Marketing Made Easy for HR Consultants

How to Set and Achieve EVERY Goal You Have for 2025

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Ready to make 2025 your most successful year yet? 

Good, because in this episode, you'll discover:

  • Proven steps to set goals that stick – and the key actions to ensure you actually achieve them.
  • The #1 reason people fail to achieve their goals – and a simple way to overcome it.
  • Why goal setting is essential for achieving anything worthwhile in life – and how to do it effectively.
  • A powerful ChatGPT prompt to help you create a personalised, foolproof goal-achievement plan that works even when life gets in the way.
  • The difference between process and outcome goals – and why balancing both is the secret to long-term success.

...and so much more!

So tune in for actionable insights and strategies that will set you up for an extraordinary 2025.

Resources:


Timestamps:

0:00 - Understanding the Importance of Goal Setting
2:36 - Defining Your Goals Clearly
3:14 - Importance of Effort in Achieving Goals
4:16 - Creating a Road Map for Success
5:08 - Improving Focus and Time Management
6:35 - Building Confidence Through Achievements
7:31 - Steps to Set Effective Goals
8:14 - Identifying Your Financial Goals
9:20 - Finding Your Motivation for Goals
10:02 - Using the Smarter Framework for Goals
10:55 - Differentiating Outcome and Process Goals
12:33 - Strategies for Achieving Your Goals
13:34 - Finding Accountability for Your Success
14:57 - Building Habits for Long-Term Success
16:02 - Setting Up Your Environment for Success
17:35 - Making Marketing Activities a Priority
19:08 - Making Achieving Goals Easy and Satisfying
20:28 - Celebrating Small Wins Along the Way
22:00 - Managing Expectations and Preparing for Challenges
23:07 - Reinforcing Habits with Feedback Loops
24:06 - Staying Disciplined to Achieve Your Goals
24:24 - Summarising Your Goal Action Plan


