Do you want to set goals that you can achieve? Every one of us gets asked, at some point in time, “What are your goals?”
Usually, you don’t have a specific answer. You generally share your desire in the name of a goal – a car, a house, a million dollars, a partner, etc.
So to help you with a clear definition of goals, their importance, and how you can set them, I will share 6 simple steps.
What Is A Goal?
Since I started Affiliate Marketing, I read many definitions of ‘goal’, but this is the clearest one of them all:
“Your goal is a target that you want to achieve. It is your vision and your mission. It is the desired result that you want to achieve and set a clear plan to achieve it. Goals are usually long-term related to your professional and personal life. You can also call a goal a dream that has a deadline.”
Why Is Goal-Setting Important?
According to research, there is a direct correlation between setting goals and achieving them.
If you set a clear and specific goal, your brain will trigger new behaviours and habits that will keep a strong focus on the activities that are crucial to achieving your goals. In other words, you will start to walk in the direction where your success is. Be it financial independence, a fit body, or a peaceful mind, you can achieve it.
Thanks to goal-setting, you develop a sense of purpose, you gain control of your time, and you are motivated to do better every day.
So, in a nutshell, setting clear and specific goals is pivotal to achieving success.
The 6 Steps Of Setting Goals And Achieving Them
Affiliate Marketing, according to my experience, is one of the simplest ways of making money online provided you know how to do it right.
However, if your goal is to make “a lot of money”, I am afraid you will never achieve that goal. It is too vague.
Setting clear and specific goals is crucial to achieving them.
So to help you create goals that are clear and specific, I will share 6 simple steps.
Step 1: Think About A Specific Goal
During my 1-on-1 coaching sessions, when I ask the question: “What is your goal?”, I get vague answers, such as:
- I want to earn money
- I want to become financially independent
- I want to be rich
- I want to travel
- etc.
These goals are fine. But could you get more specific?
Could you answer how much money you want to earn? Do you want to earn $100,000, $1 million, or $2 million?
If you want to travel, could you tell me where you want to travel? Do you want to go to the Philippines, Scotland, Cambodia, or Greenland?
If you want to buy a car, specify the brand, model, and colour of the car.
I want you to dig deeper and come up with a specific amount of money you want to earn or a specific place you want to travel to.
Once you have that clear, in fact before clearly specifying your goal, I want you to have a burning desire for it. How badly do you want to achieve the goal?
Have a burning desire for that goal within and then clearly specify it.
If you want you can pick your notebook and pen, and note down your answers to the questions in each step.
If I were reading this post, I would pick up my notebook and write, “I want to earn 25 lakh Indian Rupees every month.”
Step 2: What Do You Intend To Offer In Return?
If you defined a specific goal in Step 1, what will you offer in return for the money you want to earn?
Are you willing to help people? Are you willing to teach them the required skills? Are you willing to share the tools with them to set up their systems?
In this step, you must determine CLEARLY what you will offer in return for your goal. Do not say something like, “I will do something.” Clearly specify WHAT YOU WILL OFFER in return to achieve your goal.
If you are writing this down, write something specific you will offer, okay?
If I were writing the services I would offer, I will write:
“I will offer 1-on-1 coaching to every beginner and also invite them to my paid community where I will conduct hackathons wherein I will share each step of making money online through Affiliate Marketing.”
“I will also help people develop the required skills and share the tools needed to establish an Affiliate Marketing business.”
“Additionally, I will post content on my website, podcast, and YouTube that will help them with the knowledge needed to run an Affiliate Marketing business.”
Step 3: Set A Deadline
After you have defined a specific goal and decided what you will offer in return for your achieving your goal, the third step is to set a specific deadline on when you want to achieve it.
If your goal is to buy a car, set a specific date on when you would want it. For example, if you want to buy a golden-yellow Lamborghini Aventador worth ₹6.25 crores, set a clear date on when you want it.
Your goal statement for it will be, “I want to buy a golden-yellow Lamborghini Aventador worth ₹6.25 crores on the 6th of January, 2025.”
When you set a specific deadline, you start to work to achieve it and, more often than not, you will achieve it on the date you set.
I would also like to add one thing if you fail to achieve your goal on the specified deadline, you are not a failure. If you buy the “golden-yellow Lamborghini Aventador worth ₹6.25 crores on the 6th of January, 2027” – 2 years later – you have still achieved your goal.
