How to Set Weekly Goals

We often enter a New Year with great excitement, anticipation and fresh goals. Most often this can fizzle out as the nitty gritty of what it takes to make our dream happen feels overwhelming. Let me help you take the stress out of this task with a step by step guide on how to set weekly goals.

I find that the easiest goals to set are the yearly and weekly ones. So, start with those first. I think if we choose our yearly goal first, we are then able to break it down into doable pieces. I wouldn’t recommend setting a goal that is going to take longer than a year. In actuality, the goal may take you longer than a year but you would adjust the timing the closer you are to the year mark.

So, plug in your dream goal that you have worked really hard to vocalize. Remember that one that you completed a brain dump on in the recent post, How to Do a Brain Dump? This will come in handy as you start to plan out a day or two at a time.

Creating Habits

If you have never set goals that are time specific before, (after you write out your year goal), start by writing out one or two days at a time. When you see what you have accomplished in your one or two days, and take note of what you are able to complete in a day, you can start planning out each day for a whole week.

Mini Brain Dump

Initially, start with a mini brain dump of all of the activities you need to accomplish in a week (especially ones that aren’t habits yet). Set one to three creative goals from that list and one to three non-creative daily tasks.

Non-Negotiables

You are wanting to build in regular habits especially with your creative goals, so writing them out is critical at this point. (WRITE THESE IN THE SPACES NUMBERED 1-7) These are called your goal commitments.

Tell yourself that your goal commitments are non-negotiable or in other words, “this task towards my goal is critical for me to achieve my creative dream?”

Time Blocking

Each of those tasks should be a minimum of 10 minutes to a maximum of 1 hour. What amount of time can you afford to give to your creative process? You probably have more time than you think. Just think for a minute of all the time you would free up if you didn’t scroll Facebook or watch HGTV.

This is actually called time blocking. Allow yourself only that set amount of time then move on once you are done. I sometimes use a timer on my phone to help me stay on track. Time blocking helps you to stay motivated and focused. When you start implementing this, you will see your successes and feel great about your progress.

Choose Peak Productivity Times

Also, do your creative work at your peak productivity times of day for you. For me, I work best in the morning. As I do a ton of computer work, my eyes and brain are freshest in the morning. So, if your creative endeavor is photography, utilize the daylight to your advantage and plan your daily tasks around the light.

Create Your Weekly Road Map

Pick one day of the week where you have the least activities, maybe a day of rest, and plan out your week. Ask yourself, “what can I accomplish in one day times seven?” Separate this total amount of hours into “Learn/Input” and “Create/Output” time.

So, it might look something like this:

Monday – 1 hour to paint, 1 hour to watch a watercolor tutorial

Tuesday – 15 minutes to paint, 45 min to watch a social media webinar

Wednesday – 30 minutes to read a self-care book, 30 minutes to visit a friend’s art exhibit (both can be input)

Thursday – 30 minutes to go to favorite store to purchase knitting supplies, 1 hour to practice a new knitting pattern.

Friday – 1 hour for a nature hike to gain photos and inspiration for your creative practice

Saturday – day off from creating or learning

Sunday – ½ an hour to plan out creative time for the week. I hour to snap some photos for your website.

Weekly Goal Tracker

Download and print this template, Weekly Goal Tracker, available on the Goal Setting Freebies page for consistency with how to set weekly goals.

Remember, it is important to highlight your mistaken beliefs, gratitude and a way to measure weekly success. Check out How to Set Goals to Achieve Successful Outcomes for more on these areas.

Even though this is just an example with a bare minimum of time, look at all that you could accomplish! As you get into the habit of mapping out your days and having success in completing these tasks, you will continue to add more.

Even though I share a lot of freebies and tutorials, I held back for years sharing my creations because I feared failure. As creatives, you and I can be held back due to negative thinking. It might look like comparing your ability to others or not having the confidence to pursue your creative talent or putting your creations out into the world.

But what if you could change that?

I have just the freebie for you –

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I can help you GAIN CONFIDENCE and CLARITY to achieve your goal.

AND

I can help you ACHIEVE your goal and LAUNCH your business. I help take out the overwhelm.

The Freebie is called the Creative Clarity Workbook. This workbook will walk you through the key Preparing and Planning components of successfully launching:

Core Values
Changing negative beliefs into Affirmations
Creating a Vision Board
Vocalizing and Visualizing your Dream
Creating Community
How to take Action

Are you ready to take the next step? Do you desire to take your hobby and start a creative online presence?

Do you want to build a creative business but are struggling to find the answer to “what do I do next?”

I can help you ACHIEVE your goal and LAUNCH your business. I can help take out the overwhelm.

So, go for it! Take that step and book your FREE 15 minute call (I will be so excited for you, it just may turn into 30 minutes) with myself, a Counsellor turned Coach with 17 years experience.

Watch this quick video below for more information.

Click HERE to get started.

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I trust that you feel confident to have a concrete plan for your weeks ahead with knowing how to set weekly goals. If you have liked what you have read, please share the love with a comment or a pin. Thank you!