How to Set and Achieve Your Goals
Dream it . . . Wish for it . . . and
Put those Goals in Writing!
We can’t get ahead in life or business if we don’t regularly set new goals for ourselves. And these goals need to be in written form and put somewhere where you can regularly review them, modify them, and add to them. You may want to record your goals in your crafts business journal or make a special designer “goals wish box” for yourself (see end of this article). Either way, putting goals in writing will help you stay focused.
A SMART RULE. If “business planning” sounds too hard, just write down your goals every year and let those written goals serve as a plan. Keep your goals large enough to motivate you to go forward, yet small enough to be easily achieved. Here’s a SMART rule to remember in setting goals. They should be:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Trackable
REVIEW YOUR GOALS REGULARLY. Once you’ve written a list of short- and long-term goals, they must be reviewed from time to time. Crafts designer Kathy Wirth reviews her goals from the previous year and writes new ones. “I focus on income expectations, name-recognition goals, and accomplishments I hope to add to my resume,” she says. “Then I jot down ideas on how to achieve these goals. I try to evaluate which business activities in the previous year yielded the best results and plan to pursue more of them.”
Don’t be afraid to set some goals you’re not sure you can reach. You may have to leave your comfort zone and stretch yourself to achieve a particular goal, but what you’ll learn in the process will be worth gold to you.
CONSIDER THE BENEFITS. As many hobby crafters have learned, the benefits of starting a small crafts business at home can be tremendous, even if the venture itself turns out to be a financial flop. That’s because failure is a wonderful teacher that helps us learn what not to do the next time around. Many crafters who failed to make a good profit from their first crafts venture learned enough to succeed in their second. As we try new things, we are often surprised to discover that we can actually do it! Each little success boosts our confidence level and enables us to keep moving forward in exciting new directions. Every time you discover something new about yourself or achieve a new goal, jot it in your crafts business journal. As time goes on, you’ll find this written record of your crafts journey a constant source of encouragement.
Design a “Goals Wish Box”
I love the way artist and author Annie Lang records and reviews her goals. She designed a beautiful “Wish Box” for her desk into which she drops written notes about all her goals–large, small, business, or personal.
Design your wish box so that it reflects the art or craft work you do and makes you happy just to look at it. Put it somewhere where you can see it every day so it serves as a constant reminder to you to jot down a new goal or dream you hope to achieve.
At the beginning of each year, Annie adds a bunch of new goals for that year. Then, every couple of months or so, she goes through the box and reads through her wish list, pulling those she has achieved while adding new ones. “Everything I want to do, wish I had, or hope to achieve goes into this box,” she says.
NOTE: Kathy Wirth and Annie Lang are just two successful craft designers who are featured in Barbara’s Make It Profitable book.
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Good advice! Christine Kloser of Love Your Life (http://www.loveyourlife.com/) takes this concept a step further with her “Sticky Note Business Plan”. According to Christine, put each of your goals on separate sticky notes and post to a wall or bulletin board. From there, sort by category, and repost under each category. Not only do you have a goal list, you also have a ‘loose’ plan for your business.