Goal setting in your ultrasound business is crucial, and understanding how to do that is even more important. On this episode, we’re chatting about the ONE thing that can really help get us there. We all know how to set big dream goals, but if we don’t have a plan to get us there, they’re going to be just that….dreams. If we take the time and understand how to break those big dreams down into smaller finish lines, and even further into habits, this one thing is so powerful in allowing us to have a plan to work to achieve those big goals for the year.

Transcript

(00:00):

Grab a seat and a cup of coffee because you just enrolled in Ultrasound Business School. We are obsessed with all things ultrasound and are here to take you on a journey through the messy and the magical side of business ownership. Think marketing, contracts, vendors, admin, growth mindset, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This is the Talking Tech Podcast, a Sonographer’s Guide to Entrepreneurship. Here’s your host, Jennifer Lindsey.

Jen (00:31):

Happy New Year, everyone. I am taking a quick break from our business models series because as we head into the new year, it’s important to take this time to look ahead to 2022 and be very intentional about cultivating our year ahead. We all know how crucial goal setting is, and understanding how to do it is really even more important. So on today’s episode, I want to talk about setting goals as well as the one thing that can really help get us there. And here it is, get your note-taking devices ready. We all know how to set big dream goals, but if we don’t have a plan to get us there, they’re going to be just that, dreams. We’ll never make it to that pinnacle if we don’t have an actual plan. And we have to be intentional about setting that plan to actually be able to move through it.

(01:29)
So if we take the time and understand how to break those big goals down into smaller finish lines, then breaking those finish line goals even further into those habits or mini goals, those things we’re doing daily and weekly to get to that pinnacle, it’s going to allow us to work to achieve the goals we set. That’s what we’re going to chat about on today’s episode. So let me give you a quick example, and then we’re going to talk about this more in-depth. So think of it this way, one of my goals each year really is to pay close attention to my health. I have a metabolic disorder it predisposes me to diabetes. I want to do everything I can to prevent that from happening. So if my goal is physical health, I need to lay out what that looks like to me on a grander scale, right?

(02:22)
If my pinnacle or my big dream goal is physical health in general, now everyone’s going to be different on this; it may be a certain weight on the scale, that’s your goal, a certain size, and clothes a certain feeling. Like for me, being able to easily run around like a crazy person with my four-year-old without getting too winded is a good goal for me. Those are the end game that pinnacle. And, of course, I want to look and feel good like any other woman in her clothes as well. But really thinking about the end game or finish line allows us to backtrack the details of how to get there. So a goal is just to target a purpose, an objective. It’s where we want to finish, and we’ll talk about big dreams broken down into finish lines, into daily and weekly habits.

(03:16)
Let’s go through that. So if we want to work on the place that we want to finish, we need to set the smaller steps, habits, and mini goals we need to check off each day, each week, and each month to get us there. So these can be specifically assisted by setting those habits, and they’ll be used so much in the way we plan out our day and our week. So I’m going to use a goal I’ve set for myself in 2022 for, you know, personally with my own health. And then I’m also going to translate this into how you’d set a business goal in the ultrasound industry. Just to illustrate the fact that this process can literally be used in every facet of our lives. And at any time, of course, not just when a new year comes along; we should be setting goals on a regular basis.

(04:01)
It’s just, like, ingrained in our DNA to have like these big dreams and goals for the New Year that comes along. As a side note, I am so excited to be using a goal planner called PowerSheets; it’s a goal planner book. I know there’s a million of them out there, but I’m working through this one with a mastermind that I’m in, and I love how it’s laid out. So if you’re wanting to go check this out for yourself, get one for yourself. It is called PowerSheets, and the company is Cultivate What Matters. Go take a look at it. I love how it’s broken down. They break things down into eight main areas of our lives. These areas are health and wellness, friends, finances, spiritual and personal growth, social relationships, your spouse, your significant other, maybe a very close friend if you’re not married or with someone.

