There is a reason why so many people talk about making 90 days goals vs annual goals. First, 90 days seems long enough but still short enough to keep the momentum going vs the whole year. Also businesses can turnaround 100% in a quarter which 90 day goals provide.
Online business arena changes very, very quickly these days and having quarterly goals allows you to plan for success and adjust anytime if necessary.
This does not mean you should not make annual goals and even 5 to 10 year goals. But what I say is that one should not create action plans for those. Yet.
Instead take those long term goals and focus only the next quarter when you want to make an action plan that moves the needle forward.
Here's process I follow when creating my 90 days goal action plan
First thing to do is not to look forward to the next 90 days!
It is best to look back last 90 days and start there.
Journal about the following:
What went well in the last 90 days?
What could I improve from last 90 days?
What were my wins?
What were my learnings?
Did I move towards my long term goals? If not, why.
Once you know where you stand, it's time to look forward.
The Next 90 Days
There is no right or wrong way to do 90 day planinng!
I do my planning on Asana as that is how to I manage my personal goals and business goals. I've created a board project with boards for each business I run and tasks as goals.
This helps me to see the big picture in my businesses and quickly see if I am aiming too high aka have too many things going on or even not enough.
When you are mapping your next quarter in your business, its good to consider the following:
- are my sales at the level I want?
- What lauching are coming up in this quarter?
- What new products / services am I lauching?
- What product / services should I stop selling/marketing?
Life Goals
Your 90 days goals should definitely include also your personal goals, not just business goals! Business is what drives our personal lifes and even as entrepreneurs we work to live, not live to work. Worklife balance matters!
Rule of Three
I follow a rule of three when it comes to planning. No more than 3 big goals per quarter, no more than 3 goals per week and no more than 3 tasks per day.
Humans have a habit of overestimating what we can do in a quarter.
Also by limiting to 3, it forces me to get really clear on WHY. Why I should do one project over another. Why this is more important than that. And what project truly moves the needle vs busy work.
Weekly Mapping
This is where I change the vehicle and turn into my journal. I don't map out my weeks on Asana, I do that in my journal.
Every Monday I start the week with looking at my 90 day goals to know where I am in my goal progress. From there I map out my week in my journal.
Reason for journal is that I create mindmaps for everything and handwriting allows me to stop and focus on my goals.
Your weekly mapping might be on Asana, Trello or any other tool you use.
