Transcripts
1. Welcome: Do you ever set too
many goals and feel totally overwhelmed
before you even start? Well, a few years
ago, that was me. I had too many projects and too many goals and ended up completely overwhelmed
and burnt out, which unsurprisingly affected my productivity
and mental health. Hi, I'm Louise, a
marketing strategist with 13 years of
industry experience, a creative business owner and a top teacher
here on Skillshare. Now, I need to add
a disclaimer here. I'm far from a
productivity guru. But after years of juggling full time work,
freelance projects, and trying to build my
own creative business, I realized that I needed a simpler system for setting
goals that actually worked. I'm not going to lie. It's
something that I've really had to work hard to
refine over the years. And I'd love to
share my process. In this class, I'll
show you how to create a realistic
quarterly goal plan for your creative business using free tools like Cha
GBT and Trello. So why is this class
important to me? I've always been a goal
orientated person, and I've always
enjoyed setting goals. But I always just
used to set too many. I ended up burnt out, constantly feeling stressed,
overwhelmed, and behind. So at the start of
this year, I created a system that helps to
keep me focused and calm. And so far, it's been
working really well. For the first time, I actually feel like I know exactly what I need to do and when and to make steady progress
without the stress. The biggest lessons
I've learned is that you don't need to do
everything all at once. You just need to take
it step by step. When you break things down into smaller focused goals and
plan ahead like this, you're setting yourself
up for success. You'll always know what to
work on next instead of feeling scattered or stuck
because at the end of the day, we're all human and we can't do everything
all of the time. Clarity and
priatization are key. It's not about doing more. It's about doing
what matters most to help you move towards
achieving your goals. This class is for time strapped, creative
business owners, freelancers, and
sole preneurs who want a simpler way to plan
and actually follow through. You don't need any
experience with AI Trello, just an idea of your
long term goals for your creative business. We'll start by reflecting
on your past 12 months, defining your vision state
and big annual objective, breaking it into smaller
focus areas and goals, turning these into manageable
quarterly tasks and then visualizing everything on Trello or whichever
tool you prefer. By the end, you'll have your
own quarterly goal plan. A simple system you can reuse every quarter and
hopefully feel more clear, calm, and in control. Ready to simplify
your goal setting and finally make progress without the overwhelm.
Let's get started.
2. Class Project: Welcome to your class project. In this class,
you'll be creating your own quarterly goal plan for your creative business using
the template that I've provided in the projects
and resources section. Your finished project
could be a photo or screenshot of your completed
goal setting template. A quick summary of
your annual focus and two to three
quarterly goals, or even a picture of your trello board if you
prefer using a visual. Be looking for clarity and
focus rather than perfection. Your project should simply
show how you've broken down your big annual objective into smaller focused action
steps for the next quarter. I chose this project because planning only works
once it's applied. Writing down your goals
and seeing them organized visually is what turns
ideas into action. This project gives
you the chance to practice the process that
you'll learn in class. So reflect, plan, and
break things down. So you walk away with
something that you can start using straightaway
in your business. Here's a quick overview
of the steps you'll take. First, you'll reflect on
your last 12 months using the reflection prompts or chat GPT to identify what worked, what didn't, and
what you learned. Next, you'll envision your
ideal creative business for the next year,
your big objective. Next, you'll choose two
to three focus areas that will move you closer to that big objective this quarter. You'll set your goals
and break each one into quarterly mini tasks using chat GPT prompts
or your own ideas. Finally, you can
organize everything visually on your
trelllobard or notion, Canva or any tool
that you prefer. You'll find all the
materials that you need in the projects
and resources tab. When you've completed your plan, head to the project
gallery and upload it. You can share a screenshot
of your template, your Trello board, or
even a short written post summarizing your goals. Just a quick note, please don't feel like
you need to share any personal or sensitive
details if you'd rather not. You can blow out
information or just share your overall
goals and focus areas. The idea is to share your
process and progress. I'd love to see
your projects and hear how you're applying
this framework, so please feel
free to share with me on Instagram or LinkedIn, and I would love to see what
you've been working on. Started, download
the goal setting template from the projects
and resources tab. Then take 5 minutes
to start answering the reflection prompts and think about what's
worked for you so far. That's your first
step towards creating a quarterly plan that feels calm, focused,
and achievable. I'll see you in
the first lesson, why setting fewer goals works.
