I just facilitated a workshop on the one thing you need to do to achieve your 2024 goals.

On a high level, the number one thing is FOCUS. We often get distracted by the minutia or noise that comes along.

What you need to do is set a goal for the year — ONE big goal. You may have multiples, but in this case I am using ONE, and have created a template which contains four sections: milestones to be achieved on a weekly basis, actions steps to take, due date, and who is responsible.

While this looks simple on the surface, creating that template took me years of practice, watching people use the form, and gaining feedback on what worked and what didn’t.

The first thing I ask is What is your #1 Goal for the Year? Then:

1. What resources you have to help you reach the goal?

2. What resources are you missing and need to help you get there?

3. What action steps will you take to deliver on the resources you have or don’t have?

4. Who is responsible, and by what date?

Then we take each sub-category. Say your goal is to go from A to B.

The first question is What resources do you have?

I have a car. I have gas. I have insurance. I have contacts I can reach out to.

What resources are you missing? I don’t have money to ensure that I am there and back safely. I don’t have any activities planned there yet. I don’t have the dates secured.

What actions will you take? Making sure my car is correctly maintained is an action. Get an oil change by December 31! I’m responsible.

It can also be an action in reference to what you don’t have:

I don’t have enough contacts! An action to take might be researching the area, call some friends who have taken trips and see what things you could do.

The date, and the person responsible.

Let’s say you want to go to a certain place by December next year. Now in the first quarter, it could be you want to secure savings to make sure you have enough money for the trip. Quarter 1, you have three months — save $300 every month for three months. This will give you $900 to take this trip.

Now you have that goal, you go weekly activities, actions steps, and who is responsible.

You can reduce your electric bill, use less power, not buy coffee from a store, do whatever you need to do to get the money you need.

You do that for every goal for the next 4 quarters.

The idea behind this is to focus on one thing, come up with an actionable plan, which can be divvied up in small chunks on a weekly basis, even daily, if possible, to get you there.

Let’s say you want to sell $1k worth of items next year. What would it take? Well, I have to talk to 100 people a week. So that means every day you talk to 20 people — you have a daily activity for the next 52 weeks. That’s the idea.

BEFORE YOU GO

We see our blogs as opportunities for dialogue. Please share your thoughts as comments.

1. What are your main goals?

2. What action steps will you take to get there?

3. Leverage our Resilient Entrepreneur Canvas by download, and utilizing what you have, what you can leverage, pilot and offer.

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Faris Alami is Founder and CEO of International Strategic Management, Inc. (ISM). He works internationally, presenting Exploring Entrepreneurship Workshops and other entrepreneurial ecosystem — related ventures.