I was talking with a new client the other day and she was really struggling with ways to get a new product off the ground. This came as no surprise to me because having clear goals and setting up the systems to achieve those goals is one of the most important things that any entrepreneur needs to do and many of them struggle with it. Vickery & Co recently conducted a survey of over 300 entrepreneurs and small business owners and found out what the entrepreneurial landscape looks like when it comes to setting and achieving goals.

Of those surveyed, over 93% stated they have clear business goals. But, as we all know, the magic is not in the thinking of things, it is in the doing of things. 52% of those surveyed struggle with knowing how to get from where they are to where they want to be and 33% have no idea where to start. Without a clear path to success, they simply do not start at all.

The discrepancy shows a clear disconnect between clearly identifying goals and knowing how to achieve them. This is an area where many entrepreneurs struggle. They are confident in setting goals and are willing to work hard to attain them but they get bogged down with the “how.” Aaron Anastasi, the author of The Voice of Your Dreams, once told me that there is no such thing as not knowing how to do something. It simply means your want to is not cranked up enough to figure out how to get there!

If this is a pain point for you, you are not alone! One of the things I work with every single client on is breaking big, seemingly unmanageable tasks down into tiny portions. The goal is to create small, manageable tasks that, once completed, have you achieving your big picture goal and don’t feel like a herculean task along the way.

Fear is something that stops 46% of respondents from taking action. Whether it is fear of failure or fear of success, learning how to take that fear and use it as a motivator, rather than a deterrent, is the difference between getting what you want and making your vision a reality — or sitting on the sidelines.

I cannot stress how important it is to set yourself up for success. When you are able to cross several small tasks off your list, you feel accomplished and successful. When you feel accomplished and successful, you have energy and motivation to push forward with more intention and faster results. This feeling is contagious and helps to propel you forward, ever closer to reaching that big end goal!

Getting to the empowering side of fear and testing out systems, strategies and boundaries until you find the ones that work best for you are the keys to success. This is exactly what we work on with our clients.

Do you have any goals you are struggling to achieve? We love to hear your stories so please share in the comments below or on our Facebook page.