This year I’m kicking off a new format for the podcast based on feedback from my listeners! I’m always hearing how much you enjoy my solo episodes. So starting now, I’ll alternate solo episodes and interviews. This means you’re going to have more chances to hear directly from me about my experience growing my pet industry business, trends I see in the industry and a glimpse into my personal life behind the scenes. 

Changing the format like this – and sticking with it – is one of my goals for the first 90 days of the year. In honor of that, I’m sharing my 90-day strategy for setting pet business goals. No matter what kind of pet business you have – dog walking, pet sitting, pet products, other services like grooming, or a content creator – this strategy will work for you!

Before we dive in, I want to shout out another podcaster who has been a great inspiration to me lately. Francesca Amber hosts The Law of Attraction Changed My Life Podcast. I’ve been listening to her show (and have been a member of her book club) for about six months. On her podcast, Fran does a mix of solo episodes and interviews, too. I love how honest and “uncut” she always is. I’m hoping to bring some of that energy to Wear Wag Repeat this year.

My Strategy for Setting Pet Business Goals

I love breaking my goals into 90-day segments. I have a couple of business besties who started doing 9 goals for 90 days (aka 9 in 90). Since I have to make everything a dog pun, I do K9 in 90! And today I want to share that process with you.

OVERVIEW OF THIS EPISODE:

• • Why 90-day goals are so effective
  • How to make a vision board that works
  • Alternative ways to manifest your goals
  • Sharing one of my big dreams for the year

Before you start setting your goals for the future, its important to look back! As yourself what worked, what didn’t and what was “meh” in the last year.

To do this, I recommend you look at your calendar, scroll through IG, or look to your camera roll to remind yourself what you did last year. Brainstorm one big long list of everything you did. Make sure you include work, personal life and DOG life in your list.

NEXT… look at that list. What things do you want to bring into the new year? Is there anything you really want to leave in the rear view mirror? Circle the things you want to bring with you and build on then cross out the things you’re going to leave behind.

How To Approach your 90 Day Goals

90 days from this podcast episode takes up to April 11th, 2023 —- so we’ll go through Valentine’s Day, Groundhog Day, First Day of Spring and Daylight Savings time. That’s about a month before Dog Mom’s Day. What do you want to have accomplished by then?

Tip: you can ask Google “what day is 90 days from now” and you’ll get a faster answer than doing the math yourself.

You might be wondering why I like planning in 90 day segments. First of all, I think it’s very “doable”. It’s easier to come up with what you want to accomplish in the near future instead of a 5-year plan that can get off track easily. Plus, with 90-day goals, you can break big things into attainable small bites so that by the end of the year you will achieve a lot.

Want to make sure you hit your goals for the next 90 days? Look at each goal and think about when you want each one to be done by, then work backward. Think of 3 tasks you need to accomplish to make each one happen and put those three tasks in your calendar with due dates.

If you want to get 10 new pet sitting clients or increase sales in your store by 10% each month, there are a lot of actions you need to take to build up to that.

For example, I want to finish the Canine Enrichment Technician certification that I’ve been working on for the past year. So I counted how many lessons I have left in modules 5 and 6 and set due dates for myself to finish each one. Then I added on 10 days to record the videos I need to submit for the assessment. That puts me in mid to late February to get my certification!

If you need help breaking down your goals and figuring out a strategy to make it all work, I’m available for 1-on-1 coaching sessions. We can chat on Zoom, come up with a plan, and I’m here for any follow-up questions!

How to Set SMART Business Goals

How I broke down my goals for the canine enrichment certification using the SMART goal-setting strategy.

SMART goals stand for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

See how you can use that acronym to get specific with setting pet business goals or personal goals for this year. The more specific you can get, the more likely you are to accomplish them. Remember to be realistic in your planning.

I’m allowing myself plenty of time to work on the canine enrichment lessons ad at least 10 business days to record the videos I need to submit. It might be tempting to be super ambitious and put it all on y calender for 1 week, but that’s not realistic. I would get discouraged and it would probably take even longer to reach my goal!

Ideas to Manifest your Goals for the Next 90 Days

Since now you know I’ve been listening to the Law of Attraction Changed my Life podcast, I want to share some out-of-the-box ideas to manifest the goals you have for yourself, your pet and your business.

One cool resource is Future Me. This is a website that allows you to write yourself an email from the future. Personally, I like to write it as “future me” sending me a note congratulating myself on all that I will accomplish in the next 90 days. You can feel free to use this tool how it best suits you. Maybe you want to send a letter of encouragement once a month. it’s a great way to get in the mindset of cheering yourself on and celebrating your wins!

You can also turn your K9 in 90 into a vision board. I did this last year and had great success with it! It was truly magical how well it worked and how my dreams for the year turned into reality. Vision board tips: Make it in Canva and size it to fit your phone wallpaper and your computer screensaver. If you have a smartwatch, you can even create a vision board for that!

Another fun tip for your vision board is to put a photo of yourself in the middle so it’s easier to see yourself achieving all your goals when you look at this image 50 times a day.

This is what my vision board for 2022 looked like. Some people asked me what all the dogs represented. I actually wasn’t sure, I just knew I wanted more dogs in my life! I ended up becoming a foster dog mom towards the end of the year. Coincidentally, I have a photo of one of my foster puppies playing with a Hol-ee Roller ball exactly like the photo in the bottom center of this vision board!

Finally, the last tip is related to goals that might be out of your hands. Do you want to win an award, get selected for a special program or opportunity? With things that are out of our control, it can be hard to work backward and find tasks to help you reach the goal. Someone shared with me a great idea to write a journal entry as if it’s the day you accomplished a big goal or got the thing you’ve been wanting.

Want more accountability and community to help you reach your goals this year? My monthly membership will be open for enrollment in a few weeks! Learn more about Wag Repeat Society!

If you’ve done my challenges, courses, workshops or listened to this podcast… then you’ll love the monthly membership!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Wear Wag Repeat Podcast Episode 198: Year in Review Self Audit for your Pet Business
• Future Me
• Law of Attraction Changed my Life Podcast
• Ascend WV 

LISTEN TO MORE PET INDUSTRY PODCAST EPISODES

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