“Earn P100,000 every month,” “Find at least 50 trusted clients,” “Win at least 40 long-term projects this year” — these big freelancing goals are like 50 feet–high castles that tower over our heads. The prize is at the top and we take it unto ourselves to climb their treacherous walls to reach it every year.

How many times have you tried climbing those walls last year? Were you able to reach the top and successfully meet your freelancing goals? How many castle walls do you plan to climb this year?

Intimidating as they may be, freelancing goals are achievable. It is possible to climb to the top, win the prize, and become successful. And it’s in this post that I’ll share with you the secret to finally fulfilling all of your goals this year.

An Unpredictable Path

The first thing to remember is that you do not have any control over what’s to happen in the next six months or so.

You may have your business goals in mind, but what lies ahead is an unpredictable path that could lead you to different directions, detours, and dead ends.

Let’s say you committed to working 5-6 hours/day in a week this year. You already calculated how much you are likely to earn every month—it’s a huge amount!

But little do you know that family affairs, events, downtimes, and sickness are waiting for you by the side of the road. They can keep you away from the computer, away from your work, and away from your freelance business for a day to a month’s time.

What’s left when you get back? Disappointment. You are then brought back to the bottom of the castle wall and to climb it again next year.

The Secret: Break Those Freelancing Goals to Pieces

There is no telling what will happen this year, so setting major freelancing goals won’t come with an “on-time guarantee.” What you can do though is to adjust your focus and your expectations.

Simply put, the secret to fulfilling your freelancing goals is to break them into little, easy pieces.

I added emphasis to “easy” because these smaller freelancing goals are not as overwhelming and difficult to work with as, “Earn P100,000 per month in freelance income this year.” If you break this into smaller pieces, for example, you will have easier and achievable goals like:

• Spend 3-5 hours each day for freelance work.
• Spend 1-2 hours learning a new skill.
• Win 1 long-term project and 5 short-term projects.

Not too stressful, right? Instead of climbing 50 feet–high castle walls, you’re now jumping over fences or climbing over rooftops. You have better focus and more reasonable expectations for yourself.

Create More Freelancing Goals

Goal-making isn’t a January-only activity. You can create many more freelancing goals for yourself after you’ve completed your first list throughout the year. Think of them as the stepping-stones sticking out of the castle wall.

And as you continue to strike through these small goals, you have already completed half (or more) of that big freelancing goal you made for yourself a year back. Imagine that, you were so busy working, learning new skills, and finding new projects that you didn’t notice that you’ve already made your P100,000 monthly quota already!

You have 12 months ahead to fulfill your freelance business goals; however, it’s not an easy journey. Like I said, there’s no telling what could happen in the next three months or so.

So instead of struggling to commit to a huge freelancing goal, give yourself smaller, easier goals—your stepping stones—to finish off. From there, create more goals until you’ve reached the very top of the castle where the prize lies waiting for you. Before you know it, you have already completed the entire goals list before the year ends.

Let’s now hear from you. Have you created a list of goals for your freelance business for this year? What steps do you intend to take to fulfill them? Which of those goals can you break into smaller, easier pieces? 

best practiceschallengescontractorsfreelance businessfreelancersfreelancingfreelancing lessonsfreelancing successfreelancing tipsgoals for freelancersinspirationnew yearproductivityprovidersremote workwork at home

About the Author: Stef G.

Founder of The Freelance Pinoy, Stef is a freelance copywriter and blogger who loves writing high quality content for blogs and e-commerce. To receive free special updates and freelancing tips from her, sign up for the TFP newsletter. You can also follow her on Twitter @stefgonzaga.