When it comes to setting goals for my personal life and my editorial business, I like to have fun and dream big. In this post, I share my favourite ways to set goals and manifest my dreams. I’ve also created a free vision planner to help you visualize and record your personal and editorial goals.
In our Your Editorial Life Vision Planner, there are four sections for goal setting that are fun and take only a few minutes to do. There are spaces to record your personal goals, your ideal editorial business goals, your ideal day goals, and a section for scripting. Scripting is a form of visualization that is used to help manifest your goals, and I explain more later in this post. Remember to grab a free copy of the Your Editorial Life Vision Planner!
Setting Goals In The “Your Editorial Life Vision Planner”
Your Personal Goals
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” — Abraham Lincoln
Life is more than just work, so it’s important to think of what you envision for yourself on a personal level. When it comes to setting goals, it’s good to be as specific as you can. Why? It helps the dream feel more real, more attainable, and acts as a big motivator.
For example, if one of your personal goals is to have more time for self-care, what does that look like? Is it doing 20 minutes of yoga every day? Taking relaxing bubble baths on the weekends? Eating more vegetarian meals?
Keep reading to learn about the other parts of this planner. You can grab your free copy below:
Your Ideal Editorial Business
“The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways.” — Robert Greene
I’ve helped people from all walks of life start editorial businesses as proofreaders, copy editors, and editors. One thing that they have in common is they start with a dream about what their business will look like, whether it’s full-time or as a side hustle.
When thinking about your editorial business, whether you have yet to start or are already running one, it’s important to take the time to visualize where you want it to go. Of course, things can change, but having an idea of what your biz will look like is a key step to actually starting.
In this portion of the Editorial Vision Planner, write down all of the ideas you have for your editorial business. You can answer questions like:
What services will you offer: proofreading, copyediting, or editing? Maybe all of them?
What kind of clients will you work with? (Businesses, entrepreneurs, writers, nonprofits, etc.)
How much do you want to make a month? Money is a great motivator and can do so much for us. Dream big and go for those dollars!
How do you want to work and where? This is the fun part, since running an editorial business can be done from anywhere and you get to set your own schedule.
Your Ideal Day
“Don’t justify your dreams. Execute on them.” — Gary Vaynerchuk
A powerful exercise I’ve been doing for years, and have taught others, is writing your ideal day.
Many years ago, when I worked in-house at a publishing company, I used to sit in my cubicle and daydream about what I’d be doing instead if I worked from home. I hated the 9-to-5 cubicle life. It just wasn’t for me, and I craved freedom and flexibility.
I started to write my ideal day on Post-it notes: take my dog to the park, read the paper, work in coffee shops, exercise, and rest whenever I wanted.
I wrote down my ideal day every day, and it eventually made me wonder why I couldn’t have the life I dreamed of.
That’s when I started looking for freelance proofreading and editing jobs I could do from home. I wanted to see what possibilities existed outside of an office. This led to me having an editorial side hustle. I proofread and edited in the evenings after dinner and on weekends until I got the courage to quit my 9-to-5 job.
It was the best feeling in the world to look at my old Post-its with my ideal day written down and to be living the exact days I had dreamed of.
For this part of the vision planner, map out or write your ideal day. Start from the moment you wake up. What is the first thing you do? What’s next? Think of the personal and professional activities and obligations you have. What does your ideal day look like?
Maybe it starts with a cup of coffee while you journal or read a book, followed by a morning walk before you settle in to work on a proofreading project at a coffee shop?
That sounds nice, doesn’t it? Guess what? It doesn’t have to be a dream.
Your Vision — Scripting Exercise
“Your time is limited. Don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” — Steve Jobs
There are many ways to approach setting goals. Some people map them out so they have visual motivation, others record milestones to be reached on a calendar. For both my personal and professional goals, I like to do something fun called “scripting.”
What is scripting? Scripting is a visualization exercise that is meant to help you manifest whatever it is you desire. The best way to describe it is to imagine you are writing your life story—with your dreams having come true. So basically you’re writing down your ideal life in story form.
Some people write their ideal life (scripting) in present tense, but I prefer to write it in past tense. The idea is that what your mind sees, reads, and processes leads it to believe it is true.
Research has shown that the subconscious mind is responsible for your motivation, drive, and emotions, and it can’t tell the difference between reality and wishful thinking. This fact is based in science, and has been the foundation for excellence training for athletes, entrepreneurs, and leaders. That’s why athletes and entrepreneurs take time to visualize making the goal or securing funding before the event has even happened.
Dream big and don’t hold back when writing your vision. If you can think and write about it, your mind will find a way to make it happen. Remember to be creative and have fun!