Many of my students achieve their goals a few months late and call themselves failures. You are not a failure if you missed the deadline. You ACHIEVED your goal and that is more important.
Hence, although I have included this step, if you miss it, you won’t be a failure. You will be a failure only when you quit.
Step 4: Set A Plan To Achieve Your Goal & START!
The fourth step is to create a plan to achieve your goal and begin working AT ONCE! Whether you are prepared or not, just start.
My mentor always recommends starting working and refining later. VERSION ONE IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN VERSION NONE!
So start working right away, you will make mistakes, but with time, you will improve. The beauty of goal-setting is that you can be flexible about the method, but fixed on the goal.
When I started Affiliate Marketing, I planned to post content every day. With time, I realised that posting content once in 3-4 days also worked. So, I started to post 2 blog posts every week and got the same results.
However, consistency is key! If you plan to promote your content on Facebook, do it consistently. And, ‘consistently’ does not mean every day.
Even if you promote content, once every 3 days, you are consistent. But, make sure that you post content every 3 days – or whatever days you decide.
If I were to share my plan to achieve my goal, I will write:
“I will post 2 blog posts every week, 2 podcast episodes every week, and 2 YouTube videos every week. I will also conduct 2 1-on-1 sessions every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.”
“Within my community, I will answer my students’ queries every Thursday from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM. I will also conduct a hackathon every Tuesday at 8 PM to share the steps that they can implement in their Affiliate Marketing business.”
Step 5: Write A Statement
After you have specified a clear goal, the service you will provide, a clear deadline, and a definite plan, the fifth step is to write a statement.
I’d request you to pick up your notebook and pen if you haven’t and:
- Write a clear statement of the goal you want to achieve
- The service you intend to offer
- Write the deadline for its acquisition
- Describe a clear plan through which you intend to achieve your goal
My goal statement will look like this:
Goal:
“I want to earn 25 lakh Indian Rupees every month.”
Service:
“I will offer 1-on-1 coaching to every beginner and also invite them to my paid community where I will conduct hackathons wherein I will share each step of making money online through Affiliate Marketing.”
“I will also help people develop the required skills and share the tools needed to establish an Affiliate Marketing business.”
“Additionally, I will post content on my website, podcast, and YouTube that will help them with the knowledge needed to run an Affiliate Marketing business.”
Deadline:
“I want to buy a golden-yellow Lamborghini Aventador worth ₹6.25 crores on the 6th of January, 2025.”
Plan:
“I will post 2 blog posts every week, 2 podcast episodes every week, and 2 YouTube videos every week. I will also conduct 2 1-on-1 sessions every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.”
“Within my community, I will answer my students’ queries every Thursday from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM. I will also conduct a hackathon every Tuesday at 8 PM to share the steps that they can implement in their Affiliate Marketing business.”
Step 6: Read The Statement Aloud Twice Every Day
The sixth step is the easiest! In this step, pick up your notebook and read the goal statement aloud. You should read the statement twice every day, once after waking up and once before sleeping.
While reading, feel and visualise that you have already achieved your goal.
This will pour energy into your words and your subconscious mind will gradually start to believe them. Once your statement is cemented in your subconscious, you will start to come closer to your goal.
If you cannot pour energy into your words, I suggest you listen to your favourite song, dance, and then read.
This sounds unrealistic, but it has worked for me. I set a goal at the beginning of this year, and now, I have achieved it!
However, if you are someone who is clouded by negative thinking, I will share an audio that helped me overcome negative thought patterns. I uploaded it on Spotify and you can listen to it by clicking this link.
Conclusion
Do you want to set goals that you can achieve? Every one of us gets asked, at some point in time, “What are your goals?”
Usually, you don’t have a specific answer. You generally share your desire in the name of a goal – a car, a house, a million dollars, a partner, etc.
So to help you with a clear definition of goals, their importance, and how you can set them, I will share 6 simple steps.
Step 1: Think About A Specific Goal
Step 2: What Do You Intend To Offer In Return?
Step 3: Set A Deadline
Step 4: Set A Plan To Achieve Your Goal & START!
Step 5: Write A statement
Step 6: Read The Statement Aloud Twice Every Day
