What are outcome-based goals?

Outcome-based goals are manageable goals that focus on the immediate numbers we're after. They help us keep track of where we are on the roadmap to our ultimate goals.

If you're having trouble settings outcome-based goals, listen to this episode for a great tip that you can use to help.

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Setting Outcome-Based Goals

I am a big believer that you cannot manage what you don't measure. If you aren't setting goals, how do you know if you're improving? How do you know if you're hitting your targets?

I want to make these goals small and bite-sized. I don't want this to be a big scary, overwhelming thing.

Because sometimes when people think about setting goals, they say, “oh my gosh…I have to set these big giant Headey achieve-financial-freedom” kinds of goals.

It doesn't have to be about money. A goal might simply be “I want to make sure I post on my Facebook page every day” …”I want to book two parties this month” …”I want to do ten follow-ups a week” …”I want to do something manageable…“

Goals should be realistic. They should be something that pushes you a tiny bit, but they should be realistic in that you can actually achieve them.

So when we're thinking about goals, goals can be literally anything. It might be a financial target. It might be around sponsoring, it might be about team building, it might be about social media, it might be about learning a new skill, it might be about your engagement levels in your channels, it might be about learning a new channel and expanding in a new direction. By the end of this month — by the end of this reporting period — I want to have this outcome achieved…

And then you build the plan. You begin with the end in mind.

So the way that we're going to talk about goal-setting is I'm going to challenge you to think about three goals: good, better, and best.

Good, better, best, okay?

Your good goal is your bare minimum. This is your table-stakes goal. If you don't meet good, you didn't meet your goal, okay?

So, bare minimum — I'm gonna hold one party this month. Bare minimum — I'm gonna have $300 in volume. Bare minimum — my good goal is my floor. If I don't meet good, I didn't meet my goal at all, okay? So good is our starting point.

Your better goal is your target. Good-better-best. Better is your target. This is where you're aiming for, okay? So this might be good: one party this month. Better: three parties this month. That's my aim. That's where my financial — that's where my engagement — that's where my marketing plans — that's where my customer strategy is all pointing at: three parties this month. That's my goal.

Best is your stretch goal. Your stretch goal is all about pushing you outside of your comfort zone and moving your business forward. So when you really think about best: “I want to do 25 follow-ups a week. I want to really stretch myself to promote this month. I want to be active in my social communities and really push myself in a new direction by learning a new channel…” Best, okay?

So, good is your floor — it's your bare minimum. Better is your target. And best is your stretch goal, okay?

So, when you're thinking about “good-better-best” all of your goals line up here.

They don't need to be something giant and unrealistic, it might simply be “I want to do this many follow-ups a week. I want to have this many parties. I want to post consistently” … and that might be a goal for some of you, okay? Consistency… it's a good goal. It might be a level of social engagement: “I want to really refine, I want to learn your channel, these are my goals for the month.”

We make them bite-sized. We make them small and manageable.

We have a much better chance of achieving them. So go ahead and comment below: tell me what your good-better-best goals are for May — we're near the beginning of May right now — tell me you're good-better-best goals.

And then maybe at the end of the month, come back and look at those, okay?

Now, if you have not yet opted in to grab our brand new Kickstart Your Social Marketing for Direct Sales strategy workbook, it's brand new, you guys. And it is 35 pages long — 35 pages — it is big, it is really, really meaty, okay? There's a whole section on good-better-best-goals.

What is an Advantage of using Outcome Based Goals?

One of the big advantages of using outcome based goals instead of any other kind of goal setting method, is that it is possible to be satisfied with what you did to reach that goal, even if you didn't hit that goal fully. Did you do more follow ups then last month, even if you didn't hit your 25 follow ups for the month? Yes. That's still a step in the right direction, which is why its a stretch goal.

If you found that you didn't reach your good goal for a few months in a row, maybe you're taking on too much for yourself. Its okay to re-evaluate your goals if you're finding that you're not hitting them. If you found you blew past your best goal in the first week, and the pace is something you can keep up, then you also need to re-evaluate your good, better, best goals to make the needed adjustments.

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