3. Lesson 1 - Why fewer goals work better: Welcome to the first lesson. So before we start
reflection and planning, I want to talk about why
setting goals matters and why keeping things simple can actually help
you to achieve more. Setting goals isn't just
something we're told to do. There's real evidence behind it. Research shows that
people that write down their goals and share
progress with someone are much more likely to
achieve them than those who don't specific goals
also boost focus, motivation, and follow through. The exact things that
move us forward. So goal setting works,
but there is a catch. If you're anything like
me, you've probably set too many goals in the past
and ended up overwhelmed. It's easy to think that more
goals equals more progress, but usually the
opposite happens. When we try to do
too much at once, we spread ourselves too thinly, lose momentum, and it becomes hard to know
what to focus on first. That's why I now try to focus on just two or three key
goals per quarter. That helped me to make progress towards my main
annual objective. It's a small number,
but it's what makes it doable when you've
got a lot going on. You focus on fewer goals, you reduce mental clutter
and decision fatigue, gain clarity on what
really matters, and build momentum because you actually finish
what you start. It's not about doing everything. It's about doing the right thing towards the goals
that matter to you. And as creatives and
small business owners, our ideas never stop, which is amazing, but it
can also make focus hard. This approach helps
you to channel your creative energy into the projects that truly
move you forward. So a quick story for you. This really hit home for
me earlier this year. I realized that I
couldn't do everything, and I had to start
making choices that aligned with what I
wanted long term. I knew I wanted to get serious about growing my creative
business this year, so I had to make some
tough decisions. I stepped down from a voluntary
position that I enjoyed, and I also drastically
reduced the amount of personal content
that I was creating for my own blog
and social pages, which had been a big part
of my life for years. It wasn't easy, but it
gave me the space and clarity to fully focus
on my business goals, and I do feel a lot less
stressed as a result. Maybe in the future, I'll pick those things back
up, but for now, I'm prioritizing and aligning my energy with the time that I have so that I can
move closer to the goals that matter the
most for me right now. Sometimes achieving more
starts by doing less, and that's less of
the wrong things and more of the right ones. That's what this
class is built around keeping things simple,
focused, and achievable. By setting one big
annual objective, breaking this down into
a few focus areas, and then turning those into smaller quarterly
goals and tasks, you'll create a clear forward. You'll always know
what to do next, and you'll avoid that
constant juggling feeling that so many of us
creatives live with. Before we move on, take a
minute to think about this. Which goals or projects
actually move you closer to where you want to be and which might actually
be adding noise? Jot, a few thoughts in your goal setting template or a notebook. We'll build on them in
the class projects soon. Now that you've got clarity
on why less really is more, it's time to take
a closer look at what's actually working
in your business. In the next lesson, I'll guide
you through reflecting on your business and
spotting what's really working and what's
not. I'll see you there.
4. Lesson 2 - Reflect on your business: Come to Lesson two. Before setting new goals, it's important to
pause and look back. Reflection helps you to
recognize what's gone well, what's been challenging, and what you've learned
along the way. It's so easy as business
owners and creatives to start chasing the next idea without stopping and acknowledging
how far we've come. But reflection is where
the real insight happens. When you take time to reflect, you start to see patterns, so like what worked, what didn't, and what
truly fulfills you. That clarity means that your next goals
can be grounded in what actually moves you forward instead of what just
sounds good in the moment. This class, we're
focusing mainly on your business
or creative work. But this process can be used
in any area of your life, for example, your health, your relationships,
or personal growth. I've created some
reflection prompts to help with this first step. You'll find these in your
goal setting template, but let's walk through
these together. As you go through each section, try to answer honestly. No one else will see this
unless you want them to. So let's start with your
wins and achievements. What were your top three
achievements in the past year? What are you most proud
of accomplishing? Which of your goals did you
achieve and how did it feel? Who or what are you most
grateful for this year and why? Challenges and lessons. What were the biggest
challenges you face? How did you overcome them? What lessons did you learn
from these challenges? And how will you
carry these lessons forward? Personal growth. In what ways have you grown
personally or professionally? What skills or habits did
you develop or strengthen? Unfinished goals. Were there any goals you didn't achieve? Anything that you
wanted to achieve and you didn't? And why? Does this still feel
important to you? Is there anything you regret or wish you'd done differently? What can you learn from
it? Joy and fulfillment. What brought you
the most joy and fulfillment over the past
year or past six months? Did you find a good
balance between work relationships,
and self care? If not, how can you improve it moving forward?
