I mentioned ‘push goals’ yesterday. Which, naturally, begs the question, what is a push goal?
Remember that giant list of goals I made yesterday? Well, on that list there is one goal, one thing that if I accomplish it, will make all of the other goals infinitely easier. Most of the time it’s not the coolest, most exciting, goal. It’s usually not the ‘important’ goal, the one I want the most.
The push goal is something different. It’s normally the little domino at the front of a long chain. Knock that one domino down and all the others start to fall down by default.
So today is about figuring out which goal is my domino. Which goal factors into other goals? Which goal is a catalyst for my other ambitions?
Once I figure that out, once I know my push goal, I’m supposed to write about what it will feel like to accomplish it.
I’m supposed to envision it. What will I do once I reach my goal? What will it feel like? What will it take to reach it?
Where am I currently at in relation to this goal? What’s my start point? And where is the end point? Where do I want to be by the end of all of this?
I have picked two goals to be my push goals. For me, they are both pretty important because they factor into literally every other goal that I made in some way.They also complete different areas of my life which I feel will help keep me balanced.
My mind was pretty blown away when I was done analyzing my list. So here’s the results.
My Push Goal(s)
Complete 1 Work Project Each Week
By completing one project each week, a script, a podcast, a rig or other asset, I will be working towards, literally, seven other goals. No joke.
By sticking with this goal I will be advancing on “Earning $500 from my Youtube channel” because I will be creating new content, which will generate more views and followers.
Since creating rigs counts as a work project, I would be able to take care of my “Create 5 new rigs” goal, which helps me accomplish the goal “Create a new demo reel”.
Other projects could be shading and lighting endeavors, which would knock out “Create 5 Shading and Lighting scenes”, which factors into “Create a Shading and Lighting reel”.
Working on projects will be reinforcing my skills, which will help me with my “Become a Maya Certified User” goal.
Because of all of the new content I will be creating, and, ideally because of the extra income I would be able to work on the “Pay off credit card debit” goal.
So basically… if I stop being a slacker and actually do the shit I say I’m going to do, my life would be so much easier… who knew? That’s almost half my goals, owned, just from putting a few hours aside each week to make myself a better CG artist.
I think I get behind that goal…
Complete 1 Personal Project Each Month
This goal doesn’t complete 7 goals… but it still snags a bunch of them, and since it affects a different area of my life, the personal side rather than the work side, I feel it is worth while to focus on this goal just as much as my ‘work projects’ goal.
By completing at least one personal project each month I will be creating content I can sell at the art show (I already have a stock pile of things, so this is in a way prepping for next year), which will advanced me on the “Make $500 at art show” goal.
It will help me create content for the Etsy shop I keep being told I should create. So I could make progress on the “Earn $500 form Esty store” which will help me “Pay off credit card debt”.
To be honest, paying off the credit card debit it will make the goals “Become a black belt in aikido” and “Become a black belt in taekwondo” easier because I have to pay for the belt tests. If I’m not bleeding all of my money into credit card payments I could afford the tests easier.
Both of those push goals honor my key priority for personal growth, and it actually works out really well since I stated that I would be dedicating time to personal projects. Maybe I should add in time for personal work related projects as well.
I’ll mull that over for a bit. But it feels right, so that change will most likely be added in.
Overall I’m really happy with those two goals.
What will I do once I complete my goal?
Both of these goals don’t really have an ‘end’. They are more of a habit, which is something that I mentioned in my post yesterday.
Do they really count as goals? Well, in my head they do, especially since by doing them I make advancements on over half of all of the things I want to get done this year.
I guess my tangible, quantifiable end for marking if these goals were successful will be my “Pay off credit card debt” goal. If both of these endeavors are successful I should be pulling in more income, which will go towards that titian of a domino.
I don’t even know what I will do once I reach that goal. What would I do if all my consumer debt was gone? Most likely go out and spend money. XD
I’ll have to put some thought into this. I won’t be able to come up with anything right now, but I would reward myself for sure.
