#16 Should I be goal setting for 2023?

Hello welcome to the Freelance Ads Club podcast with me your host Aggie Meroni. Whether you're a seasoned freelance ads manager, or just thinking about taking the leap into self employment, this podcast is for you. Every week, I'll be releasing a bite sized episode, I'll be sharing mistakes I've made and lessons I've learned from my own freelance business. I'll be showcasing some of the amazingly talented freelancers in the freelance ads club. And I also will be speaking to some incredible guests who generously be sharing their knowledge with us to help us keep updated with industry trends. And I really hope that after listening to this podcast, you will come away full of confidence on how to win great clients, how to charge correctly, and most importantly, retain those dream clients so that you build a successful and sustainable business. So today is a little silo episode for Episode 16. I haven't done one of these for a while. And as we're coming up to the end of the year, the buzzword I keep hearing everywhere is goa;s, goals, goals, what are the goals for next year? Now, I'm a little bit cynical when it comes to goal setting. But I do think they're good. And I can understand why people don't think they're good as well. So I just wanted to give my views on goal setting at this time of year. I don't know if you agree with me, definitely let me know. Okay, so where do we start? First of all, I do think having goals in mind for your business is a good thing. To give you an example of this, when I first had the idea of setting up the freelance ads club, I had a drink with a kind of business business mentor of mine, and I was talking about it and what it can be, and how excited I was about it, because I was just making connections with all these amazing freelancers. And we were all in the same boat supporting each other and all that kind of thing. By this stage, I think there may be 40 freelancers in there. So this was like over the summer. And they said to me, okay, well, you know, what do you want to grow it to, and how and all these kinds of things. So they said to me, okay, by the end of September, you'll grow it to 100. And I was like, I don't know how I'm gonna do it, it's gonna be impossible to do. And it was mainly to keep me accountable to to keep going to grow the community, because I knew that more freelancers would be helped, if I could grow it. And I managed to reach 100 freelancers way before the end of September, I think we got there probably early September. We're now at about 127. I think so you know, it hasn't grown that much since. However, it's been very organic, very word of mouth. And I think the freelancers that I accept who apply are amazing, high quality and very well trained freelancers. That's not to say that the people that I don't accept arent, it's just they don't have the level of training needed, because it is more for people that are already established, and managing their own accounts. So the profile of Freelancer is finding us is amazing. And just having that goal set to me, kept me focused on helping to grow the community. So that to me, was a positive thing. And also it kept me accountable. So I could say, yes, we've done it, we've got this many more freelancers aware of us and what we're up to. So that's good. The thing that I'm not good at, I guess it may be it's just a bit of fatigue is paying for a goal setting session. Like every where I go, whether it's Instagram, LinkedIn ads, I'm just being pounded by people's goal setting sessions. And you know, they always cost something or they'll be a lead magnet for something else. And I am a little bit fatigued by the same people to be honest. So for that reason, I don't think you shouldn't necessarily be paying to go to a goal setting session. However, if they're being run by someone that you admire, you've been following you know that they're actually adding value to the session. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think sometimes things are sold with no value. That's really harsh, isn't it? So I would definitely do your due diligence on whoever's running the sessions before investing in them. I do think that goals can help focus you so I'm really bad at this. I get a shiny object syndrome. I get an idea in the middle of the night and I'm gonna get to it, which isn't always a bad thing as how the freelance ads clubs started. But I have learned a lot through doing these random launches of various things about having a bit more direction. And being a bit more selective isn't necessarily a bad thing. Because then you can focus your attention on fewer things and probably execute them better, unless you start hiring people to support you in various things. So having purpose and strategy in your business is a really good reason to do some goal setting. I think sometimes though, and I think I'm guilty of this, I set myself a really punchy, in my view, revenue goal last year, that by this time, this year, I'd be reaching a certain month of monthly income. I'm not there at all. And I was actually like, really beating myself up about it as I must be a failure. I'm not earning that much yet, blah, blah, blah. But then I thought, hang on a minute, but what have I achieved this year. And I think that's really important to look back as well. So wow, I did quite a lot this year. I launched a podcast, I launched a community, I'm working with clients I really like. And we've had amazing results. I did my first public speaking thing. And I've guest spoken on podcasts, and all these various things that were a bit kind of pie in the sky at the beginning of the year, and I hadn't really planned for them. So that's one of those things about goal setting as well as sometimes you can become too regimented in what you're focusing on, and it closes you up to opportunities that you didn't really appreciate might be around. So I think it's one of those things, you have to be a bit fluid when you're a freelancer. Like if something comes