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00:01 Hello there and welcome back to another episode of Marketing Made Easy for HR Consultants with me, Nick Poninski. It's almost the end of 2024, it's almost the start of 2025.
00:13 So today we're going to take a step back from the marketing, sales, personal development acts, ah, aspects and talk more about setting goals.
00:22 Let's talk about getting success in 2025. So you probably know that setting goals is essential for your life and for your business.
00:31 After all, if you don't know where you want to get to, then how will you know when you get there?
00:36 Equally, how will you know where you're headed? But the last thing we're The thing you want is to set your goals and then two weeks later have already given up on them.
00:45 As such, today's episode isn't just about setting goals. It's also about making sure you achieve them too. Now, if you've ever set goals, you know it's all motivating at first, but then reality kicks in and you don't actually do anything with your goals.
01:00 Well, that's not going to be the case this time. At least, not in theory. See, we're going to talk today about managing both your logical and your emotional brain.
01:10 What's your emotional brain? Well, it's that little voice in your head that pulls you away from doing what you know you're supposed to be doing.
01:17 You know the one. Do it later. Don't do it that. Sit down and have a rest instead. Ooh, play with your phone.
01:25 You know that voice, right? We all have it. Well, the simple solution to that is to use the five-second rule from Mel Robbins.
01:34 The way to use this rule is when you get that intrusive thought that threatens to pull you away from doing what you're supposed to be doing, you catch yourself, and you start counting down from five.
01:45 That pattern interrupts those intrusive thoughts, allowing you to take back control of your actions. Then, you can focus on making progress on what's important.
01:54 Simple, right? There's nothing else to the rule. It's that simple. But, Mel Robbins has a TED Talk. If you want to find out more, I'll include a link in the show notes.
02:04 She also has a book. Again, I'll include a link in the show notes. But, honestly, you don't need to know much more than the five-second rule.
02:11 Try it out next time you're thinking about messing around with your phone, or procrastinating when you should be doing something that you know you should be doing.
02:19 Catch yourself, and start counting down from five. You will take control of your life. It's that simple. So, yeah, now we've talked about that emotional brain, and how to get control of that, and how to make sure that we are working on what we're supposed to be doing.
02:36 Let's talk about the logical brain, and making sure that it is set up to achieve your goals. First things first though, let's define what a goal is, so that we're all starting from the same starting point.
02:49 And I think this is really helpful too, because of the power of the definition that I found. Are you ready?
02:54 A goal is the result or achievement toward which effort is directed. Let me repeat that. A goal is the result or achievement toward which effort is directed.
03:10 So if your goal is to earn 70k, that's where you are, that's where you direct your effort towards, that's where your effort is going to be directed towards.
03:18 Your effort is going to be directed towards your goal towards achieving 70k. Now, for me, that's a pretty good definition, in my opinion.
03:27 It's effectively saying that you achieve what you put your effort into, and it's good because your effort will generate the result that you're working towards.
03:36 So if you spend no time working on your goals, or you have no goals, then you'll notice that you don't achieve what you want to achieve.
03:44 Whereas if you set your goals and work towards them, then you are doing what you're supposed to be doing, and more often than not, you'll achieve your goals.
03:52 The crux of the matter, though, is, do you have the right goals? Are you putting in the effort and are you putting in the right effort?
03:58 And those are the key questions. But before we get into those questions and how to ensure that you do actually achieve your goals, let's talk a bit more about the importance of setting goals.
04:13 the first of five benefits of setting goals. Number one, it creates a roadmap for growth. So as you'll soon see, when we talk about setting and achieving goals, you're going to work backwards from the goal and therefore have the steps you need to achieve that goal.
04:28 It creates a roadmap for you. So if your goal is to earn 70k in revenue within the next 12 months, that provides a measurable target and that ensures that your pricing, your client retention, your upselling strategies align with achieving that figure.
04:42 So if you say 70k, and again, we'll talk about this shortly, but if you're working backwards from that, how are you going to achieve that 70k?
04:51 What is your roadmap? How many clients will you need? What will you need to charge your clients? If you know that you need to generate 10 leads for every, I don't know, one client, then you know that you need 10 clients to get to 70k, then you know you need to achieve 100 leads, right?
