Are You Being Realistic About Your Goals?

Being realistic about your goals is one of the criteria for setting goals that will serve you, while I use a different method of goal setting, there’s something to be said about the SMART Method, which stands for: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. 

I love daydreaming and fantasizing about my goals especially when it comes to my business and the possibilities and opportunities it provides. And being realistic helps me stay grounded and in the present moment. I think dreaming about all things is important so we can stretch our imagination and come up with new and different ideas.  

And of course, when you start a business there are lots of dreaming and hoping that happens about how much money one can make. I am certainly not going to knock down that your dream income isn’t a possibility but when you come up with a figure or a measure for your goal to track, you want the number to be realistic and not just pulled out of thin air.

For example, let’s say that you are a coach or consultant like myself and you plan on working this as a full-time business. You may think that means you can work a 40-hour week because that’s what you’re used to from your job but that’s not a realistic expectation. There are other things you need to do for your business aside from the direct client work. 

To be super accurate and realistic about how much you can earn, you need to figure out the order of operations at your business. What will you do all day? More than likely, once you figure it out, you’ll realize you can work with 3-10 clients a week, and the rest of the time, you’ll need to work on marketing and other aspects of your business. Let’s not forget you also started your business so you wouldn’t perhaps be tied to your computer all day! 

I love creating an ideal week where you organize the client hours you have available and the admin hours that you’ll need. I shared how I make my business(es) work for me in this Coffee with a Rebel Podcast Episode. So think about how many clients you think you can and want to work with a week and then what will you be charging?

A VIP day with me is $249 and it’s 10 hours a client gets access to me, I know I can work with 3 clients a week which is $747 ($2988/month). Is that enough? Well after expenses, that’s about $2200, and yeah I can get buy with that. This isn’t the only way to work with me 1:1 and I also have other income streams such as planners, courses, an art business, and a blog – all of which bring in money.

So you really want to think about if what you are charging is enough with the number of clients you can work with a week. And you can raise your rates, and add additional income streams (which I recommend because don’t put all your eggs in one basket). When you can automate a few things in your business, you’re creating more free time that you could use for working with more clients or a day at the beach. 

The main thing is that you should not leave these numbers to chance. Design your entire day and figure out what is realistic for your goals in each case. Don’t just pull a number out of the air. Think about the number and how it can happen or not happen before you put it in writing.

About the author

Petra Monaco is an artist, author, and professional problem solver for creatives, rebels, and multi-passionates.

She is here to help you remove frustration from your life and achieve your creative dreams with more ease and confidence.

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