How To Make The Right Goals

Goals are tricky. They seem easy enough. You have things you want to do and those are your goals, right?

Maybe.

Most people have their list of goals and yet struggle to reach them. It’s not because they’re not capable of reaching those goals, it’s because they’re thinking about them the wrong way.

Here’s 5 ways in which you might be going wrong with your goal-making, and how to fix them to help you be more productive and reach your goals!

1. Goals that are too overwhelming. You may have these lofty goals that are great goals, but they’re too overwhelming. It’s not that they’re bad goals, it’s just that you need to break them down in order to accomplish them. I like to call these big goals Summit Goals. And in order to reach your Summit Goals, you’ll need a whole list of Step Goals, which are those smaller goals leading the way to your bigger goal, to get there. For example, if you’re an artist and want to have an exhibit in a gallery, that’s a great Summit Goal. However, it might seem overwhelming. Therefore, you break it down into Step Goals, such as: research local galleries, find out who to contact at a gallery, write a cover letter, make a disc of quality images of your artwork, put together a proposal, etc.
2. Goals that aren’t measurable. If you have a goal, you need to have a way to measure how you’re doing on your path to reaching that goal. That means your goals have to be specific. If you say you want to have a large social media following, that doesn’t work. How large is large? Instead, say you want 10,000 followers on Facebook and then you can measure exactly how far you have to go and know when you’ve reached that goal.
3. Goals that are too grand. When you’re creating a goal for yourself, think realistically. If you’ve never run before in your life, you’re not likely to be able to run a marathon in a month. If you’re just starting a business, it may not be reasonable to have a goal of $250,000 within the first year. No one is saying those can’t be things you hope for eventually, but give yourself time and make goals you’re likely to be able to accomplish, otherwise you’ll get frustrated and discouraged.
4. Goals that don’t make sense. If you have no interest in writing or storytelling and yet you have a goal that is to publish a book, that doesn’t make sense. If you have a goal to quit your day job and start your own business, that’s great, but only if there’s something you love to do that can be turned into a profitable business and you think you’ll like all the responsibility, long hours, frustration, and hard work it takes to do that. If you don’t have those things, that isn’t a goal that makes sense right now.
5. Goals that don’t move you forward. Whether it’s a goal for your business or for self-improvement, if your goal doesn’t move you forward, then why do you have it as a goal? You want to think carefully about your goals. What do you really want? Once you figure that out, how do you get there? Those are your goals. If you want to be healthier, make exercise and nutrition goals that move you in that direction. If you want to grow your business, make goals that will help you do that. Be critical of what your goals are and make sure they’re aligned with what you really want.

If you want to learn more about goals, productivity, and building a business, check out my latest e-book: How To Build Your Art Business With Limited Time Or Energy.

How To Build Your Art Business With Limited Time Or Energy.