Keeping Up With the... Goals

Starting a side gig or simply wanting to switch gears requires a LOT of focus and effort. At times, it’ll be completely overwhelming and exhausting. Other times, it’ll be smooth sailing and you’ll be watching for the other shoe to drop. So why is it that let up and let our momentum slow down?!

Well, because eventually that exhaustion will catch up with you, and especially if you have a full-time job and/or family needing attention, it’s easy to just keep putting off taking those next steps. We’ve been hearing it more and more lately, that “it can wait” or it’s “just not the right time”. We’d like to correct that and flip it to: you just don’t want it bad enough.

You might read that and start with some colourful language directed at me, but let me explain. There are ways to ALWAYS move the needle in your business. The same goes for side hustles and full-time entrepreneurship. There is always something that you can do to make something, somewhere, happen. If you are using your time the right way, i.e. time block and schedule time to focus on your business, there’s just literally no excuse.

Here are a few reasons we’ve been hearing as excuses lately – and a few workarounds:

“I’m too busy”: the reality of it is that we are ALL busy. Just choose your busy. What are you “busy” doing? If you can find 20-30minutes a few times a week, you can move your business forward. You just have to decide what your priorities are.
“It can wait”: yes, it can. But does it have to? If you’re continuously moving your side gig down the list of things to do, you’ll never get it going. Chances are there’s something else preventing you from starting.
“It’s not worth it”: that’s because you haven’t assigned it the proper worth. Starting a side gig doesn’t HAVE to generate income. Naturally, this is one of the main reasons they’re created but some also start them to have an outlet that isn’t their work or family. Assigning it the proper worth might change its priority level in your list.

Here’s the thing: it’s easy to overthink it and assume it’s going to take hours each day to get your business started and the wheels turning. Many of us don’t have that time to spare each day, and so that’s a fair and valid emotion to have. But breaking these monumental tasks into smaller ones will allow you the opportunity to chip away at building the foundation and get you closer to either launching your business or to begin growing it.

If you’ve read any of our other posts, you know we love a solid goal-setting session, and that’s exactly what this calls for. So here are your next steps:

Schedule a 30-minute brainstorming session
Brainstorm what your business is and what it offers
Make a list of all the reasons you want to start your business
Set a few small and big goals (6 months / 5 years) and how this functioning business will impact them
Can you achieve these goals without this side business? If yes, dig deeper into the reasons why you want to establish this business

There are a multitude of reasons why people want to start businesses (including side gigs), but there are also a million reasons why they drag their feet. Sometimes, all you need is a solid kick in the pants to reignite the engines and get you moving forward – where your goals are waiting to be crushed.