Whether you’re a sole trader or a multi-national corporation, it is of vital importance to have clear business goals. Not only that, you should be constantly re-evaluating these goals to ensure they are relevant, on-target and realistic. After all, the business world is constantly changing and evolving, so there’s every reason that your business goals should too.

But how do you keep on top of your targets? You might think that setting quarterly or annual goals is the most appropriate action. But we disagree. Instead, we believe that daily goal setting is the way to achieve maximum results.

In his book The Compound Effect, business expert Darren Hardy discusses the power of daily decisions and their ability to shape your business. He believes that to get your business to the next level, you must constantly push yourself to try new things and be that little bit braver. The only way to grow is to stop repeating past activities and plan daily strategies that will accelerate your business in the right direction. Not only that, but these simple principles can also be applied to other areas of your life, giving you the power and perspective required for overall success.

So how can you effectively set and stick to daily goals? Here are our top tips:

1. Break up your bigger goals into manageable pieces. First, take another look at your quarterly and annual aims and divide them into chunks. Then, separate those chunks into daily tasks. For example, let’s say you have a quarterly goal to gain 3 new clients. First, list the ways you plan to gain these clients (for example, marketing yourself more effectively, attending business mixers, re-engaging old prospects), and then sort your tasks into small daily activities (for example, on day 1 you might join a new social network, on day 2 you might digitally connect and reach out to 10 prospects).
2. Make time for your daily activities. This might seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be amazed at how easy it is to plan to do something but not consider the timing. So, after you have separated your goals into daily activities, you need to clear a space in your diary each day so that you have enough time to complete the task. If you are more productive in the mornings, you might allocate time before your first business call of the day.
3. Constantly evaluate your goals. In the same way you should keep an eye on the usefulness and relevance of your quarterly and annual goals, you should also constantly assess your daily tasks. A planner can help you to see which tasks are allocated for each day of the month. Observe this planner every morning and ensure you have the time, resources and motivation to stick to your tasks. If one task lends very little to your business or has become irrelevant, change it! If you need additional help on setting the right goals, you can read our dedicated blog post.