To succeed in something, you need to set it as your goal. This is a fact that applies to everything in life, including freelancing.
Setting goals lets you focus and direct your energy towards something positive. Not to mention, a goal gives you a way to assess the path that you are currently on and if whether or not you are succeeding.
Why Are End-of-Year Reviews Important in Setting Goals?
A year is a long time. However, when setting goals, you can split your annual goals into smaller, shorter-term goals.
Besides, year-end reviews give you an opportunity to take a look at how much you’ve achieved over the past twelve months and if what you’ve done and are currently doing is still relevant to your goal(s), or if your goal(s) remains relevant at all.
There’s also another added benefit to doing year-end reviews.
Being aware of your progression allows you to make the necessary changes that would put you in the proper position to succeed. But of course, if things are going great, there’s no harm in staying the course.
Then again, if things aren’t going according to your plan, year-end reviews will allow you to reflect on what you’ve done so far to achieve your goals, and what you can do better to achieve them.
Either way, the only way to know if you’re doing well or not based on the goal that you set to achieve earlier in the year is to look inwards and do a proper review. Also, year-end reviews aren’t just a way to “check in” on your progress.
Year-end reviews are another way for you to either reaffirm your commitment to your ultimate goal or if you should consider aiming for something else, if not more realistic but something that’s more fitting for your current situation.
Remember, goals should be fixed, but they also shouldn’t be set entirely in stone.
Planning Ahead as an Entrepreneur
The reason why we talked about year-end reviews in general, and not just for your freelancing goals, is because it’s important to keep in mind that, as a freelancer, you’re no longer just an employee — you are your own boss, company, and brand.
YOU ARE YOUR OWN BRAND is what we are trying to say here.
Regardless of your field, how you come across online to your peers and to your clients is a reflection of your ability and your professionalism. When you have a goal as an entrepreneur, it all starts and ends with you.
So, what does this all mean? It’s simple. You are accountable for everything in your career. As such, when setting a goal, it should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. Otherwise, it’ll be easy for you to fall into a cycle of creating unrealistic goals that you will constantly fail to achieve and leave you feeling down and unmotivated.
Down and unmotivated are NOT good traits to have.
For example, where once you used to set goals along the lines of, “I will land my first freelance gig by the end of the month”, you’ll learn that a goal like, “I will give it my all to complete the first freelance gig I land on time”, is a much better goal overall that is well within your control and won’t let you feel behind on your own timeline.
Later, you’ll also learn that changing your goals from “earning more money in a month” to putting a sizable yet realistic figure is a much better way of motivating yourself towards achieving something that’s concrete and attainable.
Doing year-end reviews gives you a chance to break down previous goals you’ve set to see which ones are SMART, and which ones are not.
Conclusion
As an entrepreneur, you have the responsibility of having to keep yourself motivated day after day, mostly on your own. Setting goals is an excellent way to help keep you focused on the right track.
By doing year-end reviews, you give yourself a better shot at changing bad habits, as well as address unnecessary actions, and if necessary, realign or re-adjust your goals. Plus, year-end reviews are an excellent way for you to see just how far you’ve come.