What’s your monthly income goal? £1k? £5k? £10k? £100k?
What if focusing so hard on the numbers was actually getting in the way of your ability to HIT your goal?
In this episode we explore why monthly revenue isn’t necessarily the best target to set your sights on - and how to set goals that REALLY help build your bank balance! Listen here, or read more below.
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Monthly income goals.
They are THE standard, aren’t they, in the online entrepreneurial world. Some of us love ‘em, some of us hate ‘em - but most of us HAVE them, however we feel about them.
£1k, £3k, £5k, £10k, £20k… you’ll have a number in your head right now I’m guessing which feels like the right number for you, or the number you’d LOVE to see flowing into your business.
Monthly income goals have come to be the accepted standard and in many ways quite a sensible standard, as it helps keep things predictable in terms of cashflow. That’s how it originated, right - because in the accounting world everything is done on a monthly basis - bills get paid monthly so we want to know where we are.
Now you might find that having that clear target to aim for each month IS motivating.
If your mindset is in the right place and you feel like you know exactly how to hit that goal, it can be really thrilling watching the sales trickle in and watching the total creep up towards your goal.
What if your mindset ISN’T there thought?
What if you DON’T have a clue how you’re going to get there?
It can become a big worry instead of a wow.
Instead of finding that goal inspirational, you can start to get lost in feelings of overwhelm, not being good enough, panicking about not hitting your target and what that will mean.
Maybe what that means about you. Whether you feel successful or not. (Imposter Syndrome, anyone?).
And often it’s not that we actually NEED to hit those goals - it’s just that because we’ve set that target, we feel we need to live up to it. And if we don’t… we’re failing.
You might have a £10k a month target, but you’re ‘only’ making £2.5 k. Even though that 2.5k IS technically enough - let’s say it’s covering your bills and keeping you at a comfortable level, lifestyle-wise - it feels inadequate.
It makes YOU feel inadequate.
And the trouble with having monthly goals is that EVERY single month, as the weeks creep by and you see your income isn’t matching the goal you’ve set yourself - you start to feel a little bit more anxious. A little bit less good about yourself. Less confident about yourself.
Maybe even feeling panicky and pressured.
And what’s happening is that the thoughts you’re having about NOT hitting that goal are creating anxiety and stress. Causing the fight, flight or freeze centre in your brain to become more and more triggered, more and more influential.
And when that happens we LOSE our ability to think creatively, and to connect with that higher version of ourselves who actually KNOWS how to achieve the income we want!
So putting it more simply, FOCUSING on that monthly goal so hard and allowing it to become a stressor is blocking your potential to make the money you want.
Isn’t that crazy?
But there’s no doubt goals are important.
And we know that the more specific and measurable our goals are, and the more we track our progress, the more likely we are to hit them.
SO can you do? How can you hold onto the benefits of goal setting without it effectively strangling your business?
The key is to take the pressure off.
Rather than making it an all-or-nothing, you need to make that goal less stressful.
I am a big fan of having a big long-term goal and using THAT as your driver - then letting the monthly goals go. Because, that goal to say make say 6 or 7 figures a year - it sits far enough away to feel aspirational and exciting rather than smothering. And by focusing on that long-term goal, you can imagine what life might look like in a way that gets you fired up - rather than obsessing about what’s NOT happening in your world right now.
You can also allow yourself to build towards it. To focus on putting the steps in place that might ultimately lead to that awesome long-term income.
If you’re focusing on, let’s say, £10k per month - it can feel like “How the HELL would I achieve that this month?! It’s impossible…” or we can start focusing on the wrong things - like obsessively trying to get more 1:1 clients and then getting disappointed when they don’t buy (because we’ve scared them off!).
Whereas if you’re focused on that longer-term goal, you can step back and see that maybe to make your millions there’s more to the big picture than 1:1s - and you can start building things into your business that are going to allow you to scale. And that way you get to finish the month reflecting on everything you’ve done towards creating that amazing future - rather than feeling like you’ve failed, yet again.
So that’s my favourite strategy and I would really love to know if that made sense for you. When I realised this in my business it was liberating.
99% of the time the pressure we put on ourselves is entirely of our own making - and if we can take that pressure off, it really helps us to stop focusing on the lack and the negatives and to start focusing on the possibilities instead.
And that is EXACTLY where you need to be to create success.
I would love to hear your thoughts, whether this has resonated - or if you have any alternative goal-setting strategies you have that work for you!
Feel free to email me to share, I absolutely love to hear from my listeners and followers so just give me a shout on abi@abigail-rogers.com
Join my FREE 21 day e-course Worthy, Wealthy & Wise - and learn MORE secrets of self-mastery, ease and abundance!
Here are the current ways to Work With Me
Listen & subscribe on Apple, Google podcasts, Spotify, YouTube - or search ‘Align & Arise’ on your favourite podcast platform!
Read more about how you can minimise anxiety for more success in your business: download 3 free chapters of The Path to Purpose, Peace & Profit now!