Define, Plan & Achieve Your Goals
This week’s goal: Have some fun! You work too hard. You know you do. So this week, give yourself a break. Go for a swim. See a movie. Have dinner with a friend. Go dancing. Have a karaoke night.
Sometimes it’s just as important to schedule down-time as it is get things accomplished. Remember, everything on your list will get done. A few hours should leave you feeling refreshed and improve your perspective. Enjoy!
What fun activity will you do this week?
This week’s goal: Update your bio. In this competitive work environment, it’s important to keep your bio and work experience up-to-date. This week, schedule time to look at all the places where you post your work experience – your resume and your website bio, as well as your LinkedIn and other social media profiles.
Make sure you last job is accurate and add any new skills, accomplishments, and organizations or clubs. Also, update your headshot, press clips, or work examples, and anything else that might be relevant.
Try to do a check of your bio and resume at least once a season. It’s helpful – and more professional – to have your most accurate information at the ready for potential employers as well as people who want to do business with you.
This Week’s Goal: Finish something. Remember all those projects you started, because it’s summer and you figured you will have a ton of time? How many of them did you complete? If the answer is “all,” multiple gold stars for you! If you are like most people, you started a bunch and finished maybe one or two of them, while everything else sits in limbo.
This week, finish one of your summer projects. It can be a proposal, query submissions, a chapter in a book, an outline, a social media strategy, whatever needs to get done. This will give you a sense of accomplishment, and then motivate you to finish other items on your to do list. Plus, it will bring you closer to achieving those big goals.
What project will you finish this week?
This Week’s Goal: Plan a reunion. It can be a lunch with a few people, a casual happy hour, or a big event. The point is to take some time to reconnect with old friends and coworkers in real life. Catch up. And see where it leads.
Last week, more than 100 people came to the first #140conf LA event in two years … a mixer in Santa Monica. The best part? There new faces along with old friends, which make the mingling even more fun and beneficial.
Call a friend or two, plan and promote a Facebook event, or schedule an outing. Don’t shy away from being social. Business and networking work hand in hand. And you never know who will send you your next lead or referral.
What get-together will you plan this week?
This Week’s Goal: Define your ideal client. In order to successfully market yourself – your services, website, or product – you need to figure out who is your ideal client or audience. Brainstorm. Who needs what you have to offer? Who reads your website or blog? What industries are ideal? Write up a character sketch, going beyond age, gender, and profession. Describe this person in as much detail as possible – include personality, likes/dislikes, hobbies, philanthropies, anything you think might be relevant. Once you know who you should market it, it will be easier to hone your pitch, target your ads and queries, and ask for referrals.
So, who is your ideal client?
This week’s goal: Expand your social circle. My favorite way to meet new people is to check out a new event or meetup group. I network … a lot. So it’s unusual for me to go somewhere where I know only one or two people. Yet that was the case at last weekend’s Eventbrite LA’s Bloggers & Bellinis. It was a great event, full of food, fun, and new friends. After the event, I followed up with many of the people I met on social networks. You never know where a new connection will lead. You just have to start by connecting.
This week, find and attend an event with a new group of people. Introduce yourself to and exchange cards with at least five of them. Good luck and have fun!
What new event will you attend this week?
This week’s goal: Join an online group. Expanding your online and offline network is something you can and should do on a regular basis. It can help you in current and future endeavors. This week, join a new online group – on Yahoo, Google Plus, Facebook, or LinkedIn. This group can be for a professional organization in your field, an alumni group, or anything that relates to your expertise.
Joining the group is one thing, the next step is participate! If there is an “introduce yourself” thread, do so. Share knowledge, comment, and post, but do not self promote off the bat. Develop some real virtual relationships, first. You never know what may become of them.
This tip was inspired by – and thanks to – author Carolyn Howard-Johnson, How To Do It Frugally book series. Carolyn tries to join a new online group at least every other month.
What group will you join this week?
This week’s goal: Take an energizing walk. Just because you are busy juggling, work, life, and your passion project, does not mean you can’t schedule a little “me-time.” It’s important to take breaks throughout the day – it’s good for your mind, body, and spirit. So, for one break this week, instead of hitting the coffee shop or water cooler, take a ten-minute walk around the block. Leave your cellphone in your purse or pocket – I don’t expect you to leave it at the office – and enjoy a few moments outside. Don’t think of it as time lost. You’ll feel better and have any even more productive afternoon.
When will you take a walk this week?
This week’s goal: Reach out to three people every day. Through social networks – whether you are on LinkedIn or Facebook – you encounter people you know, but rarely see on a regular basis. This week, call, email, message three people every day to check in and catch up. If that’s too much, just reach out to one a day. You never know who you can help – or who can help you – unless you are in touch.
This tip was adapted from Phu Styles’s advice as part of the FilmBreak Buzz panel (pictured, center) last month. According to Dr Taryn Rose at that same event, the average person has 16 word-of-mouth conversations per day. Be the person to start your buzz.
How many people will you contact this week?
This week’s goal: Determine your summer schedule. It’s officially summer, which means you have three choices – take a break from your passion project, commit to getting it done by the end of summer, or come up with a manageable compromise.
Similar to holiday-time, the summer months are chock full of extra obligations: family vacations or field trips, parties and picnics, beachtime and beer. I live in LA, where the weather is great year-round. Those of you in other parts of the country who want to enjoy actual summer, go for it. Just don’t let your projects fall by the wayside in the process.
Whether you have less or more time to devote to your passion project, make a commitment to move forward. How many hours will you work on it each week? Each month? Some weeks may be more productive than others. The objective: be further along on – or complete – your project by the time fall rolls around.
What is your summer schedule commitment?
