110: How to Set Goals
See the show notes for this Episode here.
This transcript has been automatically generated.
Bonnie Christine [00:00:00]:
If you're ready to hit the ground running in 2024, boy, do I have a challenge for you. I would love to invite you to join me for my 5 day challenge in pattern design starting on January 11th. Now this is an entirely free and super fun experience where I get to just show you how to get started in surface pattern design. You'll learn how to create your very own repeating pattern and create something beautiful, like your very own fabric, wallpaper, stationery, or gift wrap. Inside this 5 day challenge is where I'll be sharing with you all of my favorite resources. You don't need to have any experience. Just be ready to dive in for about 20 minutes every day for 5 days, and we're gonna be having a lot of fun. I'll be giving away over $25100 worth of prizes.
Bonnie Christine [00:00:55]:
All you need to do to enter to win is participate. So if you're looking to add a new hobby, a side hustle, or an entire shift in your career, this is a Perfect no risk way to dip your toes into the beautiful and breathtaking world of surface pattern design. Come join us Bonnie day challenge. I would love to see you there. At the beginning of a new year, I always find myself reflecting on the past year, what worked, what didn't work, and what I want to keep and let go of as I move into a new year. And then there's just something about this January energy that that is new and exciting and I can't help but dream and set goals. It's just it's like built into my very core. And so Today, I wanna talk about goal setting.
Bonnie Christine [00:01:50]:
Now setting goals is something that I'm incredibly passionate about. I do all the time in my own business, and I believe in their ability to really make our dreams come true. I truly believe that Anything you want in this world, you can make happen as long as you have a plan on how to get there. I'm Bonnie Christine, and this is where all things creativity, design, business, and marketing unite. I'm a mama living in a tiny town tucked right inside the Smoky Mountains running a multi seven figure business doing the most creative and impactful work of my life. When I first set out to become an entrepreneur, I was struggling to make ends meet and wrestling with how to Amy biggest dream of becoming a fabric designer. Fast forward to today, I'm not only licensing my artwork all over the world but also teaching others how to design their creative life and experience the same success. I'm here to help you End your life doing something that lights you up.
Bonnie Christine [00:02:59]:
I'll help you build a creative business that also creates an impact, Welcome to the Professional Creative Podcast. Before we get into it, I do want to let you know that I've got an incredible download for you that will accompany this episode. If you wanna get it, you can go over to professional Christine .com. And I've got a goal setting worksheet for you that will help you Kind of go through all of the steps that we're gonna cover in today's episode and track your progress as well. So again, that's in the show notes over at professionalcreative.com. I wanna dive into some strategies with you today. But before that, I kinda wanna take you back into how I became really a student of time management in the 1st place. Now you likely know that back in 2009, I had this just enormous goal of becoming a fabric designer, but I had Absolutely no idea how to make that a reality.
Bonnie Christine [00:04:13]:
I had no formal training and no idea how to get started. So I spent some time considering going back to school, like, going back to design school, but I didn't really wanna move our family. It was just Me and my husband at the time, but we had just bought a house in our in our hometown, and I didn't wanna go back to college. I wanted to just Try it myself first. And so that's what I decided to do. And I had let this really big goal and dream, like, just become one with Amy? Like it was part of me now. But because I didn't know how to get started, I let the overwhelm of it all just Stu me in my tracks. And so I'll never forget 1 morning I woke up thinking about it all And I realized that I had let 6 months go by without doing anything.
Bonnie Christine [00:05:09]:
And it was that day that I realized that I I knew how to just do something today to, like, move in that direction. I basically got fed up. Like, I was so upset at myself for letting so much time pass. And so I decided to start doing one thing every day that moved me towards this dream? And the reason that that works so well is that it breaks Something really, really big down into something that you know you can do right away. And so I didn't know what I would be doing in a month or 2 months or 6 months or months or 12 months. And that was what was so overwhelming. But I did know what I could do that day to just, like, Have forward momentum towards the goal. So at the very beginning, it was just simply research.
Bonnie Christine [00:05:58]:
I just needed to sit down and Google, like, how to get started. And 1 question led to an answer, which led to a new question that led to the next answer. And so I began taking action every day. Some days it was just for a few minutes and other days it was for several hours, but I never missed a day? That's important. I never missed a day. Like when was the last time that you were Obsessed over developing a skill. There is something to be said for it. It is, it's just so exciting and so confidence building for yourself because you can see that you can do it.
Bonnie Christine [00:06:42]:
And so, you know, there was a night or Stu I remember getting in bed and realizing that I had not done my one thing that day. And so up I got For a good 10 or 15 minutes, that was all that needed I needed to do in order to count it. But every day, I inched forward. And so it was at the end of 2 years that I of daily tasks, that I Signed my 1st licensing contract as a fabric designer and I and I never looked back. And so I still use this today. This one thing a day. When I signed that contract, it completely changed me. I had never had something so impossible come true for Amy.
