8-Week Review: Are you on track to meet your annual goals?

Dreams Visions Goals Notebook from In A Nutshell

Hello, dear friends! Last time I visited Handmade Success, I asked: What will you create for 2013? The first quarter of the year is coming to a close, so I thought it would be a great time to review and renew your goals.

Soft Goal-Setting

If you’re anything like me, you’re starting the year with (1.) a list of intentions, (2.) a list of goals you’d like to accomplish, and (3.) an energetic inner-restlessness so powerful, it’s practically palpable to the people around you. (I did not put all those P’s there on purpose  .)

I ask you to begin your 8-week review of the year by softening your goals. Your vision should always make you feel good (rather than anxiety-ridden).  In the book, Psycho-Cybernetics, A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life, Maxwell Maltz offers this advice:

“You should use the same technique in all your affairs that Jackie Burke recommends in putting. That is, not to feel that you have to pinpoint the ball right to the cup itself on a long putt, but to aim at an area the size of a washtub. This takes off the strain, relaxes you, enables you to perform better. If it’s good enough for the professionals, it should be good enough for you.”

Furthermore, in the book, The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, Jack Canfield told about the year he wanted to earn $100,000 (up from his current salary of $18,000). He did what positive thinkers do: he made signs affirming his new and abundant salary, he worked all year-through consciously and subconsciously creating more income for himself, and by the end of the year he had earned more than $90,000. Others told him that he hadn’t actually achieved his goal, but he says, “I wasn’t disappointed!”

The point is not to cross every single goal off the list. What matters is that you’re setting the bar higher, and stretching yourself daily. That’s the only way to grow and work toward your dreams.

What are your intentions for the rest of the year?

After interviewing Leonie Dawson, I had a gorgeous A-HA moment. I asked her for tips about resolving unfinished business, and she gave advice that I so desperately needed to hear. She explained the “energy cycles of projects,” and how a brand new idea is easy, but the middle (the 40-80% mark) takes effort. It’s natural to feel sluggish as everything becomes a bit harder.

I’m in love with that realization because it makes total sense.

I’m also quite frustrated by the same revelation because it reminds me of my creative business, and unlike a project, I have no idea how close I am to birthing a full-fledged career. It feels very similar to giving birth to my children, and I’m metaphorically at the point of exhaustion where I push with every ounce of my energy, and then relax, rest my head, and doze off before the next contraction. When I feel the urge, I wake up and push, push, push again.

The only difference is, I don’t have a doctor to come in the room and say, “You’re almost there. Just a few more pushes to go, and you’ll be discovered, retained, contracted, and rewarded.” I have no way to tell if I’m 60% away from a the creative career of my dreams or if it’s within my reach. There are many things that are out of my control.

Uncertainty is a huge challenge to any creative business owner. That makes it very difficult to stay focused and keep your eye on the prize! So instead, I want to ask that you keep your goals within your control. Avoid resolutions that rely on unknown factors, such as: “I will make 1,000 sales this year.”

Instead, stick with goals that you can control and measure:

• I will create 15 new designs
• I will run 8 marketing promotions this year
• I will spend $250 on finding new customers through Facebook advertising

Ask: What am I going to stop doing this year?

For example: By the end of this year, I will stop the frenzied hustling. I’m going to convert that frantic energy into a more productive shuffling.

My gorgeous children shuffle all over the house, it’s a dance they all do to the song, “Party Rock Anthem” and it looks just like the old-school “running man” move. They shuffle to the dinner table, they shuffle to their chores, and they shuffle their way out the door to school.

To me, shuffling sounds like a great alternative to hustling. It’s still energetic, but it’s more joyful in nature. My hustling has gotten way too serious and anxious, and if I leave it go unchecked, it could suffocate the creativity out of my creative business.

What will you stop doing this year, and how can you convert the extra time or energy into something more productive?

Keep up the good work, and I’ll meet you back here again soon! Until then and all the best~

Lisa Jacobs — Marketing Creativity

Lisa Jacobs writes Marketing Creativity for fellow creative spirits who aim to build a career with their own two hands. She leads group webinar programs and offers one-on-one coaching designed to help you get paid to be … you.