In our day to day work we use our skills to help people achieve their goals.
We find out what they’re trying to achieve, research the best ways to do it and then offer creative solutions. When you follow the process enough it becomes second nature.
But when you do work for yourself, do you find you tend to skip or gloss over this part..?
I certainly do. I think I know what I’m trying to achieve so I just jump straight into the work. It gets me an outcome but often I’m not totally happy with what I’ve made. Do you find this too?
Sometimes, half way through, I find another idea I like and change everything completely – sometimes I even ditch the project all together because I just can’t be bothered anymore, it’s taking too much time and energy..
The solution?? When working on your own projects.. Follow 👏 The 👏 Process 👏
Starting with.. Setting goals 😃
Goals are the destination before you set the path. I’m ngl I hate the connotations of goal setting. It feels very corporate-salesy. It sometimes feels silly to set them for myself, like, what if I change my mind and don’t want to achieve that thing anymore? At that point it would feel silly to have set it in the first place..
But.. when I’ve set a goal and worked towards it, even when I haven’t achieved the original goal, I’ve ended up having more of what I want in life. So I know they work in getting me more of life’s good stuff! And there’s more to them than that..
When you set goals you focus your mind on getting that outcome. The part of your brain that tells you the name of that actor you forgot hours after the information is useful.. that part of your brain works on solutions to problems while you sleep. So if you set a goal and focus on achieving it through your work, that part of your brain will work on the solutions even when you’re doing something else.
Setting goals also gives you something to measure your work against. Did what you did achieve what you wanted to achieve? If no, how could it be improved..?
This is useful if you want to develop your work, but it also lets you set the measure by which your work is judged. It can save you from a lot of comparing and self-negging and it can also help you weather the storm of other people’s opinions. It’s easy to brush off someone’s dislike of your work if you know it’s helping you achieve what you set out to do.
So if working towards goals get us more of what we want, they help us focus our mind on creating great outcomes and they help our mentality, then we know they shouldn’t be skipped!
So how can you do it?!
You can set goals in a million ways.
A pro-tip, make them challenging, goals that are too achievable don’t get you where you need to go and are boring to deliver. Plus. if you miss a lame goal then you feel worse for having missed it on the lowest of bars..
So find a quiet place, close your eyes and ask yourself, what do I really want from this project?
Accept the first things that come, they’re important to note down, and then dig deeper..
You’re a freelancer, you get to control how you spend your time, who you work with, how you run your life, so dig beyond the surface level stuff and see what you desire at your core..
When you’re ready, here’s a couple of approaches you can use to write down your goals
SMTP
Specific – Know how it helps deliver your goal
Measurable – Give it a value you can measure and use consistent measurements across comparable goals so you can rate their successes against each other
Time bound – Set a timeframe that suits the goal, giving a 12 month timeline to promote an event 9 months away ain’t a good idea…
Play to win – Whatever goals you set, you’re creating a strategy to fulfil them. So back yourself. Set the goals high and play to win!
Outrageous! Write down a goal that makes you scared – something huge Give it a measurable value e.g. income, profit, sales Executing a strategy to reach it means you’ll get at least part of the way
Remember..
You’re choosing both the goal, the path and the amount of time you want to take to get there. So you can set something huge! Because you’re in control of so much of how it’s achieved.
💡Top tips
Focus on one big goal at a time – break it down into smaller things you’ll need to achieve on your way to the big goal.
Extend your deadlines – things always take longer than expected so plan for it and be cool with yourself if you miss a deadline or two
Be comfortable with changing the path – this is your plan and your goals, you get to change direction of you choose to. If something isn’t working then change it. No shame, no apology, just doing what’s necessary to achieve the goals you’ve set.
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash
