This article is brought to you as part of the ASCAP Wellness Program.

 

While the start of the year is typically when people focus on resolutions, it’s never too late to set a goal for yourself. More important than when you set a goal is how you do it.

 

For independent creators, charting the course for career progression can be daunting, particularly if you’re blazing your own trail with no footsteps to follow. It’s common for creators to find themselves second-guessing their decisions. That’s why, rather than setting a goal and hoping for the best, it’s especially important for creators to pair goals with mindful strategies to attain them.

 

Obviously, any goal that you set for yourself should be realistic. But beyond that, the way you structure a goal can greatly increase your chances of accomplishing it.  

 

Here, experts share tactical advice to help you navigate how to identify your goals and make consistent progress towards them, as well as how to tell if you’ve met or exceeded a goal.

 

 

Create SMART goals

 

Oludara Adeeyo, a Los Angeles-based psychotherapist and author of the Self-Care for Black Women series, recommends the time-tested approach of setting “SMART” goals – goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-based.

 

Specificity gives you a clear target to aim for, while the ability to measure your progress will help keep you motivated on your way to success.

 

Perhaps most important is attainability, Adeeyo says. “You want to set goals you know you can actually accomplish, because this will give a boost of confidence to conquer other goals. Creating unrealistic goals is setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. Be honest with yourself and ask, ‘What do I have energy and resources to complete?”

 

Relevance tends to come into play a little later. Sometimes a goal seems like a great idea in the moment, until a few weeks pass and you’re left wondering if it was really that important to achieve in the first place. Setting relevant goals that will play an objectively important role in your professional or personal life is key to maintaining motivation.

 

Lastly, setting time-based goals will help you avoid procrastination. It’s easy to let a goal slide onto the backburner when you don’t have a specific deadline. Mark your calendar and start the clock!

 

 

Think big – and small

 

Just as big goals should be broken down into smaller checkpoints to keep you motivated and moving forward with a sense of momentum, it’s a good idea to have a mix of smaller, short-term goals in play at the same time as your more ambitious long-term goals, says Emily Maguire, managing director and career consultant at Reflections Career Coaching.

 

“In doing so, you boost your self-esteem as you overcome new obstacles with each stepping stone, which is essential for keeping you motivated and on schedule for long-term goal completion,” she says.

 

According to Adeeyo, short-term goals are ones that you know you can achieve within approximately six months, while long-term goals are objectives that might take a year or more to reach. “This is a great way to commit to pursuing career growth goals without it feeling too overwhelming,” she says.

 

“For example, my short-term goal is to build my website for my brand as a therapist and author, which I can work on a bit every day,” Adeeyo says. “My long-term goal is to be seen as the expert on a chosen topic and be commissioned for it. Since I know that is the ultimate goal, I will make sure I am doing all I need to do in between to reach it, which includes completing my short-term goal of a website and refining my skills in my topic of expertise.”

 

Similarly, a creator might imagine the long-term goal of becoming the go-to artist or composer for achieving a specific sound or vibe, while focusing in the near term on upgrading equipment, networking in the right circles and refining your personal brand.

 

+ This Composer Shares Her Most Powerful Productivity Hacks

 

 

Progress isn’t a straight line

 

As the old saying goes, slow and steady wins the race. You can't always be hyper-focused on your goals and sprinting towards the finish line. To go the distance, you’re going to need to give your mind and body the rest and recovery necessary to stay engaged and avoid burning out.

 

To stay balanced and keep stress and pressure at bay, Adeeyo recommends mindfulness activities that put you in a flow state – like journaling or even playing games – coupled with a healthy self-care regimen.

 

“I like to use affirmations, like the ones from my affirmation journal, to really clear my mind and muse about my goals,” Adeeyo says.

 

Journaling can actually kill two birds with one stone, doubling as both a rejuvenating mindfulness activity and a constructive progress report for your goals, Adeeyo says. “I believe that writing about your wants and desires helps you to manifest them. It makes them real to you.”

 

If you want to give journaling a try, Maguire suggests sitting down at the end of the day and taking stock of what went well and what didn't. “By reflecting on your successes and areas for improvement, you can avoid repeating past mistakes, find clarity and take full advantage of opportunities for growth and development,” she says. “The combination of setting SMART goals and using a journal will help keep you motivated and empower you to keep setting goals that are bigger and better than the ones before.”

 

 

Understand what success looks like

 

Independent creators tend to set goals that are too abstract, says accountability coach Niels Bohrmann. For example, let’s say your goal is to be as big of a star as a legendary musician you grew up idolizing. That’s a worthy long-term goal, but how will you know once you’ve achieved it? And, until then, how can you be sure you’re even moving in the right direction?

 

“There is nothing wrong with having ambitious goals, but you must quantify them and also break them down into attainable milestones,” Bohrmann says. “To do that, practice reverse engineering. For example, if your goal is to play Madison Square Garden five years from now, ask yourself, ‘To reach my goal five years from now, what needs to happen every year from here on out?’ Next, ask yourself, ‘Now that I have defined what needs to happen every year, what milestones do I need to hit each of the next 12 months?’ Then you go down to a weekly level. Finally, you decide what behaviors you must execute daily.”

 

Once you have specified your goals and your milestones, make sure to put them down in writing, Bohrmann says, as research has shown that people who pen their goals are more likely to reach them.

 

Defining your goals will not only help you achieve them; it will also enable you to know when it’s time to pause, look back and celebrate a well-earned win.