The Importance of Goals

Most people in the creative business have goals of some kind. You want to have a successful shop, daily sales, make a profit and build a customer base. These are all awesome goals and each very valuable in developing a successful creative business. Goals provide guidance and accountability and help our businesses grow when they are met. What does it take to win this game and get everything that we want?

Here are a few easy steps to help you use goals to maximize your creative business potential everyday:

1. Don't Overdo It
One of the most common mistakes when setting goals is to set too many for yourself. An impossible and unattainable number. I have seen many people make daily "to do" lists that are a mile long. How can anyone complete that many tasks in one day? The first step in maximizing your goals is to decide which are priority and which will get your the most return for your time and effort. There is a lot of discussion about how many daily goals are the "right" number of daily goals. I think that all depends on your schedule and work ethic. Let's say that somewhere between 4 and 7 daily goals would be attainable and reasonable.

2. Write Them Down
This seems silly sometimes, but writing your daily goals on paper is a very powerful thing. A written list creates a tangible accountability for what you have planned. It is concrete and you can't stuff it in the back of your mind like we often do with daily planned tasks that go unfinished. Your subconscious will thank you!

3. Scale Your Goals to Fit Your Stage
Make a point to set goals for yourself that are attainable within the current progression of your creative business. These daily goals should be task driven and correspond to your stage of business. Setting lofty long term goals is great, but writing them on a to do list everyday can become defeating. Keep it relative so you can be successful.

4. Answer All of the Questions
Setting a goals answers the "what" question. A goal is a statement of WHAT you want to do. Do not forget to answer the "how" "when" and "why" questions. These are just as important and you will find that asking these additional questions will make the goal itself much easier to achieve. If you are honest with your answers, and only goals you will be focusing on are ones that are going to bring you progress in a reasonable amount of time.

Good luck!!