Audacious Business Goals or Playing It Safe?

As a woman business owner, it can feel strange to set audacious goals for yourself and your business. Our society has conditioned us to believe that nice women stay small, play it safe, and are thankful for what we have. It’s easy to feel like claiming big goals and calling in more could appear as if you’re ungrateful for what you currently have. However, I am here to tell you that setting big business goals is a good thing, and it can lead to incredible success. It’s why my word for 2023 is audacious. I’ve experienced being realistic. It’s time to let myself be a little delusional and see what happens.

If you’ve ever been tempted to set goals that you know you can achieve, I’m talking to you. If you’ve ever set your goals based on what other people around you are doing, I’m talking to you! When I say “audacious,” I mean setting goals that are far beyond what you know you can easily achieve. Far beyond what you might be comfortable admitting you can achieve. It’s about dreaming big, taking bold action, and not limiting yourself. As women, we have been taught to make those around us feel at ease even if it means holding ourselves back. And this mindset is keeping us stuck exactly where we are.

When you set audacious goals, you are honoring yourself by committing to showing up as your best self, fully sharing your gifts and creating deeper impact. You are challenging yourself to step outside of your comfort zone and really go for it. It can be scary to set and claim audacious business goals, but the reward is worth it. When you achieve those big milestones and goals, you will feel a sense of accomplishment that cannot be matched by mid goals.

Being audacious with your business goals can also inspire others around you. When you aim high, you show your clients, team, and community what is possible. You become a leader who is willing to create a culture of innovation and growth within your business.

So how do you let yourself be enthusiastically audacious about your goals? Here are a few tips:

1. Assess what you really want to achieve and why. Don’t limit yourself to what you know is possible or what others are doing. Look within to identify what would make you wildly happy and fulfilled. Think about how sharing your gifts will impact the lives of others.
2. Break down your goals into small, actionable steps. Remember, the day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit. Audacious goals will not be met overnight so keep track of your day-to-day wins in pursuit of that big goal. Reverse engineer your goal by creating a list of all the action steps that need to happen. Give each step a due date in your calendar or Asana. This can help you see that your big goal is completely achievable and keep you on track.
3. Surround yourself with supportive people who get it. It’s invaluable to have a support system to encourage you, guide you, and cheer you on. This could be your current circle, or it might benefit you to connect with people in your industry who can really understand your business and your goals.
4. Don’t be afraid of failure. When you set big goals, there is always a chance that things won’t happen exactly as you planned. Keep your action steps flexible and pivot when needed. In the end, failures always give us an opportunity to learn and grow.
5. Don’t be afraid of success. Yep, we know everyone wants to avoid failing. But, deep down, we can also be afraid of succeeding. It can feel uncomfortable or presumptuous to claim our own potential. We can sabotage our own success through perfectionism, inaction and so much more. Many of us who grew up in lower or middle-class families hold negative beliefs about people with a lot of money and success without even realizing it. We can also fall into the trap of convincing ourselves we should just be happy with what we have. The truth is, more money and success doesn’t have to change you as a person. You can still be deeply grateful for what you have while wanting to achieve more. More money means you get to have more freedom and choice. Imagine being able to give back so much more time and money to your family or community with ease.

As you can see, when you let yourself be audacious when setting business goals for yourself, what you are really doing is allowing yourself to step into your full potential. So, go ahead, set those big goals, break free from limiting beliefs, and watch your impact and your business soar.