Do you cringe when you hear people discuss – what is your business plan, what are your goals, what is your marketing plan…. you need to write it down! I certainly use to and I still tend to put if off till the last minute, but I now embrace the process knowing it is the most important tool I have to measure how far I have come, how I am doing, and if I am moving in the right direction. If I just keep all the idea’s floating around in my head it is too easy to get overwhelmed, too easy to get distracted from my direction and too easy to falsely feel as though I am working so hard and not getting anywhere. Writing down what I call my 9+1 at the very end of the year allows me to stay focused and look back at the end of the year to discover that I accomplished more than I anticipated; always exciting!! It also allows me to evaluate what I did not accomplish, move it into the next year, or rethink it. Most importantly it is simple, easy, and fun, so I have no excuses.
FIRST write down thee goals that you know 100% you will be able to accomplish and that are geared towards marketing your business. Examples;
- Start a stock library on my website.
- Start a newsletter (monthly, quarterly, bi-annual-remember what you can do 100%)
- Write an ebook (set a date to accomplish this one)
These goals should help you to be disciplined as they can all be accomplished if you do the work and do NOT give yourself lousy excuses for not getting them done.
SECOND, write down three focused goals that are challenging but realistic and rewarding. Examples;
- Have a feature article in Outdoor Photographer.
- Book an exhibit at…..
- Lead/Assist your first workshop
These goals should help you to build your brand and be personally rewarding. These should be goals that you may fail at the first time you try or you get that NO word, but that you will then approach again in a short period of time until you accomplish it.
THIRD, write down three goals that are very important to you but are a big stretch….examples;
- To be published in National Geographic
- To be the keynote speaker at Photo Plus Expo in New York
- To get an assignment with……..
These should be the “dream big” goals, but ones that you can make steps toward-you can do the research on how submit your work to National Geographic ….You can make contact with the people at Photo Plus Expo and start networking….. You can send a proposal to…..These should be reachable goals given “time” but goals that really stretch you. Ones that you may (probably will) get rejected from (probably more than once) but goals that you are going to never give up on until you make them happen! Hopefully one of the goals will move up to section two next year…..
LAST is the +1, This is where you write down that one thing you really want to do in life and it does not have to be anything related to your business. Just something you really want to do, example;
- Go on an African safari with Piper- sorry I could not resist this one.
Our dreams keep us passionate and help us through the hard times. This should be a dream goal of something you really want to do, and something that you can make happen with no excuses even if it takes 10 years (so winning the lottery does not work here). It also needs to be a goal you can take baby steps towards consistently. So in this example you could start by making automatic deposits of a small amount into an account consistently until you can achieve it, even if it takes 10 years. This goal should remain on this list until you reach it. You can look back at the end of the year, see you have made progress, and know that you can make this dream happen.
One of the hardest parts about pursing a dream or building a business is that it generally takes more time (and money) than anticipated. One of the biggest reasons people don’t fulfill their dreams or reach their goals is they give up too soon saying it was too hard and they just lost faith. Simple tools like my 9+1 prove to myself that I am making progress and it keeps me going when I am ready to give up (although I have jumped so many hurdles at this point, I don’t think giving up is even relative anymore)
So I challenge you to take 10 minutes and try the 9+1. Put it in a drawer and forget about it if you must, but it will be in your subconscious that it is sitting in that drawer. Better would be to have it in a visible place and glance at it a few times throughout the year. You would be surprised as to how much you will push yourself to get the first section goals done in the final month of the year if you have not already completed it, just so you don’t have to look at the list on December 31 and feel guilty!! I can honestly share with a smile that I will not complete my all of my first section goals until Saturday but I will make it!
Now since the first section is a for sure bet and +1 you will be working on, then you can start the year confident that you will be successful at 40% of your goals already…. I like those odds! For anyone who does take this challenge, I can’t wait to hear how you did when you email me next December.
Good luck and best wishes to your success in 2012!
Great advices…. the last one, the +1, is the most important! 😉
Thanks for this, Piper. It is such a timely message as the New Year approaches. Too often we have an abstract concept of what we want out of life, but no road map to go by or landmarks to measure our progress. This is a great reminder that achieving our dreams takes planning and a concerted effort, not to mention lots and lots of patience. Here’s hoping that 2012 makes all of your 9+1 dreams come true!
I firmly believe that writing down your goals is a very important first step. Getting them out of your head and into a concrete form seems to make you more likely to complete them. I make a lot of lists and I use Monkey Problem to track them. There is nothing more rewarding than completing items on your to do list!