Y’all. Where have the past couple of months gone?! March just flat out got away from me! And I’m posting my monthly goal setting post on the 8th. Sheesh! Sometimes I get feedback that my goal setting is intimidating. This makes me a little sad because my point is to share the tools that I’ve learned work to keep me sane – not to make anyone feel overwhelmed! And I’m not going to stop talking about it as it’s a big part of my life and who I am. I do hope this makes it clear, though, that I’m far from perfect and definitely go through less organized times just like everyone else.
For example, this year, I’m not nearly as far along in my annual goals or my bucket list as I usually am. Luckily I still have many months to catch up. So today, I’m wrapping my head around April goal setting as well as a major ah-ha moment from the Thrive blogging conference I attended last month.
April Goal Setting: Intentions and Goals
As some background – my annual bucket list includes two weekends dedicated to growing my side hustle. Last month, I went to Austin, TX with over 100 other bloggers to learn, brainstorm, and work. I got so much inspiration, it only makes sense April’s focus revolve around the ideas I have scrawled in this lemon-print notebook.
I’ve talked before about the best way to actually meet my goals is by centering in on only what I know I have time to accomplish. If I try to bite off more than I can chew, I find myself stressed and meeting none of my goals. Given even more upcoming travel, I’ve got two big things on my plate …
April Goal Setting: Goal #1 – Become A Real Business!
One big takeaway from Thrive was to treat your side hustle – no matter how small – as a real business. I do a fairly good job of this most days, but could take it a step further. Right when I got home, I took the time to write a formal mission statement and a five-year plan with 2019 goals mapped out. Up this month, will be to create a template contract to use for collaborations, get my W9 form in order, and to start a tracker for monthly stats. I’m also going to start logging my time to see where efficiencies can be made and to help me focus on more the impactful activities.
April Goal Setting: Goal #2 – Spring Cleaning
No, I don’t mean mopping my floors or dusting my baseboards – although I’m sure my mom wishes I did! What I mean by this is taking care of a laundry list of side hustle to-dos that often get pushed aside. I need to link accounts on Pinterest, update the way in which folks link to my blog from Instagram, and check on the functionality of my email subscription form. I started tackling some of this in March, which maybe you saw, but still have a way to go. One of my favorite sayings from the business world is that a task “may only take five minutes, but when you find those five minutes is a different story.” This is me finally finding the five minutes.
So, what is this mind-blowing takeaway I mentioned??
Death is inevitable. Growth is not.
One of our conference speakers was Miranda Anderson of Live Free Creative. She once heard the adage you’re either growing or you’re dying. And while it sounds morbid, it’s definitely something to get you thinking. Instead though, Miranda posed the idea that while death is inevitable, growth is not. No matter how much growing you do, one day, you will die. But, with the right attitude and effort, you can make the most out of your life and break through comfort zones.
Yeah, it’s super cheesy, I know, but it really spoke to me, so hopefully it speaks to one of you too. PS. Miranda is major #sidehustlegoals! She has a Podcast (her full session from Thrive was recorded and featured here) and a book coming out this summer.
Do you have a side hustle or personal goals you’re working toward? If so, I’d love for you to share one in the comments – it will feel good to get it out in the universe and hold yourself accountable!
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