AndyTalks with @Nicoknowsbest about Goal-Setting and moving from Freelancer through Agency

[Andy Black]

AndyTalks with @Nicoknowsbest about Goal-Setting and moving from Freelancer through Agency

(A chat from Jan 2017 that was in the can ready to be edited and published. I've a few more to do, all while keeping up with the calls happening every week!)

Myself and Nico had been doing work together for about 3 months, and we discuss how our business(es) are evolving and how we do and don't set goals.

The video we discussed briefly in the call is here.

The Tropical MBA podcast that has the "sliding scale" we refer to is here.

> Click here to access the recording <
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What were your takeaways?
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What will you do differently going forward?


(For other recordings click HERE.)​

 

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[Contrarian]

Thanks guys!

My takeaways:

Shepherds and blacksmiths make the best clients. If you're going to start a business, make sure you focus exclusively on shepherds and blacksmiths.

The way most people do it: Build out an elaborate productised service, platform, systems - then release it to the market and go looking for clients. Maybe hear crickets.

The right way: "Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest to you". Get a client. Work with them and refine the service. Get another client. Do the same thing again. Get another client. Continue this process until you really understand what people actually want. Then turn it into a productised service that you know people will actually want to pay for.

On doing things that are uncomfortable (in Andy's case - talking into a video recorder with no audience): Feel the fear and do it anyway. You'll achieve competence - and then confidence - as you go.

Outcome-based goals don't always make the most sense. Input-based goals (do X number of Y per day) will ingrain you with the right habits. You can always tweak these goals later based on the outcomes they actually produce. But you don't know what they will be until you commit to making the inputs.

When you do set outcome-based goals, make sure the outcomes are actually important to you. If "I want to earn £50,000 a month" doesn't mean anything to you - doesn't fulfil a tangible want or need in your life - you won't be motivated to actually achieve it. By tying your revenue goals to how they will give you what you actually want from life, your subconscious will start working out how you can get there.

Picking up new information in a vacuum is likely to be a waste of time. It's only with the proper context - the doing, the action - that the information will make sense to you. Learn what you need to learn, and learn it when the time is right. I can relate to this - I read and watched tons of stuff about inbound marketing, and it made very little sense to me until I actually started doing it. Then it made sense - I could learn and adjust as I went along.

You have to appreciate the process. If you're starting from nothing and you want £10million, how the hell are you going to get there? It will seem like an impossible mountain to climb. When you start to appreciate that - being in motion - today is a little better than yesterday, and that yesterday was better than the day before - piece by piece, you'll get where you need to be and enjoy the ride along the way.

You might be earning less money for a while than you were at your job. But you may still have a lifestyle and level of freedom that high flying corporate execs would die for. As the saying goes, "work really hard for 40 hours a week, and if you're lucky, you might get to be the boss and work 60 hours a week". Or you can forge your own path.

And lastly - before you can automate the process, you have to have a working process in the first place! Put first things first.

 

[Andy Black]

Thanks guys!

My takeaways:

Shepherds and blacksmiths make the best clients. If you're going to start a business, make sure you focus exclusively on shepherds and blacksmiths.

The way most people do it: Build out an elaborate productised service, platform, systems - then release it to the market and go looking for clients. Maybe hear crickets.

The right way: "Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest to you". Get a client. Work with them and refine the service. Get another client. Do the same thing again. Get another client. Continue this process until you really understand what people actually want. Then turn it into a productised service that you know people will actually want to pay for.

On doing things that are uncomfortable (in Andy's case - talking into a video recorder with no audience): Feel the fear and do it anyway. You'll achieve competence - and then confidence - as you go.

Outcome-based goals don't always make the most sense. Input-based goals (do X number of Y per day) will ingrain you with the right habits. You can always tweak these goals later based on the outcomes they actually produce. But you don't know what they will be until you commit to making the inputs.

When you do set outcome-based goals, make sure the outcomes are actually important to you. If "I want to earn £50,000 a month" doesn't mean anything to you - doesn't fulfil a tangible want or need in your life - you won't be motivated to actually achieve it. By tying your revenue goals to how they will give you what you actually want from life, your subconscious will start working out how you can get there.

Picking up new information in a vacuum is likely to be a waste of time. It's only with the proper context - the doing, the action - that the information will make sense to you. Learn what you need to learn, and learn it when the time is right. I can relate to this - I read and watched tons of stuff about inbound marketing, and it made very little sense to me until I actually started doing it. Then it made sense - I could learn and adjust as I went along.

You have to appreciate the process. If you're starting from nothing and you want £10million, how the hell are you going to get there? It will seem like an impossible mountain to climb. When you start to appreciate that - being in motion - today is a little better than yesterday, and that yesterday was better than the day before - piece by piece, you'll get where you need to be and enjoy the ride along the way.

You might be earning less money for a while than you were at your job. But you may still have a lifestyle and level of freedom that high flying corporate execs would die for. As the saying goes, "work really hard for 40 hours a week, and if you're lucky, you might get to be the boss and work 60 hours a week". Or you can forge your own path.

And lastly - before you can automate the process, you have to have a working process in the first place! Put first things first.

Thanks for your detailed write up @Contrarian! Rep+

 

[Nicoknowsbest]

@Andy Black helped me shift focus from number based goals to system/process based progress.

It took me a while to get used to it, since numeric goals seemed to be the ultimate truth for success in my universe, although I could never really make them work for myself.

The biggest lesson in all this for me was:

"Know thyself."

We are all different and only by knowing how you work best, you'll achieve the most success.

"Comparing only makes you more similar."

We are all on similar, yet different paths. We are all motivated, so no need to get excited/depressed over higher/lower revenue numbers than others showcase here on the forum.

There are so many variables you don't see behind other people's successes.

Keep them in mind, but blaze your own path.

 

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[abrakamowse]

Thanks for sharing!!!

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