How to define a purpose and set goals for 2020
Setting business goals for the year
In January I shared my personal summary of 2019, my hopes for the year to come and some brief resolutions to keep me on track.
I mentioned at the end of that post that I was working through my business goals properly and trying to work out a plan of action. I love planning and organisation and this year in particular I feel like I really want to get a hang of my business. Since I stopped my monthly product launches and regular newsletters in 2018, it’s felt like my Etsy shop has been on the backburner. It’s not been my main priority, which is fine because there’s a lot of other things in my life to juggle, but if my main goal is to go freelance one day, I’ll need to step things up and do things differently.
In this post I’ll share my planning method and detail exactly how I’ve been setting my goals for 2020 and how I’m breaking them down into manageable, actionable steps. It became a bit of a biggun’ so I’ll share my own business goals and the breakdown of the action steps I talk about below in another post next month.
What is my ‘why’?
I’ve been thinking a lot about purpose in the last few years, trying to define my ‘why’ and work out the root for having a business in the first place. Why do I want to make this my career? What makes me want to create and why am I sharing my work? How do I feel most fulfilled and what lights me up? Essentially, what is my purpose and why do I do what I do? (This reminds me of Kindergarten cop and makes me laugh every time – ‘who is your Daddy, and what does he do?’)
It’s still a work in progress but the one point that I kept coming back to is that I just can’t not. I struggled with it for a while because I felt like my why shouldn’t be selfish. That a why should be something like ‘I want to help people’, or ‘This solves other’s solutions’ but at the end of the day, our purpose is just for us. There’s nothing wrong with my personal purpose of constantly creating and being extremely passionate about it. This can still feed through into my goals, and ultimately still help people, but that becomes a great result rather than my actual ‘why’.
This year, I’ve started by thinking ahead to the future with the classic question of ‘Where do you want to be in five years’ time?’ This isn’t a question of where do you see yourself if you carry on the route you’re on without changes, but rather a mindset task of where you want to be. It’s about determining what you really want and your dreams and hopes for the future. The big picture goal should be about feelings, value and impact rather than practicalities.
Visualise it
It’s recommended to write it down and really visualise yourself in that place, as if you have it already. Picture the way you’re feeling, the room you’re in and who you’re with. Imagine the thoughts in your mind and the house that you live in, the clients you have and the projects you’re working on. It gives us a better connection when we realise the what and why we’re doing this all and helps us question if our current processes align with that.
Compare what you have now with what you felt in your future visualisation exercise and ask yourself if your values are currently being met. If they don’t, we can re-evaluate and make intentions that reflect this.
Using the visualisation of your big life goal means we can start making smaller goals to achieve it. It all filters down and I’ve planned mine out like this: big life goal -> yearly resolutions -> quarterly plans -> monthly goals -> weekly to do lists.
I’ve bought a big 2020 wall planner so I can lay it all out visually. I write my yearly goals on here, which keep me focused as to what this is all for. I know that some weeks I’ll be lacking motivation, so then I’ll go back to that big picture in my head and remember the end goal. Why am I working into the night to get this client project done? I can see myself sat in this bright, colourful studio working on my own children’s book, surrounded by paints and pencils. Does this bring me both peace and excitement at the thought of it? Absolutely! It recharges me and reminds me that it is definitely what I want. As someone who struggles to make decisions because I fear they may be ‘wrong’, it’s really great to have this overarching goal (and feeling) to strive towards.
Time to reflect
When setting our resolutions for the year, it’s also important to look back, reflect and acknowledge our previous year. What worked, what didn’t, and why? Using the lessons learnt from previous experiences help us set goals that feel possible and are the right way forward for the months ahead. Not only does it lessen the possibility of repeating things that may not have worked as expected, but it helps us to reconnect with our overarching vision and our why. It helps to look back so we can remind ourselves of our values rather than falling into a comparison trap of seeing other people’s successes and not recognising our own.
Then, it’s time to evaluate what your business looks like currently and what is working. What do you have already that’s feels good, aligns with your goals and you can build upon? What thing will move your business forward and you can focus on first? Make priorities and use what you have already and acknowledge that. If you’re starting from scratch, Look at what you have objectively, such as time, skills and resources and work from there. You can still see where you are, even if it is at the starting point, and build from there.
These intentions and goals aren’t there to make us feel constrained and stifled. They shouldn’t take away the spontaneity of your business or make you feel like you can’t step off the path you set because it’s ‘not in the plan’. The main goals are not about what you need to achieve but actually, how you want to feel. So even though you do set the smaller quarterly and monthly goals, the main thing to remember is the big picture feeling. You can change things up if your vision and goals are no longer aligning.
Update your goals
Change your quarterly goals and rewrite your monthly tasks if it’s not sitting right with you three months down the line after you originally set them. Be fluid and reactive – we don’t want your yearly plan to feel restrictive. We break down big goals and resolutions further so they feel manageable and achievable.
By breaking them down into actionable, smaller goals, the more likely they will be successfully met – or, at least, a lot closer than they ever were before. With limited time and resource, practical steps are necessary to making progress.
With the monthly goals filtering down to weekly to-do lists, you definitely do not need to have these all mapped out a year in advance! We don’t want to feel fixed or burdened by our tasks, we want to feel inspired and motivated! You could have your quarterly goals and then some ideas for monthly goals, but they can change. If you get to Q3 and realise things aren’t working quite as expected, it’s not a failure to switch things up.
The wall planner also allows me to see my personal calendar, so I can plan around that – such as holidays and big events that will take time out of my work schedule. Don’t forget to add in trading events or public holidays and events that can tie in with your work. Also with the weekly and monthly tasks – be realistic. Yes we’re breaking things down to be more achievable but if you’re setting a task that requires 12 hours of working time a week and you actually only have two evenings after work free, it’s not going to happen.
Work out how much time you have to focus and work on your goals, and if needed, break down your tasks further to allow them to fit into the time you actually have.
If you find yourself moving your to-dos from week to week, then maybe they are too big. How can you break them down smaller to get them done? Spread your tasks for the month out evenly so you don’t feel bogged down at the beginning or end.
Regular check ins
Every quarter, schedule some time in (write it on your big wall planner!) to sit down and evaluate where you are, what you have achieved so far (big and little wins) and if the work you’ve been doing is helping you be on your way to the yearly goal and ultimately, the big life goal you visualised. This time will allow you to set goals for the next quarter too – does the original idea you might have pencilled in in January still align? Reflect on the months that have been and update any future plans to match.
I also want to do a smaller version of these check-ins monthly, to make sure I’m reaching my goals and if not, move things around and work out what the roadblocks are.
As you go through your journey and learn and grow, it’s natural that your processes and workflow will change, so it’s important to reconnect and check-in with your goals instead of going down a path blindly.
I really hope this post (or rather, essay!) helps you plan your year and adds some definition to the business resolutions you were planning. Detailing plans like this helps inspire me but we also all work differently. This level of planning may not be for you and that’s a-ok! I just wanted to share what I’m doing and what I’m hoping will keep me on track in 2020.
If anything helped or has resonated with you, be sure to drop me an email or comment so I know we’re thinking along the same lines and we can add some accountability to our planning :)