Start setting goals
Professional goals are as important as knowing how to sell. Always keeping in mind what your goals are is a big part of your success in developing your projects. It's a way to keep yourself aligned and always aware of why you do what you do. But, if you're one of those people who don't believe in the importance of setting goals, we want to share with you what Francine Miceli, a recruiting professional, shared in a LinkedIn article about setting career goals:
"A career goal is like a compass in a dark, endless sea that guides your progress in the right direction. Without a compass, you'd be lost on the high seas. Without a proper career goal, you would be lost in the world of work and would most likely not be able to realize your full potential."
What does Miceli mean by this? That setting career goals can help you bring clarity and purpose to your day-to-day life. It can be helpful to start by reviewing your personal values and what your long-term career ambition is.
Here are some tips
Break it down into small steps
A great way to take pressure off yourself and avoid procrastination is to break down your project milestones into smaller, achievable tasks. For example, instead of tackling the daunting career goal of "get 10 new clients a month," you can break it down into small parts like these:
- Look at your calendar to see when you'll be most free.
- Survey the market to see which clients you'd like to work with and make a list of them.
- Research exactly what you can offer them of value.
- Make yourself present with the clients you are interested in by sending a mailing.
- Follow up and improve your sales process to get them to work with you.
Create a calendar
If for example you are interested in expanding your freelance branch, this is an example of a calendar that you can have in order to achieve it:
- In the next month consider what branch it is exactly that you want to engage in; what the niche is.
- Within 2 months: Spend a month doing in-depth research on your chosen niche.
- In 3 months: Talk to two people in that niche to get more information.
- Within 5 months: Enroll in courses or sink into spaces where you can learn more.
- Within a year: Start offering those services and adapt your portfolio and social media profiles where you advertise.
- A few months after you start: Look for niche-specific clients to turn it into something full-time.
While it's obvious that you'll have to adapt your schedule to your personal goals, taking small steps within deadlines will ensure that you actually meet them.
Find an accountability partner
A study by the American Society for Training and Development revealed that people are 65% more likely to achieve a goal if they work with an accountability partner.
For you, this may consist of sharing your professional goals with a freelancer friend, professional mentor or even a family member. The important thing is that you share your goals out loud and have someone check in with you to see how you're doing on them.
Be ambitious
Why not make this the year you overcome imposter syndrome and take the plunge? Reach for the stars, go beyond what you think you're capable of and see where your ambitious goals take you.
The more ambition, the hungrier you are to accomplish what you desire. So dream big.
It's your turn
We encourage you to take a moment to set some career goals for your life, even if you can only set some short-term ones to start with. We assure you that once you do you will find that your motivation is higher and your desire to succeed will be greater.
