Milestones and goals are important when you begin a new venture. They keep you grounded and give you something to work toward, whether you are paying off debt, losing weight, learning to play the guitar … or staring your own business.
When I decided to start my own freelance writing and editing business, I knew milestones would be critical.
Now, here comes the qualification.
They should be achievable milestones.
Financial analysts, personal trainers, guitar teachers, and publishing professionals will all tell you the same thing … start with what you know you can achieve, rather than a bunch of Mt. Everests. The logic is that when you pull off the reasonable milestone, you’ll be much more confident to tackle the subsequent (and more difficult) goals.
For the first year of my writing and editing business, I created three milestones, dated on the third, sixth, and eleventh anniversaries of when I started the venture (January 18th). To give you an idea of how low I set the bar for myself, my first milestone was due on April 18th, and was, “entice someone to have hired me.”
I had achieved my first goal by January 20th. That might have been serendipity, but it sure as hell made me much more confidant about my decision!
So go forth and create achievable milestones and marvel at your success! :)