Have you set your New Year’s goals yet? If not, it’s not too late to write down some New Year’s resolutions. And if you’re the kind of person I think you are, you’re not going to want to let another day of this new year pass by without getting this done ASAP!

Nothing becomes dynamic until it first becomes specific. This couldn’t be more true than when it comes to making this next year, better than last year.

I would say that strategic goal planning can make a 200% to 1000% difference in your outcome this year! Of all the simple things you could do to start your year off, DON’T overlook this! It may be simple, or even common knowledge (goal setting may be, but strategic goal planning is NOT common knowledge) but it is NOT common practice! And success comes from putting into practice what most people don’t or won’t do.

Below, I’ve written down a few things that have my personal attention for this next year. Maybe they’ll help you come up with your goals too. I’ve also put these ideas and questions into a…

Okay, here we go. This list is not all inclusive or in any particular order. Like I said, these are just some of the questions I quickly wrote down for myself and thought I would share with you. This type of strategic goal setting and planning has helped Dani and me build more than one multi-million dollar business; I’m sure it will help you too! Sit down with a pen and paper and be willing to invest some time, maybe even a few hours going through these questions below and coming up with your own answers. It may be the most valuable thing you do this entire new year and skipping over this lightly could cost you greatly (more than you think)!

Business Growth
What are you going to do to grow your business, sales and profits this year? Looking back at last year, what activity or activities did you do that yielded the largest revenue and profit? How can you do more of these high yielding activities this new year? What type of clients last year were most profitable, brought you other great clients and grew your business (or career)? How can you attract and find more of these kinds of clients this year? What clients, relationships, and/or activities cost you time and money last year that you should eliminate moving forward? What new markets can you tap into the fastest in this new year that can bring you the most exposure and return on investment (ROI) the quickest? Is the market sentiment shifting? Are there new concerns, fears and desires that your market has in this new year that should be given special attention? What are the areas of inefficiency in your organization that should be improved or eliminated this year? What are the distractions, time vampires and “ADD” impulses that should be eliminated? Can your sales process, message or presentation be improved? If so, what area, if improved, will make the biggest, most immediate impact in your sales and/or results? Do you have an already existing successful sales message that can be replicated and/or duplicated into other mediums, formats and markets to create more exposure and and profits? What can you do this new year to strategically reinvest back into your business either through advertising, product development or other resource acquisition to grow your brand and capture new clients? What can you do this next year to increase your influence with your market place, clients, employees, business associates, and other relationships?

Skill Sets
What are the new skills you should be learning and mastering this next year to keep your competitive edge in the market place? What skill sets did you start learning last year that generated results that need further and continued development? What about your team; what skill sets should they be acquiring to keep them at top performance and how will they develop them? What are the top 3 skills you have that bring you the most results and ROI on your time? How can you improve these even further this new year? What if all you did this new year was spend 80% of your time executing these 3 high value skill sets, how would that impact your growth? Are you a “jack of all trades, but master of none”? Is this the year to become a master, a specialist of a particular high leverage skill? If so, which one and how will you do it?

Financial, Wealth, Investments
How much do you want to increase your net worth this year? Do you have debt you want to eliminate? How much? How much debt will you pay off each month and what is your plan to do this? What kind of investments do you want to make for the new year? Should you be making preparations for more self reliant living durring an erra of unstable political and economic certainty? If so, how and what is your plan? What if these hard times arrive sooner than you think? (The “party” (especially in America) of economic growth and prosperity by debt and consumption cannot go on forever and has had its wake up call – it must come to an end and when it does, there will be one heck of a hangover that will be felt around the world – this as you know is now happening, but its not over yet). Are there steps you can take right now to insulate or prepare for hard times while still growing your business, and wealth? Is this the year to look at setting up any special entity(s) that may provide business, tax, estate, wealth protection benefits (LLC, Corporation, Trust, etc.)? Have you recruited a top notch accounting, financial and legal team yet and are they ready and committed to your growth, prosperity and protection this new year? What negative financial habit should you personally eliminate this new year?

Family, Personal
What will you do this new year to love and cherish your spouse more each day? What changes can you make personally to become a better person and treat those most important in your life with more respect, honor and gratitude? How can you show your appreciation for your spouse and kids daily in a special way that lets them know they are most important in your life? What skills can you begin teaching your kids (or grand kids) that will give them a head start in life while also spending quality time with them? What unproductive habit or unconscious part of your daily/weekly routine should be eliminated or stopped this next year? How can you “steal time” away from your daily life, business, etc. and invest it into those closest to you? Is this the year to get control of the “urgent” things that just keep popping up and robbing you of time with your family? If so, how? Are you going to start dating your spouse this year and treating her/him like the rock star he or she is (secret: people will become whatever you tream them to be)?

Spiritual
Where will God be in your life this year? Do you want to get to know Him and hear His voice more in your daily life? If so, how is this going to happen? What will you do to invest in your relationship with the Lord, or is it just a 1 way street where you call on Him whenever you “need” Him? What can you do in your daily work life to honor and glorify Him? Will this be the year that you let Him be King in your life and what does that really mean anyway? Will you include Him in your personal and business decisions both big and small? Will this be the year that you “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways, acknowledge Him and allow Him to direct your path”? How will you use money as a spiritual weapon this year? What will you sow and give into this year? Will this be the year that the walls of separation between work and spiritual life come down and you allow God to invade the market place with you, as your business partner? What is it you fear or avoid most that you know you should be doing, that you will overcome by walking in faith with God’s help this new year? How will you stretch your faith this year?

TOP 3
After reviewing the above, list the top 3 goals you have for the year. These should be the 3 things that you feel will have the biggest impact in your life and in the life of those around you. They are the top 3 things you should be focused on for 80% of the year. What are they? Write them down and post them somewhere you will read them daily.

Well, that should give you a good start. Feel free to add some of your own thoughts and questions, too. Some will be easy to answer, others not. But if you take the time to do this, and immediately begin walking in faith towards your goals, I promise that this year will be a much more fulfilling year of growth for you! Just a little bit of time invested right now can have a dramatic affect on your results by the end of the year.

May God bless and prosper you and your business!

P.S.
Have friends, family or business associates who would enjoy this post? Share it and get them involved! Re-post to your Facebook, Twitter (tweet and retweet!), or personal blog page now. Or announce this to your team by email.