Despite what you may think, setting goals is not difficult and they are more achievable if you write them down. All it takes is a little time to think about what you want to achieve and then write a plan to make it happen.
If you don’t write down your goals, they are less likely to become reality.
When you work for yourself as I do as a freelance copywriter, I know it is important to have simple ways to set goals and note my achievements.
Setting an income goal
I know that setting income goals is usually at the top of the list because being rewarded for your work is important. If you want to earn $50,000 a year, that’s $1,000 per week, $200 per day, and if you charge $50 per hour, that’s four chargeable hours a day. Double all these figures if you want to earn $100,000 a year.
Don’t keep the figures in your head, write down exactly what you want to achieve.
Now that wasn’t difficult.
Goals and your to-do list
On Friday decide the goals you want to achieve during the next week and write them in your diary on Sunday or in your electronic calendar. On Monday write your to-do list for each day in your diary or electronic calendar so you have a plan to achieve your goal. I use a paper diary as this works best for me. The list should have about three to five activities.
Turn to Saturday in your paper diary or electronic calendar and list each day’s successes there. This is a reminder how you are moving towards your goal.
You may not have signed a multi million dollar contract, discussed the formula for changing the world, but I bet almost without exception you have achieved much more than you realise, simply because you didn’t write it down at the time. Or thought it was not worth recording.
Here’s a quote “A self-employed person plays their own tune and stands out from the rest of the band”.
Make sure you acknowledge your successes regardless of how small.
I’m a freelance copywriter and if you would like to know more about what I do, please visit my services page.