Bonnie Christine [00:07:26]:
And it proved to me that big goals were absolutely achievable. And it made me not only believe in me and my big goals, but in you and your big goals. Because, again, There was no reason that I should have been able to accomplish that. It was only through consistent action that I got there. And so I believe that that's true for you as well. Now after that, I didn't always care about productivity and time management. Quite frankly, I was working for myself. My husband had a regular, like, 9 to 5 day job.
Bonnie Christine [00:08:05]:
And while we didn't have any money, I did have the freedom to schedule my own days, and so I would work all day. I didn't have kids. I would just work on my work As much as I wanted to. So it wasn't until I had children that I realized how inefficient I had been, How poor my workflow strategies had Bonnie. So I had my 1st baby in 2013 and my 2nd in 2015. And so all of the sudden, my time to work got cut by about 75%. And now If you have small children, you know exactly what I'm talking about, but there are many of you who it may not be children. It could be something else.
Bonnie Christine [00:08:50]:
It could be A day job or taking care of someone in your family or taking care of your aging parents or just some other obligation. That Means that you can't just work as much as you want on your art or your craft or your business. But here's what happened to me. Over the course of a couple of months, I still realized that I was getting everything done that I needed to get done. The difference was that I had forced myself to focus and prioritize the day's tasks. And so I had cut out all of the ways that I had been wasting time, and I had started to focus on being purely productive with the little time that I did have. And the thing that happens when you have so this was during nap time. So what happens when you're working during nap time is that you don't really ever know when your baby is gonna wake up and you'll be done with your work.
Bonnie Christine [00:09:47]:
And so the other thing that it made me do was prioritize The most difficult work first because I wanted to make sure that I had time to get the most difficult work Done first. And so it taught me to focus, prioritize, and then do the most difficult work first, which is just different than I had been working for Years. So that spun me into really being a student of workflow and productivity and time management. And over the years, I've implemented tons of strategies. And the interesting thing is that right now, I'm kinda going back to the drawing board. Like, It is a lifelong thing to study, how to structure your day, how to get the most out of your day Because it just slips. I think it just slips. Or your priorities change or the demands on you change.
Bonnie Christine [00:10:41]:
And so you just always have to be coming back to it, making sure that you prioritize how you manage your time. So anyways, When I started planning out my goals in advance, my entire business changed and I just couldn't want anything more for you too. Taking time to really plan ahead and put my big goals on paper or up on the wall on a calendar, it really helps give them life. You know, once you put them down and say them out loud and admit them to yourself and to those around you, your entire focus will just shift a bit and things will start to happen. My success in goal setting and achieving has really led me to develop, like, a plan for achieving goals. And that's what I Bonnie share with you today. It's gonna help you not only acknowledge your biggest goals, But then help you create a plan to take action in order to achieve them. And because I've used this process So many times, I completely trust it.
Bonnie Christine [00:11:47]:
I know that it works. It works for me and it works for the people who use it. I don't just believe that anything is possible. I know that it's possible. It's possible for me and it's possible for you. All it takes Is intention and commitment and a willingness to do the work. So let's start with part 1. This is really all about acknowledging the dream.
Bonnie Christine [00:12:11]:
And your dream should be a bit out, like 1 to 2 years away from being able to accomplish it. Big dreams can often feel scary. They can feel, Like, overwhelming. They can honestly feel a bit embarrassing. Like, who are you to think that you could ever do that, and what are people gonna think when you say it out loud? Right? They can make you feel vulnerable. And honestly, they they should feel uncomfortable. That's how big of a dream and a goal I love to think about. So the Stu step is just to admit it to yourself and start saying it out loud.
Bonnie Christine [00:12:50]:
Admit them to someone who you can trust, who you know won't laugh, someone like your spouse or your mom or dad or your best Friend or a sibling, someone who is in your court, who will support you and then begin saying it more and more. This will just really help you put things into motion and, ultimately, it will help your dream come true. If others Know how to support you and know what you're working towards or what your dreams are, then they can help keep you accountable or, or just Be able to witness what you are working on, which is incredible. You know, just a Touch of social pressure is sometimes all you need to just keep yourself on track, and I use that trick all the time. I'll announce things publicly just because I know it will help me meet deadlines and things like that. So put it out there and watch as things begin to happen. Now, just to be clear, I love a goal that is such a stretch goal, that it's Absolutely. Within the realm of possibility, but it it might not be possible.
Bonnie Christine [00:14:02]:
Meaning, if it's Definitely possible, and you're definitely gonna do it. It's probably not big enough. And so you should have a lot of question marks around it. Like, you should Potentially not know exactly how you're even going to accomplish it, which is why we're gonna break it down starting in step 2. So once you have your biggest dreams on paper, it's time to create the plan of action. And again, this can Often feel a little bit overwhelming, but if you just take the time to map it out, you'll get there. Part 2 is about identifying the long term goals for the big rocks that you know you'll need to accomplish in order to make your dream come true. They're naturally the furthest out on the calendar And you likely won't know how you're going to accomplish them.
