On learning to set goals
In this week's Notes on Freelancing, I spend some time revisiting my goals from the past year and (attempt to!) work out what I want the coming year to look like.
From my series about the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage
A couple of weeks back, I wrote about using this time of year to spend some time taking stock, revisiting goals that were set and making new goals for the next year.
You can read more about it here but in a nutshell, I’ve found that the autumn season feels more natural to me for this kind of thing, as opposed to the standard January which often feels too slow, too cold and dismal to do anything but hibernate and be cosy. And I don’t just mean for career goals, but for life goals too; we’re often sold this idea of “new year, new me” which is just plain garbage.
It’s taken me some time to find the focus and motivation to actually sit down and write down all my goals; I had the deadline of this newsletter which surely helped some* (*a lot), but I’ve never really done any of this until this year - not in so much detail and not on paper - and really, I mostly dismissed it as a bit woo-woo.
Then I found one of these goal-setting workbooks online and I decided to have a go at it, interested to see the results and knowing that it would at least be somewhat useful for me to write down my plans.
Hilariously, a few weeks after I set my goals and psyched myself up for the coming year which was looking to be quite exciting, Coronavirus came along and said “not today mate”.
But back to now: last week I came across another newsletter where the writer had shared a list of 28 life lessons she’d learnt - 28, for every year just before turning 29, which she does yearly.
I thought this was such a nice thing to do and would love to adopt it as a new yearly ritual. Since I always meant for this newsletter and resource to be as open, honest and real as possible, I’m going to borrow this format and share some of my own goals with you here - freelancing, personal, creative, all of it. For me, they’re all connected to each other anyway!
(A lil note from the future - I began writing my goals like:
Now that I’ve properly read through them, I’m like:
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Goals from the past year
Be regularly working with an outdoor brand by the end of the year
I reckon I was close to this. I did really well in my application for Adobe’s residency back in March which would have enabled me to pitch a really cool project to some outdoor brands I’d love to work with. Saving that for later!
Start building a resource for new freelancers
Hello newsletter! Tick.
Achieve a decent following on Instagram
This was a garbage goal I put down for myself, bad me. What even is a “decent following”? In fact, I’m really pleased that I’ve managed to reduce my hours on Instagram and I’m mostly spending very little time on there compared to the daily hour and a half I clocked before!
Earn enough in one month to be able to save and spend comfortably
This is only just happening this month. (Sort of, I have a really fun triple whammy of car service, MOT and insurance coming up in December *heart eyes*).
Build a decent travel fund for 2021
This was an interesting one. This year was supposed to be a saving year, but the fact is that I didn’t have any proper money coming in for most of the middle of the year. However, the other fact is that I also didn’t spend anything on travel, and boy did I not realise how much I was spending on getting around London! I think I’ve potentially saved more now than I may have even had I been earning… still, my travel fund isn’t really a “fund” yet, and I’m not hugely optimistic about being able to get out much next year.
Go on one travel trip away for my birthday in September
*SOB*
Make changes to my photographic journal of the land & us so that I can maintain it better
This is also happening now. OTLU is a digital photographic journal that I launched while I was still in university and I always found it difficult to manage since it’s just me running it. This month I’ve completely overhauled it, so fingers crossed going forward it’ll be easier for me to commit to it regularly.
Start doing workshops
This probably would’ve gone a lot better sans pandemic, but I did manage to work in two workshops, one for social media and one recently that was walk-based, which was really nice! I also should’ve mentioned talks and the like here too; I did some a couple of speaking engagements over lockdown and have a couple of university talks lined up for the near future. Still wild to me that anyone wants to hear what I have to say!
Set up print sales for the first time
I actually don’t remember putting this down but I did get to this thanks, again, to the pandemic. I launched my print shop for the first time over lockdown and was humbled by the sales that came through. It got a bit quiet in August, and in September I spent some time working on the shop format and strategy. I’ve just launched the shop again last weekend, and it seems to be slowly but surely picking up some momentum again!
Set up a minimum of three different income streams
Almost there! I have money coming in from one client right now who is just about to take me on for more long-term writing work (more on that soon!) and a potential client who is about to take me on for social media work (fingers crossed). The hope is that I can build on my print sales some more as a self-generating income, as well as…
Move into product/still-life photography as another income stream
I’ve done some pitching for this over the past year but no luck just yet, so I’m focusing a bit more on building up my portfolio here.
Launch an upcoming project via a physical event
Man, I’d forgotten about this. I wanted to launch my Eight Limbs project with a zine and a show at the studios I was working out of at the time back in March. That all seems so very long ago now.
Start saving to move out
LOL nope this will take a miracle.
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Goals for the next year
Earn £1000+ three months in a row
Get the mammoth photography project I am currently working on published in a big journal or paper
Book two still-life clients by spring
Land a commission that involves travel and going somewhere new
Write for a print magazine
Land an adventure-based commission
Do a crafty course just for fun - woodworking or ceramics
Go solo wild camping for the first time
Do another long-distance walk but in the UK
Get my first tattoo in spring
Get back into painting
Live abroad for a few months
That’s it from me, but feel free to share your own goals as I’d love to hear what you’re all planning!
Until next time,
A x
End Notes
How To Set Yourself Goals For The New Year
How to set goals you’re excited about
Today’s soundtrack
Reads
Letter to a stranger: To the estranged body in Bali
“I didn’t want to be a woman who needed so much, assumed that no matter what, you’d still be able, fertile. But now your constant ache reminds me of what I’d forgotten—that so much of survival is about maintenance.”
Dreading a dark winter lockdown? Think like a Norwegian
“During the darkest periods of the polar night, Tromsø only receives two to three hours of indirect sunlight, shining into the sky from below the horizon. Yet its inhabitants do not show the kind of wintertime depression you might expect of a city cast in darkness.”
The New Age of Travel Guidebooks
“While such publications celebrate destinations, they also shine the light on subjects like politics, history, culture, and race, making readers the informed people we should be when we visit.”
Opportunities
A little about me
I’m normally a portrait and documentary photographer based in south London and enjoy telling stories about adventure, the outdoors, and our relationship with the natural world.
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I really loved reading this, it was a much more understandable and I feel enlightening take to plan/set up for the yea ahead. I was very inspired!
The links about how to set your goals are very helpful, thank you :))))