My husband is retiring from the military in less than 29 days, and when he crosses that threshold into the retirement club, he will be forty years old. Forty and retired.
We have talked about this aspirational goal for years. Ten years ago, we started planning. Five years ago, we set a future budget and worked towards it, and next month, it will be a reality.
My husband’s retirement is an aspirational goal that is extremely specific to his life. He has worked towards it, planned for it, and stayed the course to live out the fruits of his labors — finally.
While this is a personal aspirational goal, they also exist within the workplace. Successful companies don’t just roll out their business and say, “hey, we’re going to be the most successful within our industry!” No. Successful companies plan, pursue, endure, and set up their own aspirational business goals.
For my husband, his aspirational goal was retirement at forty. However, your business’s aspirational goal can be whatever you want it to be. In this article, we will dip into a few realistic business aspirational goals that can help you get started. Because, let’s face it, we might not all be able to retire at 40, but we all should have our personal and business aspirational goals on our lists to hit.
How do we define aspirational goals?
Aspirational goals are just this — they start from nowhere with the plan to achieve something bigger and better than before. They are extremely lofty goals that push you or your business out of its comfort zone with the challenge and expectation to accomplish more than ever before.
If you approach a personal aspirational goal, you need to do some soul-seeking and ask yourself a few questions. To be as cliche as possible, your aspirational goal needs to stem from questions such as “what do you want to achieve in life?” or “ What is a big, audacious dream you’ve always had but never pursued?” These types of questions get you thinking about what types of goals you should make. Goals that are big, bold, and so powerful that they have you shooting for the moon.
So, if it’s okay to shoot to the moon with your personal goals, you should also apply that same aspirational goal process to your business.
Examples of aspirational goals for your business
To get down to brass tax, there are a few angles you could take when building out aspirational goals for your team. While shooting for the moon is your long-term goal, you can ride a few different types of rockets to get there.
To get your business aspirational goal juices flowing, here are some aspirational business goal suggestions:
- Growth goals
- Innovation goals
- Sustainability goals
- Employee goals
- Customer goals
1. Growth goals
This aspirational goal relates to expanding your business, increasing revenue, and reaching new markets. Some examples of this type of aspirational goal would be if you wanted your business to double its revenue in the next five years, increase its customer base by 50%, or expand into a new geographic region.
2. Innovation goals
You want your business to be at the top of its field and be a market leader in new and innovative products. This type of aspirational goal aligns with developing new products, services, or processes that set your business apart from its competitors. For example, you could set your aspirational goal for your startup to launch five new products in the next five years and develop a new technology that enhances the customer experience within eight years. Start small, end big!
3. Sustainability goals
Some aspirational goals are focused less on financial impact and more on environmental impact. Companies can also focus on doing good with their business, as it relates to promoting social responsibility and fostering ethical business practices. For instance, companies like Patagonia have social responsibilities built into their core business operations, while other companies have built out long-term goals to become carbon-neutral by a specific year.
4. Employee goals
Internal employee goals are related to fostering a positive work culture, providing employees with growth opportunities, and promoting a positive work-life balance. For example, a business struggling with internal work-life balance could aim to increase employee retention rates by 25%, implement a mentorship program for junior employees, or offer flexible work arrangements.
5. Customer goals
Is your business customer-facing? Does it rely on exceptional customer service and return business? If so, a customer-focused goal is perfect for building customer loyalty and enhancing the customer experience. For instance, a business could aim to achieve a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 9 or above, respond to customer inquiries within 24 hours, or personalize the customer experience with customized recommendations and promotions.
6. Community engagement goals
Community engagement goals demonstrate the company’s commitment to actively interact with the local community through initiatives like volunteering, event sponsorship, and partnerships with like-minded organizations. A company can build trust, loyalty, and gain valuable customer feedback through successful engagement. It also enhances brand visibility and helps a business stand out from its competitors. More importantly, community engagement contributes to a company’s relationship with its audience by promoting social progress and sustainable development. All while creating a sense of purpose and fulfillment for employees and stakeholders alike.
Regular goals vs. aspirational goals
Okay, so if you read through the options above and thought to yourself, “some of these are just regular goals, and they don’t sound too aspirational,” then I implore you to dig a little deeper and view each other goal type from a different perspective.
One person’s aspirational goals might be someone’s everyday goals, and that’s okay. It’s all relative to the individual, their business, and their current circumstances.
Like my aunt always says, we’re not here to “yuck someone else’s yum.”
What may seem like a small accomplishment to one person or business may be a huge milestone for someone else. The key is to set meaningful and challenging goals that will push you to grow personally or for your business to grow and develop.
Don’t be afraid to set and track those lofty aspirational goals.
Once you pick the aspirational goals that you deem necessary for your personal life or business, write them down and work on them. I recommend that you document them in a goal tracking platform, so you can check in on your progress and always know where you are within your journey.
I also encourage you not to underestimate the value of setting smaller, more achievable goals along the way. These shorter-term goals can help you build momentum and confidence so that every time you hit one of your smaller goals, you are that much closer to hitting your aspirational goal and to meeting my husband on the moon as he sips his fizzy water, enjoying retirement.
Using Hive To Set Your Goals
Are you ready to start making strategic goals with your team? You’re in luck — Hive’s newest (and most exciting) feature is Goals. Everyone wants to know how they’re moving their organization forward, and your team is more than just a project. With Goals, you can set various goals, visualize progress, and keep everyone aligned in one centralized dashboard. You can also:
- Create one, ten, twenty, or more goals for your team, so everyone understands what they’re contributing to.
- Centralize and automate your goal tracking and reporting.
- Pull data from other systems into Hive to streamline operations and reporting.
- Share your goal or goals, assign the goal to relevant teammates, track activity, and give yourselves a deadline.
- Understand how your team and organization are pacing towards an individual goal or a set of goals.
- Color-coded designations allow an easy understanding of “on-track” items.
- When it’s time to review progress, accomplishments, and achievements, easily export all relevant information.
Want to get started? Start your free trial of Hive Goals today!