05:07 So that's, that's how it's going to work. You will then have a roadmap for your growth. The second benefit of setting goals is that it improves focus and efficiency.
05:17 And time management. So for instance, if your goal, if one of your goals is to build a mailing list of 500 subscribers in the next three months, you're going to prioritize creating lead magnets, one, two, three, four, however many is that you think that you need.
05:35 And then you're going to run those campaigns over. Less critical tasks. Those are going to be your priorities. Those creating the lead magnets and then running campaigns.
05:45 Personally, I would say that three or four lead magnets is a lot, probably not necessary. It depends on your audience and yeah, how much effort you want to put into creating lead magnets.
05:55 Number three, the third benefit of setting goals and get to measure progress and effectiveness. So regularly measuring your financial performance against your targets that allows you to identify shortfalls early and adjust strategies, such as, I don't know, raising prices, targeting higher value clients
06:16 , or, yeah, getting in you can. Control of your ad costs or whatever it is that you're using to, yeah, find your leads, find your clients.
06:24 The fourth benefit, it drives consistency and reduces overwhelm. So clear goals provide structure. And that allows you to avoid the feast or famine cycle of marketing only when business is slow.
06:37 That's what happens. That's why you are in feast or famine. Because you don't, you're not consistent with your marketing. You only do it every so often, right?
06:45 But if you set an act on your goals, which generate leads and clients, you won't have that feast or famine.
06:51 So you will have consistency, you won't have overwhelm, you won't be unsure what to do with your time. Fifth benefit.
06:57 I'm sure. You build confidence and control. So hitting financial targets is going to give you a sense of stability and control over your business.
07:06 And that means you're going to feel secure in your ability to sustain your consultant to invest in future growth. Equally, if you set a target of hitting 70k and you achieve that, imagine how great you are going to feel, right?
07:19 You are going to be flying on Cloud9, floating on Cloud9. So, yeah, hitting your goals, ultimate, ultimate confidence.
07:33 So now we've got the definition and you understand the importance of goal setting, let's talk about how to set goals and to achieve them.
07:40 Now just to say quickly, I'm going to focus on business goals for examples when I'm explaining concepts, but you can use this plan and advice to set and achieve anything you want, so feel free to use the advice with whatever goal that you're thinking of, you know, whether it's going to the gym or whether
07:56 it's improving your personal relationships with people. Whatever your goals, this advice is applicable. But as I say, to bring examples to life, I'm going to focus on business, marketing, finances, whatever it is.
08:10 That being said, let- start off with the beginning by setting your financial goal for the year. This is going to set the tone for everything that comes afterwards.
08:19 So how much do you want to earn? Take some time to work that out. Then it's on to one of the most important bits of goal saying, why do you want to achieve that goal?
08:30 Why have you come- into that figure? The why is a big thing, right? Just ask Simon's tinnock. And the reason this is important is that you can use this motivation anytime you feel like your plan is being derailed or you feel like you're losing motivation.
08:44 You're going to remember why you started in the first place. Now, your why, it can be about- getting away from pain, it can be about heading towards pleasure.
08:54 So if you want to hit 70K, maybe it's because you want to pay your mortgage off. Maybe you want to pay your child for your university.
09:01 Maybe you want to buy your dream car, whatever it is. Maybe you just want to shove it in your ex's face and say, look at me now, Frankie.
09:10 Whatever your reasons, I f- or achieving your goals is your business. You don't need to justify them to anyone, but you might want to consider coming up with about 10 reasons and then maybe narrowing down to the top three, your choice.
09:22 And then you can dot these reasons around places in the home or at work. And that way you'll notice them and you'll keep yourself more.
09:31 And you'll on top of mind. You could even read these reasons to yourself every morning and every evening. That way you are reminding yourself what you're working towards and why it's   .
09:44 So now we've got your financial goal and your reasons why, it's time to bring that financial goal to life. And we're going to use the SMARTER framework to do it.
09:54 So SMARTER is a mnemonic, and it's S-M-A-R-T-E-R. So S is for specific. You're going to clearly define what you want.
10:05 M is going to be measurable. You're going to identify how you'll track your progress. A is achievable. You're going to ensure that the goal is realistic.
10:14 R, you're going to make it relevant. So you're going to align it with your broader objectives. T, time bound. You're going to set a deadline for achieving that goal.
10:23 E, evaluate. Is the approach you're taking working? So that's going to come into play later on. We're going to bring that one to life later on.
