If you’re anything like me, you probably set a lot of goals.
If you’re running your own business, you simply have to.
But it seems like the more I talk with people, the more I learn that they set goals for one week from now or one month from now.
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And I personally believe that’s why many goals we set fall through: we don’t step back and look at the big picture.
Let me illustrate
Take the following goal for example: by next month, I will have 5 new clients.
That’s a perfectly fine goal.
It’s ambitious, it’s reachable, it’s measurable. It’s a great one.
But what happens when 30 days expires and you only have (I say “only” a bit sarcastically) 4 new clients?
Are you a failure?
No.
Should you give up?
Definitely not.
It seems obvious
Even though giving up on yourself when you reached 4/5 of your goal seems silly, that’s what many of us do.
Whether it’s in our business goals or our personal goals, if we haven’t lost 100 pounds, mastered fluent French, or paint like Monet in a month or so, we doubt ourselves and start to give up.
And it’s not just a 30 day period we do it with.
It can be a year, a week, or a decade.
But the real problem is in setting expiration dates on our goals and then not revisiting them until that day comes.
Let me express that again:
The real reason we don’t succeed in goal setting is because we never adjust as we go. (retweet this if you agree)
We wait for our 30 days, or 90 days or whatever time to expire, we evaluate our status, and give ourselves a pass or fail grade based on our success.
A new way to set goals
But I’ve been thinking about a new way of setting goals lately and I want your take on it. (So chime in using the comment section!)
Here’s my idea:
Visualize where you want to be in 6 months.
6 months works well because it doesn’t seem to distant to be impossible, but also gives you enough time to really change, improve and advance.
For example, it’s the end of January right now.
Imagine to yourself what you or your business will be like at the end of July (six months from now).
Set goals, reach for the stars and get ready to rock the world.
Then, in 30 days, at the end February, revisit your six-month goals.
Here’s the awesomeness
What’s so great about checking up on yourself in February?
You still have 5 months to reach your goals.
You can ramp up some aspects that you’ve been slacking on. Instead of giving up entirely, you can remotivate yourself to rock the world over the next 5 months.
And then you can set goals for the next six months.
Get rid of some goals that don’t make sense. Evaluate your progress, motivation, and workload.
Always looking 6 months ahead…
That way, you’re always looking ahead at least 6 months (tailor this to your own time frame if you’d like.)
You have in mind the kind of person, freelancer, business, etc that you want to be in 6 months.
The real power lies in checking up on yourself every 30 days.
So where will I see you in 6 months?
So seriously take 30 seconds today and act on the things you read on this blog (thanks for reading by the way).
Click this link, leave a comment and tell me where we’ll see you in 6 months?
Will you finally start freelancing?
Will you go from freelancer to agency?
Or will you simply have an extra $1,000 in your savings account?
Anything goes. Leave a comment and let us know! And good luck! I can’t wait to see you in 6 months!
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Great article! In 6 months, I hope to have steady readers on my blog. Also that I have a portfolio built and starting to freelance.
In six months I will either have a job at a graphic design agency, or have enough clients to take care of my financial needs. Hopefully I will be able to get an apartment soon too.
Okay here goes! In 6 months I will finally start freelancing rather than just reading these amazing articles and not following up on them! I will keep my day job but also have myself up and running as a designer and photographer. There, I said it.
Thanks!
I just hired my first VA. In 6 months I hope that he helps business grow enough to hire another. Then eventually I would like to manage the graphic design business more than doing all the work myself 🙂
Awesome and motivational article! Well yes, one should get rid of some goals that don’t make sense and must concentrate on progress and checking up one self every 30 days is a great strategy. Thanks Preston for sharing 🙂
Realistic talk that was. In six months i hope to have completed projects that will make me more ’rounded’ as a designer…and uhhh yea kick start my freelance career. thanks a bunch for the reality check!
Hello Preston, thanks for a informative read. In six months time I want to see our NGO, Baby Hope Africa pay medical (IVF) fee for at least 5 infertile couples. I am talking about money generated via BabyHope projects such as online promotion of different products. In six months, I want to be able to submit my resignation letter to my current employer and concentrate with my own projects.
I like this. It’s not enough to set a goal. You have to evaluate as you go to see if you’re meeting it.
Hi, thanks for the great article. I’m just looking at doing a big marketing push as I haven’t had a long term vision for a while, always so busy with existing work! A vision means taking the business in the direction you want to rather than only being directed by the work that comes in.
In 6 months I see myself with at least 2 big clients
Hire 4 freelancers to work for me
Finish my website.
Thanks for all your tips, I look forward to reading them.
This comes really close to a method I use as well. I set yearly goals, en then work backwards. So quarterly, monthly, weekly. And finally I set three actions I want to do each day to make progress towards my goals.
My most important goal is to become a very creative person, in multiple trades. Not jack, but king of all trades. I like doing diverse work: video, packaging, marketing, animation, etc.
Im hoping in 6 months I will have added major projects completed for my portfolio and business to help me increase the chances of getting client work. I also am wanting to have a stable flow of income coming in by 6 months so throughout this time I will be trying different strategies to increase income.
Great article. It’s highly important to set realistic goals in business and life in general, I completely agree wit this article.
Hi i am a freelance graphic designer in Greece and In 6 months from now I will have 3 new clients and 1 new client abroad!!!
Thanks for the motivation!
See you in 6 months!