Goal setting is an important part of being a successful small business owner. Without goals, it's difficult to identify ways you can grow, develop, and move forward toward continued success.

　　一位成功的小型企业管理者，要学会设定明智的目标。如果没有目标，就很难找到形成、发展和通往持续成功的道路。

　　When it comes to goal setting, the best advice can often come from looking at what we shouldn't be doing. This helps us avoid mistakes that can cost a significant amount of time and effort down the road. So in order to make your goal setting as efficient as possible, here are five common goal setting mistakes you should try to avoid in your small business.

　　当谈到目标设定的时候，最应该做的就是辨别当前最不应该做的事情。这样能够让我们在前进的道路上减少许多不必要的失误，节省时间和精力。所以为了把目标设定为最有效的模式，下面有5个最常见的小型企业者在设定目标时容易犯的错误，要好好注意了。

　　1. Waiting for the Perfect Time to Start

　　1. 一直等待合适时机

　　Goal setting is such a broad process that if you don't have any idea of what you want to accomplish, it can be very overwhelming. Sometimes, when we hit these feelings of overwhelm we tend to procrastinate because we don't feel prepared to tackle what seems like a huge process. The problem is, if you put off goal setting, waiting for a lot of free time, the perfect goal, or some other elusive marker that it's the perfect time to start, you may end up wasting months or maybe even years.

　　设定目标涉及面很广，若你对自己想要实现的事情没有任何概念的话，这会让你感到压力巨大。有时候，当我们感到压力感侵袭的时候，我们就想拖延事情的进度，因为我们还没准备好去解决这么一个看起来广泛的过程。问题在于，如果你延迟设定目标，等待有了宽松的时间，那么那个最完美的目标，或某些难以捉摸的标志性事件到了合适的时机才去着手，最终只会浪费你好几个月甚至好几年的时间。

　　The way to avoid this is to just start, today. Take one baby step and before you know it, you will be on your way to setting and reaching your goals.

　　避免出现这种情况的方法就是马上着手，今天开始。先走一小步，然后再了解它，那么你就能慢慢确定目标并向它前进。

　　2. Failing to Check If Your Goals Are SMART

　　2. 无法判断哪些目标是合理的

　　A SMART goal is one that is specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-based. The SMART goal setting process exists for a reason — if your goals are not SMART you may find that you're chasing an impossible dream, something that's not entirely feasible.

　　一个合理的目标应该是细节丰富，可测量，可实现，同时具有现实性和时效性的。制定合理目标的过程有它的存在意义——如果你的目标并不合理，你就会发现你在追逐一个不可能的梦，做一件不切实际的事情。

　　Make sure you run your goal through the SMART checklist before you dive in so you can avoid wasting time and energy.

　　切记在你投入到目标其中之前，要彻底审视合理的要素，以此避免时间和精力的浪费。

　　3. Not Working on Your Goals Every Day

　　3. 没有每天投入到目标的实现

　　Small business owners are notoriously busy with many different things, every single day.

　　小型企业的管理者总会瞎忙各种各样的事情，每天如此。

　　So while we may take the time to set goals, many of us set them and forget them. Goal setting and achievement is an organic process that requires constant attention and frequent adjustments.

　　所以尽管我们可能需要花时间设定目标，但是许多人都只是设定了目标后就忘了。目标设定与事业成就是一个有机过程，需要持续关注和频繁调整。

　　Setting a goal at the start of a New Year and not looking at it again until July is not likely to result in success. Instead, create a goal, then drill down into daily, weekly, and monthly actions you can take to achieve your goals.

　　在新年设定了目标，然后等到7月才复查它，你这样不会获得成功。相反，如果你设定了目标，然后把它逐步落实到每天，每周和每月的工作任务当中，你就能由此实现目标。

　　4. Not Being Flexible

　　4. 一成不变

　　Structure and consistency are vital when it comes to goal setting, but too much can cause you to miss out on big opportunities. While you want to create an action-oriented system that helps you make forward-moving progress toward your goals every single day, you also need to remain open to changes that may make the end result even better than you imagined.

　　在设定目标的时候，的确不得不注意目标的架构和稳定性，但是过度注重这两个因素，也会令你失去重要的商机。虽然你想建构一个以行动为导向的系统，在每天工作中推动你向目标前进，但是你也需要保持开放的心态，善于转变，也许最终的结果比你原本想象的更惊人。

　　This kind of flexibility may present you with a new way to accomplish your goal that you never thought of, or maybe even change your goal into something even better. So work to stay structured, but be open to changes during the process.

　　这种灵活性也许会让你找到一个意想不到的实现目标的方法，或甚至让你调整目标，得出更好的结果。所以要保持条理性，也要在实现目标过程中敢于做出改变。

　　5. Forgetting to Celebrate Your Successes

　　5. 忽略对成功的庆贺

　　When we set goals, we tend to get so focused on the end result. We work very hard to get from point A to point B so it's common to lose track of successes that happen in between. Set milestones and stop to celebrate each small success along the way. This will help you build momentum and will make the big finale that much sweeter because you will have tracked each success that helped you get there.

　　我们设立目标，就倾向于关注最终的结果。我们从A点努力奋斗走到了B点，所以我们也很容易忽略努力过程中的发现所得。在实现目标的过程中，不妨设立一些里程碑，然后每到达一个里程碑的时候，停下来庆祝一下。这样能够为你增加动力，还会在实现目标的时候感到更加有成就感，因为你已经记录下助你实现目标的这些小成就了。

（编辑：何莹莹）