Bonnie Christine [00:14:51]:
But even though you've got question marks around them and they're a bit fuzzy, you do know that they are things that you'll Have to accomplish, you know, eventually in order for the goal to come true. These are things that are big rocks and milestones along the way to the accomplishing of it. Now part 3 is to identify the midterm goals. I often call these milestones and there are things that Have to be true in order for your big rocks to come true. So you may not know exactly how you're Bonnie to accomplish them, but You do know that they have to go on paper and they are a little bit less overwhelming. Now, I'll give you a real life example shortly so you can really see how this plays out? Then part 4 is to identify your short term goals. Now Short term goals are a bit clearer and there are things that, you know, you know you can do in the next couple of weeks to really get started. And then part 5 is your daily tasks.
Bonnie Christine [00:15:51]:
It's doing one thing every day that moves you closer. And so your one thing a day should be very much related to that big goal. You have to kind of work backwards and deconstruct it from the big, big book goal to the big rocks, to the milestones, to the daily tasks in order to see how they all add up. Now I've talked about rewards before, but throughout this process, I love to schedule in rewards. Like, once you have made an accomplishment or met a deadline, schedule in a reward. This is gonna be Something that gets your feet on the floor in the morning, like, gets you out of bed because you're so excited to get the reward if you meet this whatever milestone it is that you have. So they can be small or big or Expensive or free, like, maybe it's a day in the hammock or maybe it's a vacation or maybe it's a favorite restaurant. Whatever it is, you should be excited about it.
Bonnie Christine [00:16:54]:
So let's put this on the paper and I will give you a real world example. Let's say you want to be a wallpaper designer, but you've got no idea how to start, no formal training, no credentials, But you are willing to put in the work. Okay? You're not in a hurry for overnight success. You know that long term consistency is how you'll get there. Okay. So you put that on paper. Then step 2 will be to list the long term goals. So this could be to create a list of potential partners And send your portfolio and potentially exhibit at a licensing show.
Bonnie Christine [00:17:36]:
K. You'll have to do those. Those are just things that you know you'll have to probably accomplish before you meet your goal? Now step number 3 is to identify the mid term goals. These are things that are related to the long term goals. And so example of this could be to create A collection of prints for a wallpaper and to create actually Christine your digital or physical portfolio and to have a website and all of your social media profiles set up for you as a designer. Okay? And then next step number 4 is to write on paper your short term goals. Now these are things that you can get started on right away. Maybe you do need to learn Adobe Illustrator and and you've got to get started on that and learn how to create repeating patterns and decide on a business name.
Bonnie Christine [00:18:32]:
Number 5 is where your daily tasks come in. So you've got to list the daily tasks that you'll need to start working on right away in order to accomplish your Goals your short term goals because they will turn into your midterm and your long term and then finally, the big one. So your daily tasks could be at the beginning, like researching the industry and Google how to become a wallpaper designer and find a course on the fully commit to participating in it and begin drawing or sketching on a daily basis and study other designers who are doing what you wanna do. You know, that is the best thing you can do is find someone who's doing what you love to do And study. Like, figure out how they're doing what they're doing. Figure out what steps they took and how you can Learn the same things that they've learned. There is likely someone for all of your big dreams and goals. There are people out there who are already doing them.
Bonnie Christine [00:19:32]:
It's your job to find them and then just soak it up as much as you can. I won't copy them. That's not what I'm saying. Just Figure out how they got to where they are, what steps did they take, and then try to take the same steps. So now that you have it on paper, you can start taking action. You can miss 1 day of daily tasks, but try not to and definitely don't ever miss 2 in a row. And in just a few months, you will not believe how much progress you've made. Now, there are a lot of steps that aren't listed on paper, but the tasks under each goal milestone are the biggest rocks that you know you'll need to accomplish and they'll help guide your daily your daily tasks all the entire way.
Bonnie Christine [00:20:20]:
So I would love for you to head over to the show notes because I've got a amazing download for you that will help you put this all onto paper. So it will guide you through writing down your goal, the long, mid and short term tasks, how to prioritize your top 3 things every day. And then it also comes with a daily things tracker so that you can mark off when you've done your one thing a day. So head on over to the professional creative .com to get that download. What we're really talking about here is moving from dreaming to doing. So we're gonna be moving from dreaming about a big goal into actually taking action. And so When you move from dreaming to doing, there's a few things to really wrap your mind around and a lot of it comes down to our mindset, our mindset and the psychology that is behind Beginning to take action on something that can be really big and a little bit intimidating. So in our next episode, I'll be talking about all of the different mindset shifts that are vital to Finding success when you do decide to stop dreaming and start doing taking action on your big goals.
Bonnie Christine [00:21:40]:
So that's coming up in our very next episode. So come back and dive into that with me. It's gonna be a fantastic episode. My friends, create the beauty that you want to see come alive in the world. And remember, there's room for you.
