Branding Part 3

Oops! I got so excited about the Passion post, I forgot to share my goals and action plans with you. So, this post is a little out of order, but at least you still get it!

God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow in them – Author Unknown

If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time – Author Unknown

What are your goals?

Again, if you have not done so, please go back and read Branding Introduction, Part 1 and Part 2, before you continue.

Traditionally, I have avoided goals and planning like the plague. It seemed every time I planned for something it never came to pass.

I have thought about setting goals a few different times over the last couple of years, but always got stuck on where do I want to be in five years? I had no clue. My life and circumstances in it changed almost monthly. I could not tell, or guess for that matter, where I would be in six months – forget five years. Ultimately, I gave up setting goals and continued on the same boring/routine day-to-day path.

I had a vague idea of what my passions were, but I could not have definitively told you what I wanted to do with/or get out of life.

I am very enthusiastic about what I have discovered about myself over the last couple of months. This is part of the reason I wanted to share all of this with you. The other part is to hopefully help you through a similar situation if you are struggling.

If you have been following along, you should be very familiar with the Ultimate Goal Setting Guide. I have relied on this a lot over the course of this series. It is a fantastic – and free – tool.

Ideally, this post should have been part 2, and What are your passions? Should have been part 3, because finding my goals, helped me define my passions. Maybe, one of my goals should be organization!

As with values and passions, I am going to list my goals here for you as well. I would offer the same advice to you, as I did on finding your values and passions. These goals are yours and yours alone. Try not to let any outside interference direct you in defining your goals.

Here are my initial goals (I say initial because you will need to refine them as you progress):

Career

Develop Freelance Writing Business – This goal obviously is going to be long term and involve several steps. I have a short term action plan and long term action plan. For now, let’s look at the short term.

Research basic start-up objectives

Obtain “Clean Up Your Act!” Teleseminar Series by Allison Bottke and Rand Ingermanson

Complete actions steps outlined in the course above

Write and maintain blog minimum of 3x/week

Write a minimum of one article for publication monthly

Education

Attend Writing Conference by late 2008 – early 2009

Continue Education with Christian Writers Guild

Mindset

Be more positive – Self Reassurance

Journal at least a little bit everyday, focusing on positive influences

Creative

Develop new topics

Come up with at least one new topic daily – try for more

Search for sources of inspiration (There are a lot of good web sites that offer writing prompts i.e. faithwriters.com)

Leisure

Commit to trying something new once a week

This doesn’t need to be something expensive, but it needs to be fun. If you are getting bored with life, give this a shot! Be creative. Look for events in Craig’s List, or your local paper for something you never though of trying.

To help you stick to your goals, there are a multitude of options out there for you. Joe’s Goals web site is very simple to use and you can post it on your website. Jerry Seinfeld even has a productivity secret for you! Find what works best for you and stick with it! Small steps amount to huge gains.

Again, I hope this has helped you out, if nothing more than getting you back on track with your goals. Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS or bookmark, and check back!

In Part 2, I told you that was going to be the last of the series, well, I lied. I am going to do a Part 4 and reveal to you what The Hudson brand is going to be!