10:32 R, you're going to assess your goals to ensure they are still appropriate. Again, we're going to bring that one into play a little bit later on.
10:39 But for now, you're going to set a goal, ah, for your finances. So instead of saying you want more clients, what you're actually going to say is you're going to earn 70K by the end of the year, ah, by the end of 2025.
11:04 I want you to note that that is an outcome goal. There are two different types of goals. One is an outcome goal, one is a process goal.
11:11 So the outcome goal that you've got, earning 70K by the end of 2025, now you need to identify your process goals.
11:19 How are you going to achieve that 70K by the end of 2025, right? So work out that 70K, where is that coming from?
11:28 So if you need, you know, 10 clients each paying you 7,000 pounds, great, that's fine. So what are they going to be paying you for?
11:37 You know, how does that work? Then you need to work out how many leads you need to get in order to get those 10 clients.
11:43 So these are going to be process goals, right? So if you know that you need to reach out to, uh, say 1,000 people to get 10 clients, then you need to identify how you're going to reach out to those 1,000 people.
11:59 How are you going to do it? You're going to reach out to 10 people on LinkedIn every day. I've d going to make 10 cold calls every day.
12:06 What is it you're going to do to achieve that 70k? So again, that's 70k. How are you going to earn it?
12:13 I monetarily. How much are people going to be paying you for what kind of work? And then once you've identified how many clients you need to identify I'm look at that.
12:23 If I that 70k, you're going to need to work out how many leads you'll need to create to get those clients.
12:36 once you've got that, those are your process goals, right? So that is going to tell you how you will earn.
12:43 That 70k. you see how it's all coming together? So we're going to talk a little bit more about that now.
12:54 We're going to talk about strategies for achieving your goals. So firstly, you're going to think about reverse engineering. You're going to start with the end goal and map backwards.
13:03 That's what we've talked about. Next, you're going to want to consider making your goal easy to perform. So you're going to make performing the habit easy.
13:13 If you make it difficult, if you make achieving that goal difficult for yourself, you are going to struggle to do it.
13:19 So make it easy for yourself. If you're going to make cold calls, Where are you going to get the phone numbers from?
13:25 Right? You need to think about that. Next, you want to think about an accountability. So you might want to partner with a mentor, a coach, an accountability group.
13:35 And the reason this is important is because accountability, well, we've not had any accountability since we were children. You know, when we were children, we had our.
13:43 Parents, we had teachers and they told us what to do and when to do it. And we did it, right?
13:48 Then you become an adult, then you have no more accountability. Certainly when you go into business for yourself, there's nobody managing you.
13:55 There's no one holding you to account. And this is a lot, you know, this is a lot of the time.
14:00 This is where people struggle to achieve their goals. So having an accountability, someone to hold you to account, yeah, that's really going to help you.
14:09 Next, you want to think about tracking your progress. So you can use tools like Trello, Notion, Excel. Maybe you can use a simple journal.
14:19 I'm going to include a link to a simple journal in the show notes for you to take a look at.
14:23 There's also a desktop notebook that you can just have out, open, and that can also track your progress. Finally, you want to celebrate your milestones.
14:33 So reward yourself for any small wins along the way. If you make your 10 cold calls, great. If you sign a client, great.
14:40 Reward yourself. Remind yourself that you've done well takes. At some time, be mindful, be present, and reward yourself. Next, you want to focus on habit building.
14:50 So focus on small, consistent actions. You know, if you think that making 10 cold calls sounds ,     .  ,  ,  .   ,                 , ?                   .          . 
15:03 Now, there are loads of steps that you can take to facilitate your success. And what we're going to do now is follow the advice shared in James Clear's book, Atomic Habits.
15:13 Now, one of the biggest lessons he shares is that you need to set your environment. up for success. For example, if you know you want to make 70K by the end of the year, and you know that you need to make 10 cold calls a day to make that happen, then how are you going to set your environment up to make
15:29 sure that you do your 10 cold calls? Can you put your phone out the night before on top of your keyboard?
15:36 Can you create a pre printout and put that on your desk to make sure that you've got that little prompt that cold calling is essential stuff?
15:43 You know, how can you tweak your environment? If you wanted to eat more healthy food, rather than having, uhm, you know, crisps and whatever else in your cupboard, you could put fruit out on the worktop, where everyone can see it and then that prompt you when you see it, you grab it and yeah, take a 
