{Rosie! The Biz Ladies cheerleader on Design Sponge}

The beginning of a new year means one thing. No, not hangovers! Ok, maybe those, but also everyone is talking about goal setting & I swear no one does it more than those of us in the handmade/small business category. All year long we are evaluating, changing, adjusting. This time of the year is prime for doing those things big picture style.

Got Goals?

Yes! But, now what? That's what I have struggled with in the past. How will I work toward these ideas every day? Last year my goals were to:

1. Produce more work

2. Focus.

Kind of a do-more-by-doing-less approach there on number 2. Did I accomplish them? Yes...loosely. Mostly by sitting down & sketching out ideas. Many of them made it to the computer. Not many of them made it onto my shop, but design development takes time & I can't say it was easy to focus on one design at a time. So, can I do it differently? Well, yes...I'm glad you asked. Here's how...

New Year, New Strategy

I want to approach this goal setting/achieving differently this year. I don't want to load a bunch of pressure on myself, but my custom business grew leaps this year & I want to keep that momentum going. It's important to me to have a plan of attack. Here are a few links & tricks I've found helpful so far:

Designing an MBA: 4 Steps to your Best Business Year

Hello point number 1! Pick one point of focus because when you have a clearly defined point of focus, making those decisions becomes a whole lot easier. It's really a recycling of my goal last year, but now I see a better way to achieve it. My strategy is going to be break my focal points down by quarters. One point for the whole year is scary & feels like I'm climbing a mountain. I got a lot of mountains to climb!

Heartmade: Life is Messy Planners 2.0

Yes, these helpful worksheets are $40, but I need some ways to break down what I do each day/week. A $40 investment vs the money I will make if these work for me = no brainer to try them. Plus, who doesn't want to look at Mayi Carles little illustrations every day?

Rena Tom: Visions of a New Year

I have a big bulletin board above my desk (this one, actually, in case one of your goals is to redecorate your office space. Love!). WomansMedia.com suggests that visualizing yourself achieving your goals is half the battle. Done.

Clearly the World Wide Web has millions of sources for goal setting (pls share yours in the comments!!) and these are 3 places I have found helpful. The aforementioned article I read on Woman's Media.com noted that research shows people who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them. So, while there is not a right or wrong way to plan & execute your goals (see number 2 in the Designing an MBA article), writing them down seems like a good place to start. It certainly makes them easier to reference during the year.

Don't think that I didn't notice that I haven't actually stated my 2012 goals in this post. I know. They are still under refinement. I can't just say "I'm going to conquer the world!" and focus on it. So, I'm further breaking them down. Stay tuned. I'll see you back here for goal specifics in my next post & updates through out the year.

Best wishes & blessings for all our blogging/crafting community. Happy New Year, Everyone!

Kerry