What will it feel like to reach my goal?
It will feel amazing! It will be so freaking, mind blowingly awesome!
It will be freeing to know that I have fully recovered from my financial fuck ups, because that’s why I have the cards. The Bank of America card is maxed out because I dropped all of that money to fix the Buick which still broke down.
Though that is the reason I now have my awesome little red Mazda, so it worked out the way it was meant to. In hindsight it would have been nice to put all of that money towards the down payment instead… So I chalk it up to a lesson learned. Cars suck.
Reaching this goal will feel like I’m doing things right. Like I’m a real adult, able to take care of myself. It will feel like I’m learning and moving forward; applying all of those life lessons that I’ve been learning over the years. It will make me feel strong and independent. It will make me feel resourceful, accomplished, and proud.
I will have pride in myself because I figured it out. Because I didn’t ask for help. Because I worked hard and made myself better and it paid off. Literally.
It will be awesome because I would have grown so much along the way. Through all of my projects I will learn and advance my skills. I will make new connections. I will make more ripples. I will advance myself in my industry and venture into a new one.
There are so many things that factor into this one goal that I have, this huge, hulking ogre or a task that tries so hard to hold me back and undermine my efforts.
I will feel victorious. I will feel like the warrior I am.
What will it take to achieve this goal?
A lot of work. A metric fuck ton, really. But a lot of it will be completed by small steps. A few hours a week. And all of those small steps will add up. It will take dedication because I will still have work and school obligations in addition to what I will need to do to complete these goals.
But it will be so worth it. I will be in such a better place for putting in the work needed to reach this end result.
Where am I at now?
What is my starting point?
I’m not really at square one, but I’m not really at square two either… I honestly don’t know where I am. I don’t have anything for an Esty store, though I did complete my first commissioned pattern last night, so that’s something…
I have some content for my new reel, but nothing is structured or ordered. It’s just ‘stuff’ floating around on my computer. I don’t have a direction mapped out yet. I don’t have a battle plan for what ‘work projects’ or ‘personal projects’ I want to do.
I suppose that will be my next step. Going through my OmniFocus and seeing what tasks I’m going to start tackling. I need to figure out which tasks line up with my push goals.
Where do I want to be?
What is my ending point?
Ending point: Consumer debt vanquished. /flex
Motivating Conclusion
I’m totally stoked right now to get all of this figured out. I feel motivated. It feels like I’ve found that spark that was missing for my work. I believe it’s what people refer to as passion. Drive.
I have a reason for doing stuff now. There is a real reason to be doing it, rather than a nebulous, “because it will make me better…” reason, “because I ‘should’…” reason.
Focusing on these goals will have a very real and powerful impact on the other areas of my life and ambitions. They are worth it.
Getting rid of my debt would be a huge emotional and spiritual burden taken off of my shoulders, and everything I need to do to get rid of it factors into personal growth.
I’m going to do this. Like a bawce.
“So basically… if I stop being a slacker and actually do the shit I say I’m going to do, my life would be so much easier… who knew?” I started laughing out loud and had to re-read that. I hit a wall every once in awhile when I realize I’ve crossed the line and spent too much time planning and too little time doing. When there are so many priorities, I often find it hard to choose which one should be top. Often the only way for me to make a decision is to go with the oldest task first. “Well, this one’s been around too long.” For all the science I put into task-generation and list-making and priority-setting, sometimes it just comes down to, “Do something! Anything!” But I do love my lists and goals 🙂 “Fail to plan. Plan to fail.” Blah blah blah. Striking a balance can prove to be a challenge sometimes, but for the most part I’m far more productive than I am strategic.
I’m glad I could make you laugh. Most of the time I just need to know what direction to go in, then I’m full force, non-stop.
But things at rest want to stay at rest… so sometimes it takes a while to get moving. : )