Here’s the Weird Goal Framework Every Creative Needs
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Setting SMARTER creative goals will help you earn more money, make and impact or build authority.
Most creatives are more interested in making something great than worrying about numbers and goals.
They strike many of us as like relics from the corporate world, the kind of place we worked long and hard to get out of.
I certainly thought so.
A few years ago, I read advice from David Brooks, an American writer for the New York Times and other publications. He said,
“Great creative minds think like artists but work like accountants.”
Yes, Mr Brooks!
There’s a time for exploring interesting ideas, but it’s also worth quantifying what success looks like for your content business.
Ask yourself:
Is my content helping me build authority within my chosen niche and earn a good living?
You can easily set creative goals that will help you think like a Picasso and work like a forensic accountant, and all without getting bored out of your mind.
Enter The Smarter Goal Framework
SMARTER goals basically build on SMART goals. It is an acronym for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Time-bound
- One you can Evaluate
- Rewarding (this is key)
So, what does this type of creative goal look like in practice?
Last year, I set a SMARTER goal:
“I will self-publish a compilation of my writing books by April.”
That goal was specific because I was clear about what I planned to do.
It was measurable because I either published the book or put it off again.
It was achievable because I’d already written these books. I just needed to re-edit them as one book and self-publish it.
The goal was time-bound, hence the April deadline.
In other words, I didn’t want the goal to drag on towards the end of the year. I was…
