Recognise! Celebrating milestones is not only fun but functional

A lot has been made of the value of setting goals, knowing numbers, aiming high, feeling the burn (wait, what?) and a whole bunch of other aspirational catchphrases.  They’re fun, they’re motivational and yes, sometime a little clichéd.  But it’s amazing how effective they are at inspiring people (not just sports and business people) to take action and make things happen.  Getting to know what works for you and your team by way of inspiring and extracting great, business promoting, world changing leaps forward is very important and ultimately useful.

But we’re missing the big picture if we’re not also “celebrating success”.

One of the great motivational tools that mobilises businesses to achieve something greater is the ability to stop, recognise and enjoy the passing of a milestone or a success that we’ve been building towards.

Almost 4 years down and still a lot to do

The more we do, the more there is to do.  I think all small businesses will relate to this.  We started off with a simple goal and a very simple approach.  Help small business owners get the most out of their business so they can enjoy more of a better life with their families.  Ensuring people had more time, minimised their tax and were able to help others in need, capped off the big ambition.

This week, Inspire turns four years old.  Wow, four years!  And while we are really pleased with what we’ve achieved and the prospect of setting sail for bigger and better things, I’d have to say that looking back (at what works and what doesn’t) helped us to keep looking forward.  A target of $500,000 in saved tax for our clients turned into an achievement doubling that.  Contributing funds and positive impacts to people’s lives started off as an idea but led to a new way of working and now even larger goals.

So 4 years of doing what we do is a wonderful milestone.

Milestones are great but they’re not targets

I just want to be careful here in recognising the difference between a target, an objective or a goal and a milestone. It’s great to pass a milestone but typically these are markers en-route to a particular objective – they’re not the destination.  Nevertheless, it is very important to break up a long journey into a series of shorter trips.  This helps maintain momentum and a regular sense of achievement.

I would discourage anyone from ignoring the smaller achievements along the path to potential greatness or at the very least, success.  Instead, see them as chances to run a few checks and balances – how are we feeling, what are the numbers saying to us, what do we need to do to get past the next milestone?  Refocus on achieving big goals.

As for us, our mission is to keep helping families thrive through the achievements of their small businesses and celebrate successes wherever and whenever we find them.

That’s the goal… now to celebrate the milestone.