Do Your Personal Goals Drive Your Business Goals?

For many people this post isn't relevant, you will have already done what I'm suggesting. You will have taken half an hour of the Christmas break or your holiday to reflect on the past year, check how you did against the goals you set yourself last year and to establish some new ones for the coming year.

But did you just think about your business goals or did you consider your personal goals too? After all we should not be spending all of our time at work. As a business owner your personal goals always drive your business goals.

My husband runs a successful insurance brokerage and has done for 28 years. He has clients that he has cared for, for over 20 years. He loves his work - most of the time – and he’s brilliant at what he does. He also has time to play golf, take holidays and we're making a good living. He'll never be a millionaire that that isn't his goal.

Work-life balance is really important; having time to see the kids whilst they were growing up, playing golf as well as having for other interests too. Yes, he has his really busy times, those 20 hour days, but he can also makes time for family friends and his past times – that is his personal objective.

Life’s too short to slaving away all day every day. His business goals have been focused on allowing him to also achieve his personal goals. These have included building a great team, setting up robust systems, maintaining a strong customer focus in the business. His reward is valuable time and a choice to do his own thing when he wants to.

So take 30 minutes now, right now and think about your personal goals.

• How much do you have to earn versus want to earn?
• When do you want to retire, reduce your hours or go part time?
• Are you planning to sell the business or pass it onto the next generation?
• How much time do you want to spend at work?
• Is there something that you want to give back to the community?
• How much time do you want for pastimes, holidays and downtime etc.?

Now that you are clear about your own personal goals it’s time to review your business plan. Does the business plan satisfy your personal goals? No? Then it’s time to step back and review the business plan to achieve your own goals. You might not be able to change this overnight but start to make small changes now to get you to the end result within a reasonable time frame. Perhaps that means lots of hard work and hours now with the pay-off later.

Remember just because you own a business doesn't mean you have to go for massive expansion or world domination. Sometimes time, choice and life is more important.