you’re moving on the right path.

 

BONUS TIP:

AVOID THE SHINY OBJECT SYNDROME

Don’t get distracted with the next best thing or genius idea. I know you’re creative and have a million ideas of what you could do and where you could go with your business. This is probably one of the biggest obstacles to overcome when running your own business. You don’t have a roadmap or clear steps to take to success so you’re forced to think outside the box and brainstorm different ideas.

Choose one of your best ideas, make a detailed plan on how you can execute it, set a time frame and commit to giving it your all until you reach it.