(05:01)
Family is the next one. Work and learnings, I would put business in with that for myself and recreation. Now, I love this because a lot of times at the New Year, we think of setting health and wellness goals, goals for our work or for business, but we forget there are a multitude of other areas of our lives that really should have goals and intentions set for them as well. So let’s walk through my health and wellness goals and intentions. So you can kind of see how I’ve done this for myself. And then again, let’s create that goal for the work area of our lives as an example of what you could be doing to set things up for success in 2022 in your ultrasound business. So for me, in the health and wellness section, for my goal, I don’t like to do a number on a scale.

(05:52)
I like to do the way I feel in clothes, the way I feel physically. So it’s probably a bit more arbitrary than most people, I imagine. But I know what small steps I need to take to maintain or reach my goal. Because let’s be honest, we get around the holidays. Usually, the way that I currently eat, which is paleo most of the time, goes by the wayside when I’m presented with amazing holiday meals and pumpkin pie. My son and I have been big into baking and cooking. He is in a Montessori school, so they’re big on practical life skills, and that’s a huge way to facilitate that. So we have so much fun measuring and pouring and all of that. We made a ton of Christmas cookies and treats. Now they were organic, mind you, but that does not make them that much healthier.

(06:41)
So, I digress. If my weekly goals are, and my big dream goal is to be physically healthy in the way that I envision it, right? If my weekly goals, my finish lines are, I’d like to eat paleo about 80 to 90% of the time. This, after lots of trial and error, is what helps me regulate my blood sugar the best. So I know that’s the best way for me to eat. Now, I’m not going starve myself of treats either, so I want to give myself a little bit of leeway there, right? My next finish line is to work out at the gym three times a week. If I go more, that’s great, but I want to have that three times a week as kind of my staple.

(07:30)
And then I also as one of my weekly goals, I want to drink plenty of water each day. Mama likes her coffee and cocktails. I have got to head that off of the pass with plenty of water. As a side note, I just started my detox, like eating really clean this week. The first week of the year, my body is like, girl, where is that wine and cheese? So I definitely needed this. I’m not feeling my best this week. So these are the goals. They’re the specific end game or finish line, right? So what habits and mini goals do I need to set daily and weekly to keep me on track? So those are in an overview. Those three are the things I want to do every week to get to that big dream, big goal, physical health.

(08:21)
So what do I need to do to keep me on track? Honestly, this is where the magic happens and where we can work to make the most movement on our goals. I think sometimes we think that our goals need to be these big, grandiose ideas, and of course, that’s what our big dreams are, but the magic happens in the details. And so those little things add up to the big things. If I want to strength train three times a week, let’s say as one of my goals, I can set a habit or a mini goal to be sure I’m scheduling those times in the gym, just like I would do any other meeting and then sticking to it. I wouldn’t cancel a meeting with a prospective physician client in my business that wanted to chat with me about our ultrasound services.

(09:08)
Well, if I wouldn’t do that, then I need to have my habits and mini goals that I’m setting for any of my goals in those eight main areas of my life; those need to be just as important as the actual meetings in my business, as an example. Because if we think about leading a very happy life where we feel fulfilled, and everything we do, and that’s everyone’s goal, at the end of the day, don’t we just want to feel joy and feel fulfilled? I know 100% that if I’m not feeling good physically, I’m not going to feel fulfilled, even if every other area of my life is on point, right? So half the mindset stuff I train you guys on is also for myself because I get off track and off the rails just like anybody else in my brain; business is way more important than my physical health.

(09:59)
Now, that doesn’t make any logical sense, but for some reason, in my head, I should be working 24/7, or I’m lazy. So there are mind mindset shifts that we have to create for ourselves along the way. And one of the ones that I am still working on is that the other areas of my life are just as important as what I’m doing in the business side of my life. My habit or mini goal for eating paleo is to ensure that I have plenty of food in my house and a meal prep once a week, for example. So having a big water bottle next to me all the time is another habit that I can put together to create that goal of having plenty of water on a regular basis, right? So those little things we’re doing to set us up for success for those finish line goals that we have need to have enough water daily between that coffee and cocktail hour, right?

