One of our favorite activities to do in our business is goal setting. We love planning where we want our business to be in the coming months, quarters, or years. There’s just something so refreshing and exciting about envisioning hitting those milestones!

However, we don’t set goals by just making up a financial number that we’d like to see our business hit. We really dig into our numbers and use our lifestyle/business wants and needs in tandem with evaluating our current offerings to give us a number that’s realistically reachable.

Keep reading if you want to learn our process of goal setting, so you can actually achieve them in 2022!

We’ll gladly join the masses of people saying that they’re so glad that 2020 is over! And it isn’t so much that we expect the pandemic and all of the issues that come with it to just disappear with a new year, but more so that we’re now able to reflect on the year and kick everything in gear for 2021.

For us, 2020 was a whirlwind, but it was actually our best years ever. Of course we still dealt with setbacks just like everyone else, but we changed up the way we did things at the beginning of 2020, and it had a profound impact on how the year played out.

So what did we change? What actually happened for us in 2020? And what lessons did we learn that we’re carrying into 2021?

The month of December (a.k.a. the month of goal-setting) is one of our favorite times of the year. Nothing fuels us more than to sit down with each other and discuss our aspirations for what we aim to achieve in the new year. For some reason we’re especially fueled this month, probably because we can’t wait to leave behind the chaos that is 2020 (or soon to be was).

However, a struggle for many of our fellow creatives is actually staying motivated all year long. We know the feeling– you’re pumped to crush your goals while you’re planning them, and you still have the ball rolling through Q1, but then.. it slows down.

And it keeps getting slower.. and slower.. and slower until you reflect on your year, realize how shitty it’s been, aim to change that in the next year, get all pumped up again, and the cycle repeats.

So, how do you break the cycle?

With the new year right around the corner, you may already be thinking about all of the things you want to accomplish in 2021. Will this be the year you launch that new product or service? Will this be the year you bring in enough revenue that you can hire a web designer? Will this be the year you reach 6-figures?

It’s so fun and refreshing to list out all of the goals we want to accomplish in the new year. The thing is, cooking up new goals and ideas is easy, but unless you’re reflecting on your past goals, you’ll have a harder time bringing them to fruition, if at all.

We think one of the biggest mistakes you can make in your business is not dedicating recurring time to reflect on what you’ve accomplished (or not) in the past. It’s imperative to look back on previous years before jumping the gun and setting new goals, and here’s why.

When you begin to treat your business like a business, things start to shift. It’s really simple. If you’re still treating your business like a “hobby” or “side hustle” it will only ever be one of those things. Even if your business isn’t exactly where you want or need it to be today you can still treat it like it’s on its way to getting there. Just because your business hasn’t reached the figure you want it to (yet!) doesn’t mean you can’t treat it like it’s the next best thing since the dollar section at Target! Here are the ways we treat our jobs like the big biz they are.

Sure every one of you has heard you should set goals, but do you know why it is important for both your business and your life? No, this isn't some silly method to keep that New Year's Resolution you already gave up on. It's about defining specific, measurable goals that will motivate you to achieve them. Also, find out how Jim Carrey made $10 million dollars through positive visualization. 

Social media is ever-changing. It feels like you blink and the “kids” are into some new platform, chatting about some new trend. As much as we’d love to tell you if you follow these 5 steps that you would magically have it all figured out - sorry, that ain’t happening.

What we can tell you, however, is that it isn’t as complicated as you keep making it in your head. This isn’t plastic surgery. No one is in mortal danger if you “do something wrong”. Social Media is one giant science experiment. You get to test, hypothesize, and analyze results. Once that’s all done you just start over. The learning game is never really over. You just keep going and adapting.

Have you heard that a book is a great tool with which to scale your business? Then you’ve heard correctly! I’ve seen firsthand what a book can do for a small business owner and firmly believe that not only should you write a book, but you need to.

Let’s face it: You’re an expert in your industry. You’re asked questions all the time — and you know the answers.

All that sounds good to most small business owners and creative entrepreneurs — what’s not to like, right? — and they start to think it’s something they should do. Then they realize that they don’t know a thing about the book publishing industry.