out of the blue and smacks you in the face, sometimes you have to just go with it and see what happens. One of my really close friends is not a fan of goals. She's like, I honestly think they limit you if you set goals, because if you, for example, have a target of consistent 10k months, you might always just have a below it or around it. And then you won't kind of push yourself about what else you can achieve. So she's very much against them. But I also think we have to think differently about goals; for me next year, I don't have a revenue target. But I'll probably keep that pie in the sky one in there. And I think I'll manage to reach it next year, if I'm honest, like just being a bit more selective about what I do and what I turned down and things like that. But my health is my big thing for next year. So I'm putting out there now. I'm going to tackle next year, I think lock down has a lot to answer for my wine habit now. And I'm not an alcoholic, I'll put it out there as well. But I just think that, you know, do I actually need to drink wine anymore? Probably not. And I'll probably feel a lot better for it as well. And it'll help with like weight loss and getting more active and feeling better, sleeping better, and all that kind of thing. So for me, I've very much got personal goals next year. So making it non negotiable that I do exercise making it non negotiable that I have time carved out to cook properly, that I can enjoy nature more that I'm present with my son so that when he wants me to play trains with him, I'm not like checking my phone or actually put my phone down. And I'm going to impose a no phone rule after 9pm next year, which is totally doable. And I've already softly been introducing that into my life already. And I can see it's doing wonders for my mental health and my sleep. So I think I, I mean, I'm just speaking anecdotally, from people that I've been speaking to, but a lot of people are literally burnt out, after the last three years. It's been a lot. And I don't think anyof us have had time to process that, because we've just been like struggling along trying to get work and working really hard and dealing with various privacy updates and client drama and all the rest of it. And it's really hard to find time to actually switch off and recharge. So I think a lot of people are focusing more on downtime and balance, which is really hard when you're freelance so because you're always like, selling yourself marketing yourself juggling client work and that kind of thing. So yeah, I mean, I think goals are good in some senses because it can focus you on what you actually want and what your bigger aspirations are. So you can break down how you get to them. They can be limiting as well because you might not stretch yourself once you reach your goal. So some people do have stretch goals. So as I find meet goal one, then what am I going to do next? That's quite a good thing to do. Goals don't always have to be financial. It can just be that you want to be more present with your loved ones. that you want to be healthier, sleep more, take up a new hobby, and not always be tied to your phone all the time. And I think one thing I haven't mentioned yet, which is really important as well, is to remember that life happens. So if you don't reach your goals, it's okay. Like the world won't end. One thing I'm doing personally to get my head around this is during Q4, which is my most lucrative quarter, I've been building up my cash buffer in my business, and I've nearly hit my target on it. So I can sleep soundly at night knowing that if I have a lean month for a month, I won't go hungry and lose my house kind of thing. So that's going to help me just stay in perspective, but also, you know, people get sick. You know, there's bereavements, mental health issues, caring issues, maybe you suddenly need to, you know, go back home, if you don't live close to family, and that can all have a massive impact on your business and put you back a step towards your goal. But you know, in that sense, you have to think about what is the priority, and when I look on LinkedIn, and I see all the stuff from people saying, Oh, you need to meditate for 20 So yeah, that's my two cents on goal setting, saying that I have minutes when you wake up, and you need to, you know, eat drink a call booked with the business coach next week, because my head's fried, and I just need to be a bit more structured in what I'm doing next year because I feel really burnt out and it's a glass of water, and you need to sleep eight hours, that is not sustainable. So next year, I'm gonna be working smarter, not harder. Hopefully, anyway, that's the plan. I don't know how you feel about goals. If you're in the freelance ads club, drop it in the slack. Let just isn't reality for people that have kids and all that kind us know what if you've got any goals for next year, or what your thoughts are about goals as well. If you're a freelance ads manager, and you're listening to this for the first time, and you of thing. You literally just do what you do to get on. Okay. So, have no idea what the Freelancers Ads club is, it's a free slack channel that you can apply to join. There'll be a link in the show notes for you to do that. If you're an agency owner or a brand and you're looking for you know, don't judge your success by other people is a big support with any of your projects. You can also send the details of those in the link in the show notes. I hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you have enjoyed this episode, then make sure you follow us / subscribe depending where you're thing as well. Just stay in your lane and keep focused on what's listening to us. It really does help boost us in search so more people can find us. And if you don't listen to anything else for me this year, I hope you have an amazing break over Christmas. important and what you're trying to achieve. If it's something that you celebrate, manage to, have some timeouts and I will see you in the new year.