How big to make your goals
The other day, we talked about writing down your life goals so that working toward them can be easier and more straightforward, but how big should your goals be?
I like to have a mixture of goal sizes. Some of my goals, I know I’ll be able to accomplish in a year, like making a certain amount of profit with PuppiMudworksCo which takes time. Other goals, like owning my own brick-and-mortar business will take longer than a year, maybe more like 10 or 15 if I want to make it exactly how I dream of it to be.
Be sure to make a few of your goals CRAZY.
Crazy to the point that when you look at them, you think to yourself “hahahha there’s no way” because those are going to be the most fun goals to work toward! Make it so big that you’re almost embarrassed to tell other people about it because they’ll definitely think you need some sense talked into you. Working toward something big is super-fulfilling even if it’s having financial freedom or being able to have a job that you don’t need to set your alarm for or finally buying that vacation home in the mountains for retirement. What is your big and super-filling goal?
Besides, say you do write down an outrageous and extreme accomplishment to progress toward and you don’t quite hit the mark by your timeline, you probably will get pretty darn close if you’re actually doing the work. And you know as you work toward something huge, you’re going to automatically achieve some other small goals on the way. So really, what is the harm?!
On my list, some things I know for sure I’ll get to like being decluttered or owning my own home or traveling more. It’s going to happen, and I wrote it down to be sure of it. What I’m still working on though is the deconstructing of these goals to make smaller tasks to accomplish.
For example, you want to own an online store? Well it would be a headache and frustrating to accomplish that goal in one day. You have to set up a website, choose/make inventory, photograph the inventory to post with descriptions, advertise the store, talk to clients to see what they want out of your store, figure out shipping, etc. My job as an artist is majority business administration with a touch of making once I look at my time log sheet. And my website? Though it has a lot of different outlets built into one with my portfolio, shows, shop, and blog, took months to make it exactly how I wanted it.
How could you deconstruct your “owning an online store” goal?
Decide what to sell in the store
Pick out a name
Search available domain names
Buy a domain
Research website hosts
Choose layout
Design site
Make/order inventory
Research feasible pricing
Keep track of expenses to ensure profit
Set up payment
Photograph items
Measure items
Write description
Upload items
Advertise new items
Research shipping and materials needed
Ship orders
Respond to clients
And that is just a quick summary of the things that came to my mind. It’s work, and too much for one day even with all of the coffee in the world.
Once you decide on your 10 big goals, pick one to deconstruct and use those as your push goals. The push goals will push you closer to your goal. Set aside 20 minutes per push goal (on average) and try to mark off one or two each day. If you miss a day because life happened, that’s okay, start over the next day.
Remember that your goals are up to you and the amount of work you put in is up to you.
Maybe one day next week you’re able to mark off 5 push goals but the next you can’t seem to get to any- that’s cool! I personally make my planner with the asterisk of *planner is subject to change for any reason other than pure laziness unless a day of rest is needed then by all means take a nap because we are human, not robot.
If you need help deciding on your life goals, whether in your personal life, relationship, health, business or you want some tips on deconstructing your big goal into tiny little tasks, let me know! I would be happy to help.
Happy goal deconstructing!
Britni