Why Meeting Your Income Goals In Your Business is NOT As Important As You Think

Income goals. As business owners, we make the dollar amounts in our heads seem crucial to our success. When we hit them, all is well with the world. But when we don’t, it’s a potential money mindset disaster. 

And oh, the crazy things your mind can make those disappointing numbers mean…

Does it mean that you’re not good at what you do? Or that you’re a lousy money manifestor? Does it mean that you’re just not cut out for entrepreneurship?

I know I’ve felt this way myself. Many times. Crazy thoughts run through your head when things don’t go your way. It’s part of being human. And when it comes to entrepreneurs, not making your income goals has a particularly unpleasant sting!

But what can you do to keep negative self-talk from derailing you every time things go “wrong?”

Here’s a different perspective from the usual “failure is not an option” battle cry…

Setting a goal is important. Reaching the goal in the exact way you think you have to? NOT important.

So am I telling you that setting the goal is more important than achieving it? Honestly, that’s about right!  

Setting goals is wonderful. In fact, I recommend it. What I don’t recommend is attaching yourself to the outcome.
No matter who you are or what you’ve achieved, you can’t control outcomes. All you can do is simply show up for the process!

Believe it or not, the goal of setting goals (including income goals) is to be in the process, and learning as you go.

It’s about how you show up for the process, how you feel during the process, and what you do with what you learn.

I recently took my Certified Tax Consultant exam. Let me tell you, even preparing for that test is no small feat.

I’d been studying for 18 months. I invested over 400 hours of my life into the learning process. And it all came down to ONE exam.

If I failed this test, it would mean that I failed as an accountant, a tax preparer, and a business owner. At least that’s what my mind chatter was trying to tell me!

I battled that kind of negative self-talk through 18 months of test prep. I had to call myself out and shift my perspective every time those naysaying words showed up.

(Not that I was always able to keep that mindset shift 24/7, though…)

Then the day finally came, and I took my test. When I was ready to hit “submit” at the end, I started to cry.

What would I tell people if I failed? Would it ruin my confidence and hurt credibility in my business?

Nonetheless, I hit “submit” anyway. Then I got my score. What was the verdict?

Turns out that I failed the exam by ONE point. (Or so it looked.!) You can imagine what that felt like, and where my agitated mind could’ve gone from there. But instead, I chose a different path.

Instead of dwelling on failure and unworthiness, I focused on something else. I focused on what I had learned in the process. After the initial freakout, didn’t beat myself up because I didn’t achieve my goal. Instead, I asked myself what I learned and how I could use it moving forward.

Then, I let it all go.

I took some time for myself, and chose to indulge my creative muses instead of my supposed failures. That included getting out the canvas and painting a beautiful desert sunset.

After that, I checked back in with reality. I was still amazing at what I did. My clients still had amazing clients and I was making a difference in their lives. I was still 100% worthy of all the success that I desired.

And if I chose to, I could even take the CTC test again next year, so all wasn’t lost!

But wait, it gets better…

After a weekend of letting it all go and returning to myself, turns out that I hadn’t failed after all!I received an email congratulating me on PASSING the CTC exam!

But the overall moral of the story?

It’s not about achieving the goal. It’s about who you are being what you are learning during the process.

Not something that you usually hear in our that you don’t hear much about in our work-obsessed, outcomes-driven world, is it? But think about it…

Failure will not take away what you’ve learned. If you’ve learned something through the process, you’ve proven that you’re capable. So keep setting goals, show up for the process, and learn something along the way. The outcome is what it is!

It doesn’t matter what you’re after–money, power, success, relationships, you name it. Attaching to the an outcome and pushing toward a goal it will never make you happy. (Trust me, I’ve tried!)

Here’s another tricky thing about goals…

If you focus on nothing but outcomes, you’ll never be satisfied.  Because no matter what goal you hit, there will always be a shiny new goal to take its place!

But if you focus on the process instead of the outcome, you’ll get something better. You’ll discover your self-worth from within. That’s the most rewarding “goal” of all!

So show up every day. Do what you can. Even if that’s doing nothing, do your best. Learn the process. Build self-awareness, positive habits, and supportive self-talk as you go. Then, sit back and receive inner love, respect, and positive habits in that space!

If you’re not meeting your income goals (or any kind of goal), and it’s getting you down, try to meet your awareness instead. Go back, look at what you wanted to achieve. Then take an honest and non-judgmental look at the process.

Then ask yourself the real questions instead of dwelling on the income goals.

What steps did you take, what did you do, and what are you capable of doing? Then the last question–what support system can you lean into while you’re figuring out the process?

I don’t reach my income goals every month. And you know what? That’s OK! It doesn’t mean that I’m not doing the work. It doesn’t mean I’m not worthy that I don’t deserve to be paid for what I do.

All it means is that I’ve got some internal stuff I need to work on, and some outer circumstances I need to shift. It means I need to keep at it, correct course as I go. And to trust that sooner or later, it’s going to work!

So the take-home message today is that it’s not about the goal. It’s about how you’re showing up, what you’re doing, and how you’re enjoying the process. It’s about your priorities and your values, too.

So shift your value to inner worth, peace, and positivity. Create daily habits that serve you, serve your values, and serve your boundaries. Do the work, let go of the outcome, and just breathe through the process.

Then the goals will eventually take care of themselves!

So tell me–have you ever had a moment where you missed a big goal, but learned a huge lesson instead? Or what about a moment where you got what you wanted, but it wasn’t quite what you thought it would be?

I know I’ve been in both situations–how about you? Leave a comment and share your experiences with income goals!

Until Next Time,

Love, Light, and MONEY, Honey…

Kaylee