(10:51)
So if you look at that big picture goal, then break it down into those smaller habits, those small little daily and weekly steps add up big. Now let’s take this process and kind of work through putting a goal together for your ultrasound business. And likely everyone listening is in a different place with this. Obviously, I have DMS students, I have sonographers that listen, that are considering starting their business at some point, and I have those who have already started. So we’re all starting 2022 in different spots. But, I’m going to go with this as someone considering starting their business. Now, I’m going to dive deeper first into the way that this is laid out in that PowerSheets goal planner I was talking about because I love how they break this down. They talk about, and I’ve mentioned this in my talk so far, they talk about habits, finish lines, and big dreams.

(11:49)
Let me read from my PowerSheets book how they explain these. So habits are actions that establish rhythms in your life and create consistency. You may have habits you want to continue growing or new habits that you want to cultivate. And over time, the small things become the big things. Every larger goal builds from many goals and habits that add up. So true, right? And I think this is the piece that we miss a lot of times. We think so much on the big dream, and we do a bunch of things to get there, but we need to plan out what those intentionally need to be to move us from point A to point B. Now, finish lines. These goals move you from where you are now to where and who really we want to be, right? Finish lines might be inspired by key areas of your life that need nurturing.

(12:39)
They can be completed in the space of a year and are specific and measurable big dreams. These are the goals that are often new, bold, and life-changing. They take extra effort or a leap of faith to complete. They may feel thrilling or even nerve-wracking to create, and they leave you inspired at the thought of achieving them. Most of us will set no more than one to two a year, and they may take several years to complete depending on if your big dream, of course, right? So if a big dream for 2022, as an example for you, is starting your own ultrasound business, that is a big dream. And according to their definition, it’s something that can be nerve-wracking and takes a leap of faith. Now, if we break those down into those finish lines and then what those habits are for each of those, we can understand how we’re going to actually get to that big dream.

(13:34)
We would likely for this goal have multiple finish lines, right? The first one would likely be I need to understand how to start a business—so breaking that down into the parts of the business plan that you’ll need to have in place. What do I need to do that? I need a market analysis and a marketing plan. I need a business plan. I need contracts; I need a PACS system. I need reading physicians, right? So all of the things that you will need to get to that big dream are those finish line goals. And then, you take each of those and break that down further into those daily and weekly habits or little mini goals that will add up. So if I need to create a business plan as one of the things I’m doing, if my one of my finish lines to get to that big dream and I have no clue how to do that, I would probably want to add a habit or a little goal to my daily or weekly to-do list of researching.

(14:31)
How do I put together a business plan? Once I find out how to do that, then my next habit is to start gathering the information that’s supposed to go into that. So you see that these habits build upon themselves to get you to that finish line goal, and those finish lines add up to get you to that big dream. Now, all of this might sound like a lot to put together on your own. I know for me, I’m a visual learner. I like to see something; I can’t just listen to it necessarily. So I actually have a goals worksheet that I created just for you, just for our community. It’s actually in the Facebook community group. It’s pinned as an announcement with a training I did on the worksheet itself. Go grab one and say hey to me when you’re in there.

(15:21)
But if you also head to, if you’re not in the Facebook group already, if you head to our website, let me give you that. It’s aic-ultrasound.com/social. Let me give that to you again, aic-ultrasound.com/social. Say that five times fast. You will see a link there to join the Facebook group. I am so excited to start 2022 off with a bang. We’ve got our Business Blueprint course registering right now. So for those of you who are like, I need to figure out how to put a business plan together, we got you over there. Our next Ultrasound Business Academy comes up in February. We’ve got some amazing, incredible sonographers that have joined. Each of those already said yes to themselves for 2022. I am so excited for this goal planning. Let me know how you guys like the worksheet. I couldn’t be more proud of our techs, who are ready to say yes to their business this year. So cheers to you and cheers to 2022.

(16:25):

Ready to see what it takes to start your own mobile ultrasound business? Grab our completely free startup guide and learn how you can make a thousand dollars a day with your own business. Head to our website, www.aic-ultrasound.com, to check it out.