Review of resources. What tools, strategies or resources were most
helpful to you? Is there something new you discovered that's
made a big impact? Self check. On a
scale of one to ten, how satisfied are you
with your progress? Why? What would you say to your past self from a year ago? And then intentions
for the future. Based on this reflection, what areas of life feel
most aligned for you? Is there anything you'd like
to do differently next time? Where do you want to focus
more attention moving forward? If you could summarize
this year in one word or phrase,
what would it be? You don't have to use
these exact questions. These are just a guide of the kind of areas that you
should be thinking about. Another thing as well
that you can do is use hat GPT as your
reflection partner. So, for example, you could
try a prompt like this. Act as a business coach. Ask me five reflection questions about my creative business, what worked, what didn't what I learned over
the last 12 months. Then answer each question
in your own words. It's a great way to uncover insights that you may not
have thought about otherwise. Also ask Chat GPT to summarize your thoughts
or reflection answers. I find Chat GPT is really useful at helping to
organize my scattered brain. For example, when I did this
reflection exercise myself, I realized that a lot
actually went well this year. I launched several
Skillshare courses. One even got a staff my
website traffic grew, and my email is
started to take off. But I also noticed
how much I'd been juggling alongside
a full time job, which left me drained and
short on time for things like creating digital products or growing the freelance
side of my business. The biggest lesson for me was
that I can't do everything. I need to focus on
what's working and protect my energy so that I can stay consistent long term. That's what this
reflection is all about, spotting what's
helping you grow, what's holding you
back, and what you can take forward into your
next set of goals. Now I'd like you to take
ten to 15 minutes to go through these prompts in
your goal setting template. You don't have to
answer all of them. Just start with the ones
that resonate the most. Keep your notes
nearby because we'll use your reflections
in the next lesson to envision your ideal
creative future and choose your main
focus for the year ahead. I'll see you there.
5. Lesson 3 - Envision Your Ideal Creative Future: Now that you've
taken the time to reflect on your journey so far, it's time to look ahead to imagine where you
want to go next. In this lesson,
we're going to take everything you've learned
from your reflection and use it to create
a clear vision for the next year of
your creative business. This isn't about setting
lots of goals just yet. It's about taking a
step back and asking, what does success really
look like for me? Because when you know what
you're working towards, every decision becomes
that little bit easier. So before we jump
into writing goals, I want you to slow down
for a minute and really visualize what your ideal
year ahead could look like. Ask yourself the
following questions. What does success look and feel like for me and my
creative business? What kind of work am I doing? And who am I creating for? What am I most
proud of achieving? How do I want to
feel day to day? Calm, confident, fulfilled? What kind of impact do
I want my work to have? Answer these questions honestly. You can write them
down in your goal setting template or a notebook. The goal is to capture
what you want, not what you think
you should want. I once you've answered
those questions, we're going to
turn your thoughts into a short vision statement, something that sums up where you want to be this time next year. If you're not sure
how to word it, then you can use Chat GPT to help bring your
ideas together. Try typing something like this. Help me write a one paragraph
vision statement for my creative business over the next 12 months
based on these answers, and then paste all of
your reflection questions and answers here from the
previous two lessons. Make it sound positive,
personal, and motivating. Chat GPT can then
help you phrase your ideas clearly and pull everything into one
inspiring state. I did this exercise for myself, my vision for the next
year looks like this. My vision is to build a calm, purposeful business
that gives me the freedom to
design my own life, doing meaningful values
driven work that helps small mission led businesses with their marketing
and strategy. I want to feel proud
of what I'm building, something that's mine that makes a real difference
and that allows me to live and work in a way that feels balanced,
fulfilling, and free. It doesn't have to sound
polished or perfect. Remember, this is for you. The aim is to capture what your next year and beyond could look and feel like when
things are going well and aligned
with your values. As you create your
vision, ask yourself. Why does this vision
matter to me? How do I want to feel
as I work towards it? What would make me
proud a year from now? Keep it honest, simple and real. The clearer your
vision feels to you, the more naturally the next
steps will fall into place. Once you've written
your vision statement, keep it somewhere you can see on your wall, in your notebook. Or even at the top
of your trellbard. This will become your guide
for the rest of this process. In the next lesson is where things start to feel exciting. We'll take that vision
and turn it into clear, actionable goals that you
can actually work towards. So you can start
building your path one step at a time.