16:01 bite. Now, I did say I was going to keep examples to business and marketing and that one, um, is obviously not related to that, but you know, that's the one that occurred to me when I thought about setting up the environment.
16:12 So I thought I'd share it with you. It's a good one. And the next thing that you might want to consider is to.
16:17 Talking about identity-based goals. So James clear talks about the fact that lasting success comes from aligning goals with the person that you want to become.
16:26 So instead of saying that you want to sign 10, 10 clients, or you want to make 10 calls, you say, I'm the kind of, um, I am the, uh, I'm a HR consultant.
16:37 Who focuses on lead gen every day and builds long-term partnerships, you know, and if you repeat that to yourself, that mantra, then you will align your daily habits with this identity.
16:49 So you're going to respond to client inquiries promptly. You're going to share case studies that demonstrate expertise. You're going to show up consistently in online meetings.
16:57 You're going online spaces. You're going to allot time to whatever lead gen method it is that you're comfortable with. You know, whatever it is, once you identify as the HR consultant who focuses on lead gen and long-term client relationships, you will find that the behaviors start to align with that
17:14 identity. And this shift in mindset is it creates a situation where you believe what you tell yourself and your body and brain start to follow that instruction to ensure that you're true to your word.
17:26 After all, you can't keep telling yourself that you're a HR consultant who focuses on lead gen if You don't do any legion.
17:35 Your brain will catch on and either stop you or stop you from saying this, or it will make you do your lead gen.
17:48 of the tips from James Clear is that you need to make it obvious. So we've talked about this a little bit earlier on by talking about having your notepad out and whatever else for your cold calls.
17:57 But you also want to talk, think about scheduling time in your calendar for your marketing activities. You know, whatever it is, put an hour in your diary every day for marketing activities.
18:08 Treat it like a doctor's appointment. Treat it as something that is non-negotiable. You know that at three o'clock you're doing your marketing activities.
18:17 Nothing interferes with that, right? And then that way you're committed. Your brain will tell you, you'll build up that habit that at three o'clock, you know, you could even set an alarm on your watch, on your, on your phone, whatever it is.
18:28 Three o'clock, you're doing your marketing activities. You also want to make it attractive. Whatever habit it is that you're building, whatever you're doing.
18:37 That's goal that you're working towards. So, yeah, you can consider joining a group or community of HR consultants where you can share wins and challenges.
18:46 Something, for example, like the HR Business Success Squad. You can attach rewards to milestones like celebrating after signing a client, you know, if you know that you need to assign a client.
18:59 Attach some sort of reward to that. Once that's happened, you're going to treat yourself to, I don't know, uh, take away a pizza from your favorite restaurant.
19:08 You know, whatever it is, you're not allowed that pizza unless you sign your client. Be disciplined and, you know, when you reward yourself.
19:17 Good Lord, so that'll be the best pizza of your life. You also want to try and make these habits easy.
19:23 I know we've talked about this briefly before, but using templates for LinkedIn messages, for sales emails, for client proposals, whatever that is, that can reduce friction.
19:33 That makes, you know, achieving your goals, performing the habit it may- makes it easy. You can also consider using automated outreach tools, like Wallexi, but don't let LinkedIn catch you doing that, because you will be banned from the platform.
19:48 Next, you want to make it satisfying. So, uh, track progress visibly, right? So you might have a chart for outreach activities, you might- have it on the wall, you might have it on the desk in front of you.
20:00 I'll share a link in the show notes of a, um, as I say, a desktop, uh, habit tracker, which is really cool.
20:09 You can make, you can track your progress visibly. You won't want to make a, uh, a breach in the ticks that you make in your chart.
20:17 You will say that you do your marketing activities at old, you know, every day. And you won't want to have a gap.
20:23 You will, you know, you want to keep that run running. So, yeah, that will be satisfying. You also want to celebrate small wins.
20:32 Um, so we've talked about this. You know, ,    .   ,   ,    .  ,  ,          .         ,  ,   .
20:38 Moving on from celebrating wins, we're going to talk about preparing for failures, right? Because it is going to happen. So, you know, uhm, and, and also managing your expectations.
20:50 Progress can feel invisible until suddenly it really kicks off into. So, you know, if you start cold calling at the start, you might not be so great, even though you've got a script, even though you know what you're doing, uhm, you know, you have to, yeah, you have to give yourself a bit of forgiveness
