Welcome to Your Guide to Goal Getting, Part 2: Intentions!

Before we continue, don’t forget to purchase Your Guide to Goal-Getting for $10 to work on as you read this blog post!

Now, I know around this time of year, everyone’s sOoOoO big on setting New Year’s Resolutions. Well, I’m here to tell you that I think New Year’s Resolutions are garbage. 🗑

Sure, you can decide that you want to “work out more” or “eat healthier” or “make more sales.” But that’s basically just a blanket statement, you know?

But, on the flip side of that, you don’t want to be so specific that you get thrown for a loop when something unexpected happens (hello, pandemic).

So, rather than setting New Year’s Resolutions or extra specific goals for the year, I like to set “intentions” or “themes.” For example, last year, one of my themes was building community. After setting my intentions, I then build goals around those intentions. Obviously, my actual goals for building community had to change, because I couldn’t host or attend events like I had originally planned to. But my intention of building community remained the same.

Instead of hosting in-person events, I was able to pivot to building an online community via Instagram. Sure, my goals had to change, but I wasn’t completely thrown off kilter because I had set overall intentions.

How to set intentions

These should be based on your core values. Your core values encompass more than just your business goals – it’s an all-encompassing, holistic life kinda thing. Got it? Am I getting a little too woo-woo for you? Sorry, not sorry.

These will likely change throughout your lifetime, but they serve as your north star. My current core values are:

• Relationships
• Giving
• Honesty & practicality

Based on my core values, my intentions for next year are to become aligned, serve, and share. Now, let’s talk about how to create goals around your intentions.

How to create goals around your intentions

I’m sure you’ve heard about setting SMART goals in your early education, but bear with me, because I’ve got words to say. Well first, let’s talk about what a SMART goal is not. 

“Grow my Instagram.”
“Be more transparent.”
“Make more sales.”

None of those are SMART goals, but you’re on the right track. Rather than stopping at that first sentence, think one step further – WHY do you want more Instagram followers? WHY do you want to be more transparent? WHY do you want to make more sales?

For example: Growing your Instagram community is the method, whereas building an engaged community of 100+ people could be your goal. Being more transparent is the method, whereas educating new entrepreneurs on the costs and trials of running a business is the goal. Making more sales is the method, whereas creating financial freedom for your family by bringing in $xxx per month is the goal.

See where we’re going here?

What is a SMART goal?

The S.M.A.R.T. in SMART goals stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

There’s plenty of other blog posts, books, and papers about SMART goals, so here, I’ll take you through the process of me setting my own SMART goals. Let’s look at my “honesty & practicality” intention. This will be a business goal, so it’s a little bit easier than setting a life goal.

To set the scene a little more, I’m tired of all of the noise that business owners have to sift through. No, you don’t have to make 2-3 Reels per week to be successful. No, you don’t need to post to Instagram 4x per week to be successful. No, you won’t automatically feel fulfilled and successful when you reach 6-figures in sales in your business. So, I want to create and produce content that combats this noise. Here’s my goal:

I want to create 1 blog post or IGTV video per month where I discuss a different “noise” topic and why it doesn’t matter.

• Specific: 1 blog post or IGTV video
• Measurable, Attainable: once per month
• Realistic: I talk about this with my business friends, so I have a lot of content ideas already
• Timely: Since I want to create one per month, I can start in January. (This blog post is kinda giving me a headstart on this already!)

How many goals should you set for the year?

I recommend setting 1-3 goals for each intention you’ve set. Your ratio of work-to-life goals will depend on the current season you’re in. Last year, I was HARDCORE in business mode. This year, I’m more in personal life mode, so most of my goals will be related to quality of life.

If you set to few, no worries! You can ALWAYS set more. If you set too many, now you know how to recalibrate for next year. Once you do this a few times, you’ll find your sweet spot of the realistic number of goals you can accomplish in a given timeframe. It will also help to create a plan, which we’ll talk about in the next post.

Keep in mind that the example in this post was just one example of a business goal, which is barely scratching the surface of my own goals.

To get even more in the weeds of setting goals that improve your quality of life, purchase the 22-page Goal-Getting Workbook, and check out part 2! In the workbook, I’ll walk you through the exact steps of how I set the rest of my quality of life goals.

You did it!

PHEW. That was a lot to get through, just to set goals. But I promise, it’s worth it! Now – we’ve reviewed your last year, and we’ve set your goals for this upcoming year.

In part 3, I’ll walk you through the exact steps of creating a realistic plan to accomplish these goals. 🎉

About the author

Hi there! I’m Emily, and I’m a brand photographer for passionate leaders who want to turn the tide of their industry. 

I, my (dog) daughter, and my fiancé are based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Here at Emily Kim Photography, I provide creative, strategic brand photos for personal brands who are ready to stand out in their market. I also provide strategic 1-1 support as a small business consultant for budding photographers and creative business owners. 

To save time and edit your photos to stand out from the scroll, get my mobile preset pack. To set up a 20-minute brand consult with me, click here.

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