I'll see you there.
6. Lesson 4 - Turn Your Vision into a 12 month Objective & Focus Areas: Now that you've written
your vision statement and imagined what success looks like for your creative business, it's time to bring that
vision down to Earth and turn it into something you can
actually work towards. In this lesson, we'll take your big picture vision and translate it
into a measurable, long term objective for
the next 12 months. Then we'll identify two
to three key focus areas that will help you to get there. If you run a larger
business or have a team, then you might have capacity
for more focus areas. But if you're working
solo or part time, I recommend keeping it to two to three focus areas and just a few goals per quarter
to keep it realistic. Now, before we start
setting our own goals, I just want to show you how
everything fits together. So your vision is
your big picture, why, and then everything
else will flow from. As you can see, on
the table on screen, you've got your big
picture Y at the top, and then you've got
your 12 month objective that brings your vision to life. You've got your focus areas, which are two or
three main themes that guide your
goals for the year. You've then got
your annual goals. So the big outcomes you want to achieve under each
focus area this year, and then you've got
smaller milestones that move you towards
those annual goals. And these can change
each quarter. And then finally, you've
got the day to day actions you'll take to
complete your quarterly goals. Put a few examples here
from my own business. So if you want to
read through those, then feel free to pause
and have a read through. So the first step is to turn your vision into a
measurable objective. Start by looking at your vision statement from the last lesson. Ask yourself, what's
the main outcome or result I want by
the end of this year? How will I know
I've achieved it? What would progress actually
look like in real terms? Objective should describe
what you want to achieve overall this year in a way that you can measure
or recognize. For example, if your
vision was to grow a calm, sustainable business where I can create freely and
work from anywhere, the objective might be to
increase your business income by 30% while maintaining
a healthy life balance. Or if the vision was to grow my creative brand and reach
more people with my message, an objective might be to
build an engaged audience of 2000 email subscribers and grow my Skillshare
student base by 50%. It doesn't have to be perfect. This is just about giving your vision a
tangible direction. If you're not sure how to
phrase your objective, then Chat GPT can help you to summarize and
clarify your ideas. Try typing something here's my vision statement for
my creative business. Help me turn this into a clear, measurable 12 month objective
I can work towards. Or if you'd like more detail, you could write
something like, based on this vision statement, suggest one or two ways I could make it more
specific or measurable, something that I could
track over the next year. You can, of course, experiment
until it feels right. Your objective should be both
inspiring and practical. I did this exercise with Chat GPT using my own
vision statement, and this is what it said. So it created an objective
that by December 2026, I will have built a calm, values driven marketing
business generating at least per month inconsistent
income from skill share, digital products, and
aligned client work, allowing me to work
independently with purpose, balance, and creative freedom. This is measurable as there is a financial target here which can be tracked
and measured. It's really important that the overall objective is something that can be measured so that you know if you've achieved it. Once you've got your objective, then it's time to think
about how you'll achieve it. These are your focus areas. The two to three top level areas that you'll focus on over the next 12 months that directly support
your main objective. What two to three
things would make the biggest difference to
my business this year? Which areas will
have the most impact on achieving my objective? What will help me move forward without spreading
myself too thin? Before we go any further, it's important to understand
the difference between focus areas and goals because
the two often get mixed up. Focus areas are your
big picture themes, the main pillars
that guide where you'll spend your time
and energy this year. Your goals sit underneath
those focus areas. They're the specific, measurable things that you'll achieve
underneath each one. Think of your focus
areas as your map and the goals as the
destinations along the way. This structure keeps your
planning simple and clear and makes it much easier to stay
focused quarter to quarter. I find that having two to
three focus areas gives you enough variety without
spreading yourself too thin. Each one acts like a mini
project for the year with smaller goals sitting you're
unsure what to focus on, then Chat GPT can help you to
brainstorm and prioritize. For example, you could try. Here's my 12 month objective, suggests two to three focus
areas that would help me to achieve this in a realistic way as a creative business owner. Or if you already have too
many ideas, you could say, here are my potential
focus areas for the year and
here's my objective, which two to three would have the biggest impact on my
business based on my objective. This is a great way to stay
focused and realistic, especially if you're
someone with lots of ideas like most creatives. Remember, you can keep refining with Chat GPT until
you're happy. You don't have to take the
first thing that it says. And as always with hat GPT, the more context you give
it about your business, then the better your
answer will be. So here you could ask yourself. What do I really want to
focus on this year and why? Which areas feel aligned with
my values and lifestyle? If I could only achieve two
to three things this year, what would make me
feel most proud? Did this exercise with Chat GPT based on the
objective that it gave me, and these are the focus
areas that it came up with. My first focus area is all
about creating balance, so aligning my career and
business with work that feels meaningful and gives
me more creative freedom. My second focus area
is income growth, so expanding what's
already working with Skillshare and
freelance projects to build steady,
reliable income. And my third focus area is
visibility and sustainability. Consistent with my
marketing while keeping my systems
simple and doable. Before we move on,
take a moment to jot your 12 month objective
two to three focus areas in your goal setting template. We'll use them in the
next lesson to create your goals and quarterly
priorities. I'll see you there.
