In case you didn’t know, Jennifer and I began reading the book Wired to Create from our 2016 creative books list this month. Like I did when I read Big Magic, I’ve been reading a few pages at a time right before I sit down to write a blog post or dig into creative work. This has been really motivating for me so I hope you’ll join in!
So this post was inspired by Chapter 2: Passion, if you’re reading along—but you don’t have to be for this topic and worksheet to be useful for your blog or business. As any avid blog reader knows, passion is a major topic of interest online right now. It seems like there’s always someone telling us to quit our day jobs and follow our passions (not to mention make oh, 30k a month doing so, stat!). I love seeing this influx of women inspiring other women, but we’re missing a few steps that I hope to fill in today.
One thing I found fascinating about this chapter in Wired to Create was that having hopes and dreams are proven to help you achieve more. In fact, being hopeful about the future is a trait that often leads to success. (When you’re hopeful, you’re more likely to try and try again, rather than just assume things should be handed to you, for example.) But these hopes and dreams? These are what everyone talks about! What’s equally important is figuring out how to get there, and feeling okay about that process, feeling ready to take it on. I love how in the book Kaufman & Gregoire talk about balancing optimism of the future with realistic strategy.
The book references psychologist Gabriele Oettingen’s method of visualizing the goal, and then visualizing what might get in your way, which is something I’d read about a long time ago and always try to keep in mind when I have crazy big ideas. It goes along with the thought that yes, you need the dream – the big idea – but you also need all the tiny steps it will take to get there. And if you can imagine yourself getting through any obstacles, and maybe even enjoying that process, you’re much more likely to find success.
I think this pretty much applies to every type of problem we have to solve in our lives, creative or not. But it’s particularly helpful for anyone along that #GirlBoss spectrum (a very scientific term I just made up!), whether you’re just starting to blog and want to eventually make a few bucks, or have a big business idea that’s going to create jobs for hundreds of people. No matter the scale of our dreams, we should always be aware of the journey!
Oettingen has her own scientific goal setting methods that I’ve perused, but for blogging and business purposes I thought I’d create some simple questions inspired by her work, the book, and my own personal experience.
Download The Blog Market’s Goal & Obstacle Worksheet Here
Now we want to know: what’s your process for envision and tackling blogging and business goals?
Erin says
This is actually going to be very helpful for me, I just started my blog and I’m not entirely sure why. I’m always talking about how overly busy I am but I really wanted to do this, thanks for this!
Erin | http://www.erinelizabethmiller.com
Angela says
Glad to hear it!
Brooklyn W. says
Can you do a post on how to actually make money with your blog? Is there any way to do it without spending money (at first at least)?
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