Freelancing to Freedom

“The reason people don’t get what they want is because they don’t know what they want.”  – T. Harv Ecker.

I know I’ve blogged about goals before, but they’re worth discussing again. The power of setting specific goals has blown me away these past few months, and the more people I talk to about business, the more I’m convinced that setting strong goals is the most powerful thing you can do for your business, freelance or otherwise.

Every month, I set out very specific goals that can be achieved fairly easily, such as, “Place an ad in X newspaper,” “Do business with one new client,” or “Get in touch with editor X.” I have recently started setting financial goals for each month as well, such as “Make $X freelancing this month.” Once my goals are on paper and I can read them every morning, I almost always see results. I had an inspiring conversation with a fellow business owner this week. I said, “If I can meet all my short-term goals, why not dream big for the future?” She strongly agreed, and our conversation prompted me to revise my long-term goals. They are going to take a lot of work and dedication to meet, but they are definitely worth it.

This week, I started reading The Wealthy Freelancer by Steve Slaunwhite, Pete Savage, and Ed Gandia, who have all built extremely successful freelance businesses. One of the very first things they talk about in the book is setting goals and mapping out a vision for your future. They suggest visualizing your ideal day and then setting specific goals to attain it. Creating my ideal day was inspiring and helped me to see my business in the big picture. I highly recommend the book to any freelancer, new or veteran.

It looks like snow this week. Time to cozy up to some editing with a big mug of chocolate mint tea – I almost jumped up and down in delight in the grocery store when I saw it. “Chocolate tea??? What could be more perfect??”

Cheers!