If you’re anything like me, you’ve set yourself a million goals and targets in both your personal and professional life, but in reality, have only achieved a few of them.

It’s clear then, that just having a business goal is not enough. You need to have a plan. A tangible plan that you can stick to in order to get to where you want to be. Indeed, this isn’t just for business goals, this can be for any goal you have in your life, whether that be your health, lifestyle or just how you spend your time. A goal on its own is nothing. It needs more.

However, I’ve figured out the key to achieving my goals, and I’ve broken down exactly how I do so. In this three-step guide, I’m going to share my secret, so that you can turn your goals into reality.

1) Establish a Clear Quantifiable Goal

Without doubt, the most important element needed in order to reach a goal is to define the goal.

For example, lots of people want to “lose weight”. The problem? This goal is far too vague. Has a person reached their goal if they shed 0.1kg? How about 10kg? 100kg. Goals need to be as clear as possible and should have a number attached to them which you can measure.

The same applies to business. “I want to run a successful business”, is not a quantifiable goal. However, “I want to run a business that generates six figures within the next 12 months” is much better.

In order to create a clear goal, you need: 1) a quantifiable target (this could be monetary, number of customers, number of visitors etc.) and 2) a deadline. A quantifiable target is great, but without a deadline, there is no urgency and it could theoretically run forever. Undoubtedly, the importance of visions and goals in businesses are vital – but making them crystal clear is the vital step in how you reach them.

Therefore, step one to smashing any business goal you have is to make sure your target is clear, quantifiable and has a set deadline.

2) What Do You Need to Do?

So, once you’ve got your clear goal in mind, you’re done – right? Just run off and do the stuff you need to do… no. Don’t do that.

What you’ve basically done by setting your goal is you’ve bought a jigsaw puzzle. You now need to figure out where all the pieces need to go in order to create the beautiful picture. But if you just pick up random pieces and try and fit them together, it’s going to take you an eternity. Instead, you need to work out which are the most important things you need to do, and in what order, so you can build from there and that everything eventually comes together nicely.

Running from one task to the next without the bigger picture in sight can be tiring and will almost inevitably lead to you becoming exhausted and unmotivated – neither of which will help you complete what you set out to do.

So, look at the bigger picture and figure out what needs to go where, and then you’re ready for the next step.

3) Break Up Your Goal into Short-Term Targets

Now you know what you need to do in order to achieve your main goal, you need to figure out a timescale for your short-term goals.

By creating short-term goals, it allows you or your team to stay focused on the bigger picture, as often the grand target can seem a little overwhelming. However, the more you can break up your goals into bitesize chunks, the greater your motivation will be at every step of the process. Your short-term goals should be broken down into chunks of time that take no longer than one week to complete. But daily goals are the best way to keep you focused on the task at hand and to prevent you from wavering or becoming distracted.

So remember: 1) create a quantifiable goal with a deadline, 2) figure out what you need to do in order to reach your goal, and 3) break down your task into bite-size chunks with short deadlines until you reach your main goal.