Everyone wants to make it in their career and ultimately, in life. As such, one must set goals that they can work towards achieving. When it comes to freelance writing, you must have achievable goals. The must also be realistic. As you delve into this frontier, you must have a clear image in your mind of what you want to get out of it. If you are a full-time freelance writer, you need to set goals that resonate well with that move. This applies even when freelance writing becomes your part-time gig.
Writers must have self-directed rules to govern their freelance endeavors especially if they want to make a decent career out of it. You can pursue a niche that you enjoy more than anything else. Goals help you shape your working life in any way you deem fit.
Importance of setting goals in your freelance writing work
If you want to make it in freelance writing, you must set achievable goals. Once you establish your niche, you can tailor it to be in harmony with your goals especially if you are working on a full-time basis. If you have these goals, you leave nothing to chance, and as they say, the sky is not even the skies can stop you. Freelance writing comes with a lot of freedom, but there is a catch. If you lack direction, good structure, and guidance, freelance writing can become problematic. If you lack motivation or self-discipline, you put your freelance writing career in jeopardy. This is where setting goals come into salvaging your situation. Consider the following reasons on the importance of setting goals:
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They are motivators and provide a sense of focus and direction
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Goals enhance constant growth
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Goals help in distinguishing writing as a hobby or writing as a career
Being a freelance writer is never easy but when you have a sense of direction, focus and the required motivation, you are on the right track. Goals provide you with all the aspects you need to work hard in achieving the success that you are looking for.
If you do not have goals, you have nothing to look forward to and no way of monitoring the direction of your writing career. If you are in freelance writing business without goals, you will lack the motivation to work hard and follow your freelance writing dreams. Freelance writing is wide, and at times, it is hard to decide the area of your focus.
However, when you set goals and strive to achieve them, you get the focus that you need as you hold yourself accountable in the entire process. You can coast along without having any [particular direction, but when you have clearly defined goals, you will progress in your freelance writing career.
Goals are essential in your freelance writing work, and when you have constant targets of improvement, you grow as a freelance writer as you take your career to the next level. Skills and earnings are two areas that you can use to create constant improvement. You can target increasing your income from freelance writing by a certain amount every month or within several months. Alternatively, you can set goals that help you in improving performance targets. For those writers who are savvy and committed to their career, you can do both.
Freelance writers who are serious about their career in this field must treat this venture as such. If you treat your freelance career casually is fine, but it should happen if it is your hobby or side gig. If you are determined to make it a career, there are certain mechanisms you need to put in place with goal setting coming on top of that list.
Setting realistic goals in your freelance writing career
By now, the question that should be in your mind is; how do I set realistic and achievable goals in my freelance writing career? This simple step is essential in understanding how you can do this.
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Think of what you want to achieve
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Refine your priorities and targets
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Monitor your goals and hold yourself accountable
Even though this might seem like a no-brainer, you have to critically think about what you want to achieve in your freelance writing career. Do not restrict yourself to a single area when you are setting your goals. You can come up with a broader outlook of your goals and classify them under different headings.
If you have established large and small goals, you have to refine them. Ensure that they are measurable, attainable, specific, relevant, and time-sensitive. In other words, you have to use the SMART model when setting your goals. Start with the most crucial goals going down to the least important.
Your goals must be specific and clear. You can use these goals to measure your success in freelance writing. You need not set a goal like” I want to improve my copywriting skills’. Instead, think of how many hours you will take in developing your copywriting skills.
As you set goals, make sure you can attain them, and if you cannot, then there is no point in having them in the first place. It is not advisable to set a goal where you target earning more than $100000 in the first year of your freelance writing career. This is not realistic especially if you are a newbie.
You must include deadlines to your goals. This gives you structure, focus, and motivation. In other words, you have short-term and long-term goals in your freelance writing career.
To track your progress, you can list your goals and put them somewhere and do some reference. You can also mark calendar dates and track how you meet your deadlines as a way to review your progress. You can share your goals with a friend so that you do not rely on yourself to track this progress.
Goal setting in freelance writing is crucial, and every wannabe writer must have a clearly defined path to assist them in becoming the best freelance writers. Set your goals now.