7. Lesson 5 - Turn Your Focus Areas into SMART Goals & Quarterly Priorities: Now that you've defined your two to three focus
areas for the year, it's time to turn
them into specific, measurable goals and then
break those goals into quarterly priorities so they feel realistic and achievable. This step is what connects your big picture vision to
your day to day action. It's where things
start to feel real. Instead of having a
long list of ideas, you'll know exactly what
to focus on and when. This approach has honestly
been a game changer for me. It keeps me focused,
stops you overwhelm, and actually helps me finish things instead of abandoning
them halfway through. Why plan quarterly? A year can feel
like a long time. It's easy to lose motivation or need to have to change your
plans along the way. Breaking your goals
in two quarters gives you both structure
and flexibility. Each quarter then becomes
a mini season of focus, short enough to stay on track, but long enough to
make real progress. This approach also
helps you to adapt. For example, if life gets busy, like when I moved house
earlier this year, you can adjust your goals each quarter without
feeling like you've failed. Instead of one giant to do list, you'll have four
smaller focused periods where you can give
your full attention to what matters most. It's all about progress, not perfection,
staying consistent and adjusting as you go. The first step is to set measurable goals under
each focus area. So take each of your
focus areas and ask. What specific,
measurable outcomes do I want to achieve
here this year? How will I know if I've made progress by the end of the year? Try to set two to three
goals per focus area for the should feel
motivating but manageable, something that you can
track and celebrate. For example, if your
focus area is to grow and diversify
your income streams, then your goals might be. Launch three new
Skillshare classes, secure two regular
freelance clients, reach 100 pounds a month combined income
by the end of the year. If your focus area is to build visibility and audience growth,
then your goals might be. Grow your email list
to 500 subscribers, post weekly on LinkedIn
and Instagram, publish one blog per
month to improve SEO and if you're not sure what goals you need
under each focus area, then ask Chat GPT to help. You could use a
prompt like this. But each of my focus
areas identified, create two to three
annual smart goals for each aligned with
my 12 month objective. And here's an example
of what Chat GPT gave to me for one
of my focus areas. So one of my focus
areas was to build visibility and
sustainable systems. So the first goal
under this focus area is to grow my email list by December 26 through lead magnets and
consistent newsletters. The second goal is to publish one blog posts per month and
increase website traffic. And the third goal is to
post weekly on LinkedIn and biweekly on Instagram
for brand visibility. So the next step is that
once you've got your goals, you need to break them down
into quarterly priorities. So here you can ask yourself, what can I realistically
achieve in the next three months that will move me closer to my goals? Which goal or part of a goal
should I focus on first? General guide, I
recommend focusing on two to three
priorities per quarter. That's usually enough to make meaningful progress without
feeling overwhelmed. But remember, this
isn't a strict rule. You might have more time in some quarters and
less time in others, depending on your energy, workload, and personal life. The most important
thing is that your plan feels realistic and
sustainable for you. You might also find that
some goals are better suited to later in the year,
and that's completely fine. The key is to review your
progress each quarter, reflect, and realign as you. For example, if
your annual goal is to create four Skillshare
courses this year, then how will this be
broken up by quarter? Maybe you have more time later in the year or
maybe you want to spread them evenly throughout the year and release
one course per quarter. If you're not sure
how to structure your goals or break them down, then you can use Chat GPT
to help you organize them. For example, you could
try a prompt like this. Here are my focus areas
and goals for the year. Help me break these into realistic quarterly
priorities for a solo creative business. Or you could try
based on these goals, what's the best
order to tackle them across four quarters to stay
balanced and avoid burnout. Remember, you can also give Chat GPT more context
here as well, including what your
work life balance is like and how much
time you've got, and that will help
Chat GPT to give you a more realistic
answer for you. Once you've outlined
your quarterly plan, then add it to your
goal setting template, Trello board, notion or
whatever tool works for you. For example, in a
tool like Trello, you can create one
column per quarter and then underneath list your key priorities
