How to reverse engineer your 2024 goal
I used to be a dreamer that hated goal setting. There was a point in my life when I had never achieved a goal before. I had no idea what it was like to dream of something and actually follow it through. I’d start the New Year with so much enthusiasm and potential, only to finish the year embarrassed and pretty much in the same place. But now, life couldn’t be more different. I’ve spent 5 months living in Bali, launched a business, coached hundreds of clients, launched a sold-out journal, and spoken on stages in the UK and US. All these goals that seemed kinda impossible when I was dreaming of them. So read along for my top tips for reserve engineering your 2024 goal
Goals are like baking a cake. Doesn’t matter what the icing will be, they’re all created in a similar way. When you set a goal and attempt to achieve it without a process or recipe it's like going into the kitchen and saying "Well, I've eaten a cake before so I must know how to make one"
Not quite, but I’ve got you…
The ingredients you’ll need for your dream business: Creative skill + the confidence to try new things consistently
Whether you’re dreaming of leaving your full-time job and you’re starting from ground zero or if you’ve been self-employed for a while you’ll need to continuously improve each area. First, define your creative skill in the form of a product or service. Make it simple and enticing. Then ask, what new things will I have to try and master in order to reach my customers or clients at the rate I’d like to reach them?
Aim to achieve your goal in 4 steps or less
Unless cooking is your life purpose, no one likes a recipe with 27 different spices, a 72-hour marinade and 34 steps. Perfectionist spread themselves too thin by thinking that they need to change their whole life/website/wardrobe/personality in order to have the kind of business their dreaming of. Think about what you want. If your life depended on having to achieve this goal in 4 steps or less, which four steps would be the MOST vital. Only do those. Everything else is just drama. The “action” or “how” of most goals are simple and unglamorous. It’s the fear and procrastination that are the hardest parts
Visualise what it will look and feel like to achieve your goal
I love recipes with pictures. It’s why we all have a beautiful recipe boards on Pinterest. When we know what we want the outcome to be, we’re more excited to go on the journey. Pretend as if. Get into the mindset, have fun and play, what would it be like to host a workshop, or move to another country? Be intentional and deliberate. When Olympians are training for a race they visualise the event as part of their training schedule. They imagine the weather conditions, visualise seeing their competitors standing at the start line, and practise what it will feel like to hold a trophy. I’ve heard of people saying their goal out loud before they go to sleep or writing it in a journal. I love visualising on long walks without my phone. Find a routine that works for you.
Never say “but I don’t know how”
You figure out how to bake a cake...by baking. You learn how to host a workshop...by hosting. You learn how to charge £1000 as your speaker rate by saying the number. Stop asking yourself “how am I going to do it?” accept that it’s going to be scary and that you’ll be doing a lot of things for the first time. If you’re a perfectionist, you’ll experience intense shame about not knowing the answer and doing thing wrong. It’ll feel scary for your nervous system but this is totally normal and usually a sign your on the right path. Society idolises perfection and overnight successes. Don’t fall into this trap. Find a community of people going in the same direction as you so you can see that it’s possible
Don’t wait more than 3 days to execute on an idea
Cakes that sit on the counter get dry and stale. You end up with something that not even your cheeky cat will eat. As you start visualising you’ll become inspired and your brain will nudge you...email this person, do this thing... It’s important you do it. Don’t question them. Do the things and keep on following the nudges until you achieve your goal. I love working in 30-day or 90-day spirits because it gamifies the process and keeps it exciting. Having a deadline let’s your brain know when the challenging effort will end. You just have to play full out until the bell rings
It’s hard life being a dreamer that doesn’t know how to execute on their dreams. I should know, I’ve lived it LOL. But by following these steps I’ve become a dreamer that dreams with intention. Someone who looks at my vision board and is like “Okay, we’re doing that now” and then does it.
Most folks start their freelance business so they can live the life everyone else told them was impossible and by learning a process to make that happen, we tap into the potential to make those dreams a reality. And this is exactly what you'll learn to do at my upcoming workshop Something Impossible so make sure you grab your ticket and join us online or in London