As the saying goes, there are no rainbows without some rain. It’s so true. In 2011, my family and I had a horrendous year. My mum was diagnosed with Lung Cancer, 2 weeks later my 19 year old brother died from pneumonia. Mum battled hard, but succumbed within 3 months.
Our world was turned upside down and I was also sitting my CIMA finals.
That left just Dad and myself from our surprisingly small Irish family (if you know, you know 😉).
My Manager at the time had the audacity to point out that these events affected my work…. Well no doubt! In place of judgement, he might have suggested to go see the doctor for coping with my grief!
However, this experience taught me a few things.
I would NEVER be that kind of Manager
Life is too short.
Everyone needs a “community”.
To always have a plan.
To never, ever let go of what really matters to you.
So this blog post is actually about Goals and Horizons.
It’s important to have goals. In life and in business. I think it’s an evolutionary throwback to if you stood still, you’d die…. Rundown by a Mammoth or disease.
I like to have plans for our holidays. You’ll find me buying a Lonely Planet book whilst still on holiday. Getting excited about our next big Adventure (true story…. In Iceland, I ordered “Romania Lonely Planet”, inspired by What We Do In The Shadows…. If you have not seen this genius film, I would highly recommend 😂)
But I only had clear Business Goals once I made the leap from side hustling to setting up Account-ant with a name, a brand design, and a website (many thanks to my multi-talented hubster, James 😉), and an idea of how I’m different from the big accountants with high Street presence etc.
Do you have goals, have you written them down?
I keep mine on Google Keep. It sets out what I want to achieve in terms of client numbers, what I want to give those clients in return for their faith in me, (if you’re already my client, you know I love you 😘) and a point in time that I want to achieve each goal by.
Admittedly, it feels awesome when you look back and realise you are on track. But equally it could be upsetting you missed your goals.
So rather than boring you to death with explaining SMART goals et al (you probably know what they are anyway!) We’re going to talk about…..Horizons.
You can set your goals, and you’ll have an idea of where you want to be when x goal is achieved – you’ll see it far off…. in the Horizon. When you get to that goal, you’ll realise there’s something else that needs to be achieved. Again, you’ll see it off on the Horizon as you sail towards it, smashing tasks and missing some goals as you go.
It could easily be disheartening if you think at the beginning of any project that your end goal is in sight, only to find there are a few more hurdles. But as I have said before, there cannot be rainbows without rain, so steadfast my friend. You’ll get through it. You WILL smash your goals.
I find it’s important to have a Community. Especially if you work solo. Peers and people you can talk to that are in the same boat. I’ve found there are a few Facebook Groups for my profession that really help me. There’s also Networking groups etc, but they can be hit and miss.
When we had our Son it was super important to me to find some mummy friends and baby friends for our little one. That’s why I brought him to the local toddler group from 7 weeks old. Admittedly I arrived around half way through the session, but, the point here is that I ARRIVED. I showed up, no matter how late. I made some friends and connections in the village where I live. Connections that have helped my business and myself.
You might just be starting out on your self employment journey, or you may be years into it. You decided to make this leap (rather than being employed) for a reason. It must matter to you, otherwise you wouldn’t be doing it!
My life goal is to spend at least the 6 weeks holiday as a family, rather than having to worry about childcare and rushing our time together. That’s what matters to me. I also like to think that my Mum would be super proud of what I’ve achieved in a relatively short time.
What matters to you? Are your going to hold on tight and make sure you get what you want? Life is too short. Live your life, do what makes you feel alive. Because in the immortal words of Neil Diamond (my mum’s favourite singer) “Good Times Never Felt So Good”.
I’m cheering you on!
Do you need some help sifting through your goals and making sure all your ducks are in a row for your business? Give me a call and we’ll have a chat over coffee and the ever present cake!