21:09 that the first few aren't going to produce the results. That doesn't mean you should give up. It means you should keep going until eventually, you know, you'll make three or four calls all in a row and you'll get meetings off the back of them.
21:19 So, you know, remind yourself that, you know, change takes time. So, in terms of your marketing goals, you might want to remind yourself that building trust with your audience takes time.
21:29 So, you need, you know, you need to stay consistent with your marketing, even if you're not getting those results. And you might want to accept the fact that your income might fluctuate, uhm, so focus on building that pipeline to stabilize the revenue over time.
21:45 So, you know, when you think about the 70K, that is, give or take, about 6K a month. Some months you might not hit 6K, but there are other months where you will hit more than the 6K.
21:55 So, you know, life isn't perfect. So, yeah, you can, well, life isn't perfect. You're not perfect. Don't expect perfection. Forgive yourself if you mess something up.
22:09 And don't skip a habit or activity, two days running, whatever you do. Because that's the start of a new day.
22:15 A new habit. A habit that leads to you not achieving your goals. of the final piece of advice I've got for you for achieving your goals is to reinforce your habits with feedback loops.
22:33 So, you need to evaluate progress regularly. Schedule that weekly review of, you know, whatever it is that you're supposed to be doing.
22:41 Have you got the leads you're expecting? Have the calls been going well? Is something happening on the calls that is regularly happening that is hampering your progress?
22:51 So, effectively, schedule time to reflect on what's working. And what isn't, and then tweak the approach. Equally, you want to set yourself expectations in terms of your results.
23:02 And if you're not achieving those expectations, identify why not and amend your strategy accordingly. Also, make sure to celebrate those small wins to keep the momentum going.
23:22 before I wrap up this podcast, I do want to share one last piece of information with you. Remember at the start when I said you've got that voice in your head that will sabotage you and your goal achievement?
23:32 Well, that's the only reason you wouldn't achieve your goals if you set out with a plan and work it until it gets you the results that you want to get.
23:41 You may have to switch up tactics here and there. You may have to get help with your plan, but overall, the only reason you won't achieve your goals is if you stop working towards them.
23:52 Now, that might sound a bit aggressive to you and I'm sorry if it comes across that way. But I'm just being honest.
23:58 But I want you to take this honesty the way I mean it, because it should be inspiring for you. You have the power to do whatever the hell you set your mind to.
24:07 You honestly do. There is nothing stopping you from building a market-leading HR consultancy if that's what you want to do.
24:14 You've just got to make the plan, and then put that plan into action. Think it, plan it, do it. You can achieve anything you want to .
24:24 And that's it for today's episode. I hope it was inspiring. I hope it gives you something to think about. To summarize, set your clear, smarter goals today.
24:33 Set your outcome goal. Set your process goals. Then break them down into your actionable steps. Commit to a timeline. Celebrate your progress.
24:43 And yeah, that is how you will achieve your goals in the new year. I'll be sharing a podcast episode about creating your own marketing plan.
24:51 So you can put these goals into the plan and then you can identify areas that you need to work on because you have not considered them.
24:58 But for now, focus on setting your goals and how are you going to do it? I've shared loads of resources.
25:03 I've shared in the show notes to help you along the way. There is a prompt you can copy and paste into ChatGPT to create your own goal achievement program.
25:13 And if you want any further information on setting and achieving goals, then check out the show notes for links to books and products that I recommend.
25:21 Namely, the James Clear Atomic Guide. There's Michael Hyatt, How to Achieve Your Goals. And there it is, a tidy little planner and a habit tracker.
25:30 Now, yeah, full honesty, these are Amazon affiliate links, so I'll get a cheeky little kickback if you use them. Probably 10p and half a chump buy, but every little helps, right?
25:42 And, uh, if you need extra help to make sure you achieve your financial goals for 2025, then consider joining the HR Business Success Squad.
25:50 It's got everything you need to succeed. All the content, all the support, all the accountability, and most importantly, a community who are all heading in the same direction, so you can lean on each other to grow and share wins.
26:03 And, if you join by the end of January and use code newyear, that's one word all in capitals, new year, you'll get 25% of your first month's fees, so you can see what all the fuss is about while saving yourself 50 quid.
26:18 Though that is limited to the first three people to use it, so act fast if you want to- take advantage.
26:25 In the meantime, thanks for listening, and as ever, get marketing, because without marketing, there's no sales, and without sales, there's no business.
26:33 So get marketing.

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