for that quarter. Helps you to see
your whole year at a glance and makes it
easier to stay focused. While doing this
exercise, ask yourself. Do my goals feel
realistic and motivating? What feels most important
to focus on first? Does my quarterly
plan reflect my time, energy, and capacity right now? Now, here's a quick
example from me just to show how it all comes
together in practice. So for each focus area, I've set a few measurable
goals for the year and then broken them down into
quarterly priorities. This way, every few
months I can check in, adjust and keep
things realistic. Also helps me to see the
bigger picture without feeling overwhelmed because I know exactly what to focus
on in each quarter. So one of my focus
areas this year is to build visibility and
sustainable systems. And the smart goal
for this was to grow my email list to a set
amount by December 2026. So how does this break
down by quarter? Quarter one, the priority is to create and launch
a new lead magnet. Quarter two is when I
will start promoting that lead magnet across my
social media platforms. Quarter three, I will run
a small email challenge or a mini campaign
to boost engagement, and then quarter four, I will refresh or relaunch
a lead magnet. This is obviously
just an example, but having this breakdown makes it feel a lot
more manageable, and it means that I always
know what to focus on. And I can actually
enjoy the process because I'm not trying to
do everything at once. Once you've mapped out
your quarterly priorities, take a moment to look
at them as a whole. Do they feel balanced? Do they connect back to your overall vision
and objective? In the next lesson, we'll take
this plan a step further. Breaking your
quarterly priorities into smaller actionable tasks, and I'll show you how to
visualize everything on Trello so that you can stay organized and calm.
I'll see you there.
8. Lesson 6 - Turn Quarterly Priorities into Action Tasks: Now that you've mapped out
your quarterly priorities, it's time to turn
them into action. This is where your plan
starts to feel real. When your big goals
become smaller, manageable tasks that you
can actually tick off. I know from experience
that this part can often feel exciting but also
a little overwhelming. But, trust me, when
you break things down, it becomes so much more doable. It's all about making steady, realistic progress and not
doing everything all at once. So why does breaking
things down matter? When a goal feels too big, it can be really hard to start. End up procrastinating
or feeling stuck because we can't
see a clear first step. That's why I like
to break my goals into small specific actions. Things I can actually
see myself doing. Once you get moving, you
start to build momentum. One small step leads to another, and suddenly that big
goal doesn't feel so scarye take one of your priorities for this
quarter and ask yourself. What needs to happen first? What specific steps
will move this forward? What can I realistically
do in the next few weeks? Try to list around three
to five small actions under each quarterly priority. For example, if
your priority for this quarter is to launch
a new lead magnet, then your steps might
look like this. Decide on a topic that
your audience needs. Write and design the
freebie in Canva, upload it to your email platform and set up a sign up page, promote it on your social
media and website. Each task feels achievable, and together they add up to something that makes
a real difference. You can number your tasks, highlight the most
important ones, or simply mark your top
three for the month ahead. If everything feels urgent, remind yourself that not
everything matters equally. Start with the steps that move the needle towards your
quarterly priority. The rest can follow later. Here's another quick if your quarterly goal is
to launch a new course, your highest priority
tasks might be to outline the lessons and
film the first few videos, which can be done in
months one and two. Editing, graphics, and
promotion can come later. This simple prioritization
step helps you to focus your energy where
it counts and stops you from feeling like you
need to do everything at. Here again, you can use Chat GPT to help
break things down. Try typing something
like this into Chat GPT. Here's my quarterly priority. Help me break this down into
smaller actionable steps. I could complete
over quarter one as a solo creative business owner. Or if you've already got a
few ideas, you could say, Can you help me to
organize these steps into a realistic order and suggest what might fit into month
one, two, and three? Or if you need
help prioritizing, you could say, here's my list
of tasks for this quarter. Help me to prioritize
these based on impact and effort and suggest which ones
I should focus on first. It's a great way to make
sure you're not missing any steps and gives you
structure to work from. You can also use Chat GPT
