When you are just getting started on your online business, you will need to set some short, immediate, and long-term goals. A well thought-out properly organized set of goals is your roadmap to success. If you are going to try to make it big online, not having clear written goals will be the biggest mistake you will EVER make.

There are a few keys to know when setting goals. Your goals should be challenging and just outside of your comfort zone, but at the same time they must be realistic. Your goals should inspire you and give you the drive to achieve the unseen. It is a known fact that people who have clear written goals set in front of them at all times accomplish more than someone without any goals. There was an acronym I learned in grade school that described what all goals should be. The acronym was SMART: Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.

Having specific goals means defining exactly what they are. An example of a vague goal would be, I want to get rich selling on eBay. An example of a specific goal would be, I want to make an extra $3000 passive income a month by selling on eBay. In the specifying of the goal you are giving it clear characteristics allowing it to be better understood in your mind.

Having measurements on your goals give them a real quantitative value. In the previous example, what made the goal more specific was the measurable dollar figure. Checking your goals, updating them, and measuring where you are in your journey in achieving them will help you keep going in your online business.

While goals must be attainable, they must seem a little ways out of reach, pushing and inspiring you to get moving outside of your comfort zone. Goals also much be realistic in the fact that they are possible within reason. They must provide a source of inspiration in their attainability, realistically giving you a drive and purpose.

The final category is timely. Goals must be written down and they must have a date to them. A goal forgotten is a goal missed. Also, a goal with out a date is just a wish. Once you have spent some time developing thoughtful short, intermediate, and long-term goals, set deadlines on your short-term goals, and create action steps from them. Prioritize the details of your short-term goals, and do not begin working on them until you are fully committed!