Plans, Intentions, Goals and Outcomes. Oh my.

[00:00:00] Plans, intentions, goals, and outcomes. That's what I wanna talk about today. A goal without a plan is a wish. If you want something to happen and you don't have a plan to make it happen, then you're relying on other factors luck or whatever it is. And sometimes that works out and that that's, that's fine. For most of us we need to put a little bit of intention and action behind the things that we want and. So first, let's talk about a good goal. So for example, if you set a goal that's based on an outcome, that is a much harder goal to create your own momentum for. And what do I mean by that? As a fundraiser, when I used to work in the L-G-B-T-Q Community World and Social Justice activism world, I had an option to set a goal for how I did my fundraising. I could say, I'm gonna raise X number of [00:01:00] dollars this month, this year. And to a certain extent, I did have a goal of an X number of dollars, right? We needed a certain amount of money to run the organization, so in that sense, in that larger sense, the goal was, was the outcome.

And if every day I got up and I said, I have to raise this much money, or if every week I had said that. That would be very discouraging. I went through two recessions. I was raising money during the 2008 crash. And that's, that wasn't a great time to be raising money. And if I had focused only on the amount of money we needed to raise and I wasn't gonna be very successful because I was gonna lose my motivation to do it.

 The better thing to do is to say. I'm going to do X behaviors. So you set your goals based on the behaviors you have control over. I'm gonna call 10 donors and talk to them about the things that we're doing that I know they're interested in. And the [00:02:00] ways that they can support it, both financially and and with their participation.

And if I do that, if I talk to five donors a day or 10 donors a week. And I ask for the funds that we need to complete our projects and to do the work in the world that I know they stand for. I will raise that money. And uh, you know, and it's good to tell them, you know, our goal this year is to raise X number of dollars. And that distinction is a very important one, especially as a small business owner, an entrepreneur where you're selling your services and your ideas, your innovations to people. It could get discouraging if you talk to people and you think there's, oh, if they don't buy my product or they don't hire me, that means something about me.

Recognizing instead that you really don't know anything that's going on for them. Maybe they love what you're up to, but right now is not a good time. Or financially they've got some, uh, bigger fish they need to fry right now. However, if you, the goal of [00:03:00] talking to those good customers, those people that you have had those good relationships with on a regular basis and keeping yourself top of mind.

Uh, you will eventually create some of those connections in a way that will create that opportunity for them to work with you or hire you or purchase your product. I know that seems very basic. And that mindset is a really important one to cultivate in yourself.

A writer friend of mine used to say that they collected rejection slips. Their focus on getting their workout into the world was not how many things they got published. It was how many submissions they'd made with their work to different outlets to be published. And that focus on something they could control, how many submissions they made, really helped them to stay motivated to continue to submit their work and to get it [00:04:00] done.

 And the other thing is plans versus intentions. And it's a similar, um, attitude of recognizing a plan can feel very rigid. And it in a evolving business landscape and as a smaller organization, you have the gift of agility. Large companies, they, they have the, the weight of their their, their structure, um, the gravity of it. They can, they can keep going and hopefully they're well managed. They have the resources to, to ride out different, um, different challenges that come. And the, the other side of that is that they're not very nimble. That when things are changing, it takes them a long time to respond.

Whereas as smaller businesses, entrepreneurs and startups, we have that gift of agility. And [00:05:00] at the same time, I harp often that we need to have a plan. Sometimes it can be helpful to think of it more as an intention. I intend to do these things in this way this year. And to recognize that regular evaluation of your, your intentions versus your goals and the outcomes you're achieving and the evolving landscape, can be a really effective way to keep yourself on course when the path changes or the circumstances, uh, shift in a very large way.

 Those are just some things to think about for yourself this week. And look at your business, your business goals, the things that you're investing in and your plans, and maybe notice a place that you can adjust your expectations of yourself or the way that you're evaluating things to allow yourself to have that, that flexibility, that agility, that is the gift of being a smaller organization. And keep your momentum energy going [00:06:00] by really focusing on the things that you can control as opposed to the buffeting winds of fate. thank you so much for, uh, listening to my podcast. I really appreciate your time and attention.

Next week I'm gonna touch on the energy equation, which is a framework for understanding how to cultivate the energy that you need in your business and your life to stay in flow and to have the success that you want with ease.

Thank you for tuning into business as unusual, remember, in this ever evolving world of modern business, it's not about fitting in.

It's about standing out. See you next time. Stay curious, stay innovative, and always keep it unusual.