here to bring together all of your priorities across the different areas
of your business. For example, once
you've mapped out your focus areas and quarterly
goals, you could ask. Can you show all my
quarter one priorities, smart goals and tasks
in one list for all focus areas
order by priority? This is a great way to get a clear overview of everything
you're working on at. Especially if like me, you have multiple projects
going on at once. Chat CPT can then help
to organize them into a single manageable
plan that you can copy straight into your
plant or Trello board. Now that you've got your
tasks, let's make it visual. I love using Trello for
this because it's free, flexible, and makes it really easy to see everything
at a glance. But obviously, you can use
any tool that works for you. And you can set this up,
however works for you, but here is what I like so I currently use two Trello
boards regularly. One is my big picture board, and it has all of my
goals for the year broken down into quarters with
a list for each quarter. And then the second
is my weekly board, which I use day to day. The first list on that board is my quarterly goals
or priorities. And this is where I add the two to three smart goals
I'm focusing on quarter. These come directly
from the goals we set earlier in the process. Then under each goal, I add all of the actionable
tasks that support it. For example, one of
my goals this quarter might be to launch a
new Skillshare course. The tasks underneath
could include things like outlining
the lessons, writing scripts, and filming. I then move those tasks into my main task list
for that quarter. I assign due dates
and color code them for each focus area so
everything stays organized. You can also
automate this IntreL two and visualize
everything on a calendar. Setup makes it
really easy to see the connection between my
goals and my day to day work. Everything links back
to the bigger picture. I also try to make
sure there aren't any tasks on here that
don't relate to a goal. Assigning each task to a goal
helps me to stay focused and avoid any busy work that doesn't actually
move me forward. Obviously do the same in notion, asana, or even on paper. The tool doesn't
actually matter. What matters is that
it feels clear, visual and easy
for you to manage. So you always know what
matters most this quarter. I can't stress this enough. Your plan should support
you and not stress you out. Remember, things change and priorities shift
and that's okay. Think of your plan
as something living, something you can update
and adapt as you go. For example, in quarter three, I had to reduce some of my
goals and tasks that I set at the start of the year
because I moved house and I had less time and
energy in quarter three. Sometimes you don't know
how your year will pan out, and that's why quarterly
planning makes sense. At the end of each quarter, take a moment to
review what's worked. Celebrate your wins and adjust anything no
longer serving you. For example, one of my
priorities this year was to launch a new Skillshare
class each quarter. When I broke it down, my
list looked like this. Outline the lessons,
write the scripts, film and edit the videos, upload and publish, share
it with my audience. Doing one step at a time
made it feel completely manageable because I wasn't trying to do
everything in one go. So now it's your
turn. Take each of your quarterly
priorities and break them into smaller
realistic action. You can do this in
your goal setting template or by setting
up your own trellbard. Whatever feels easiest for you. Remember, your plan doesn't
have to be perfect. It just has to feel possible. In the next lesson, we'll
wrap everything up. I'll share how to stay
accountable, review your progress, and keep this plan feeling sustainable longer term.
I'll see you there.
9. Lesson 7 - Staying Accountable: So you've done it. You've
created your vision, set your goals,
broken them down, and turned them into action. Now it's time to make sure
all that work sticks. In this lesson,
we're going to talk about how to stay on track, how to check in with
yourself regularly, keep momentum, and stay motivated without adding
pressure or guilt. First, I want to remind
you that this process is meant to support you
and not stress you out. Some ones you might
fly through tasks, and others will feel
slower, and that's okay. The goal isn't to
have a perfect year. It's to keep moving forward
one quarter at a time. Whenever you feel like
you're falling behind, come back to your plan and ask. What's one more thing I can do today to move closer to my goal. Sometimes that's enough
to reset your momentum. Reflection shouldn't
just happen once a year. It works best when
it's consistent. Try adding small check
ins throughout your year. For example, weekly or biweekly. Review your trellbard
or planner, move, finish tasks, update priorities, and celebrate the small wins. Monthly, ask what went well
this month, what felt heavy? What can I adjust?
