I’ve seen a few blogs recently that have asked very specific questions – only to be ignored. Not surprising. The questions, you see, are ones of accountability. Amanda asked What About Your Writer’s Resolutions? and then she waited. Two of us commented. Not exactly total silence. It sure faired better than when I asked how you were doing back in June on the Mid-Year Report Card post (ooo, can you hear the echo there?). Now Anne asks about your goals – have you reached them? Again, two comments.
So if you don’t answer to your freelance community about your business goals, whom do you answer to exactly? You don’t have a boss, per se. You have many clients, but they don’t care about anything beyond that project you’re completing for them. If you fail to make enough this year to pay your taxes, it’s no skin off their noses, right?
You may say you answer to yourself. Fine. But do you? Really? When was the last time this year (assuming we all set goals in early January) that you considered how well you were doing against those goals? Don’t try to make us swallow the “But if I don’t pay my bills I answer to my creditors” line. We all do. I’m talking the larger picture. If you set a goal to make, say, $50K this year and you don’t make it, how are you going to hold yourself accountable if you ignore the situation? Does it pain you to admit to colleagues that your goals are as distant a memory as what you did on New Year’s Eve?
Accountability, in my opinion, is absolutely necessary. I write a lot of business copy and what stands out in nearly every instance is that when these people have applied accountability to the job function of every employee, profits increased. Not just a little, either. The minute the employees understood that they owned both the praise and the blame for their actions, work became a bit more important and goals were suddenly on everyone’s minds.
You work by yourself. You set your goals; you may even write them down all nice and neat in a Word document. Then what? Do you map out a plan of action that will help you toward those goals? Do you set weekly benchmarks or monthly goals to help you stay on track? Do you even look at those goals again?
How can you set up a system of accountability that has you answering for your actions or lack thereof? If you’re not going to answer to yourself, who might you answer to instead? Are you willing to put your missteps, your fears, your successes, or your doubts in writing? If not, why not? What are you afraid of? Do you think all of us here aren’t struggling with the same things you are? Come on – share.
I’ll keep asking. It’s my way of staying accountable. It’s up to you if you want to answer. So I’ll ask again – have you reached those goals? If not, what do you think happened? If you did, how did you do it? Let’s talk.
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