Quarterly, use the same reflection prompts from earlier in the class
to review progress, celebrate achievements, and
reset your next priorities. These check ins are your
accountability moments. They keep you connected to your goals and stop them
from gathering dust. You can also use
chat GPT to help you reflect and stay accountable
throughout the year. So ary some prompts like this. Ask me a few
reflection questions about how my business
goals are going this month or help me review my progress towards these
quarterly priorities. Suggest what I might
focus on next. Can even set up gentle check
in reminders with Chat GPT. So ask something like remind me every Friday
to check my progress on my weekly goals or
schedule a message once a month to help me review
my quarterly priorities. Chat GPT can then send
you friendly nudges or quick reflection prompts at whatever frequency
works best for you. Weekly, monthly or quarterly. It's like having a calm
accountability partner that helps you stay on
track without the pressure. Here are some other
ways that you could find some gentle accountability. Share your quarterly
goals with a friend, fellow creative or
business group. Join an online community where others are working
on similar goals, like in the Discussions tab
of this course, for example, even post a small
monthly update on LinkedIn or Instagram, if
that feels comfortable. When we share our progress, even just a little, we create
motivation and community. Don't forget to pause and
recognize how far you've come. Every task completed,
every small improvement, every idea brought to life. It all counts. It's easy
to skip to what's next. But acknowledging your
wins helps you to build confidence and keeps
your motivation strong. You can also share updates or
wins in the discussion tab. I love to hear how
everyone is progressing. So for me, at the
end of each quarter, I like to look back
at my Trello board and highlight the
things that I'm proud of achieving that quarter, whether it's finishing
a Skillshare class, launching a digital product, or even staying consistent
with my marketing. I'll make a quick note
about what worked and what didn't and then reset
for the next quarter. It's a simple habit that keeps
me grounded and reminds me that progress adds times I think I haven't
achieved anything, and then when I look
back, I'm like, Wow. I actually did a lot.
Personally, I like to put my reflections and
goals or priorities for next quarter into a blog
post and social media posts as I find that that helps
me to stay accountable. In the next lesson, we'll
wrap everything up. I'll share a few
closing thoughts, how to keep this system
going beyond the class and how you can share
your project and connect with me for feedback.
I'll see you there.
10. Wrap up: Thank you so much for taking this class with
me and for giving yourself the time
and space to plan your goals with more
intention this year. I know how easy it is
to get caught up in the day to day of running
a creative business. So the fact that you've
made it to the end of this class deserves celebrating. Let's recap what we've
covered in this class. We started by reflecting
on where you've been, celebrating your wins and
learning from the challenges. Then we envisioned your ideal
creative future and set clear objective for
the year ahead. From there, we turned
that big vision into realistic goals, broke them down by quarter
into smaller action steps, visualize them on Trello, and looked at how to stay accountable with
regular check ins. And remember, this isn't only
something that you do once. If you follow this
process each quarter, you'll create a system
that grows with you and your business
without the overwhelm. If there's one thing
that I hope you take away from the
class, it's this. You don't need to do everything. You just need to focus
on what matters most. Small consistent
steps will take you further than trying
to do it all at once. Now it's your turn to
share what you've created. Upload your project to
the project gallery. Whether that's a photo
of your Trello board, a snapshot of your
goal setting template or just a short write
up of your main goals. I'd love to see your
plans and cheer you on. If you found this class helpful, please consider
leaving me a review. It really helps
other students find the class and means so
much to me as a creator. Don't forget to follow
me here on Skillshare to be notified when I
release new classes. You can also find me on
Instagram or LinkedIn or visit my website where
you can download the full version of the
goal setting template. This includes sections for
both business and life goals. Before you go, take a
second to think what's one more change you can make this week to move towards
your first quarterly goal. Thank you again for being here. I hope this process helps
you to create more focus, freedom, and clarity in
your creative business. Remember, progress
and not perfection. I can't wait to see what you achieve next. I'll see you soon.
Louise Laurie, Marketing Strategy & Courses
