I can hardly believe that Spring is here already! It is by far my favorite season, as it carries an air of hope and rebirth and sunshine and everything good. I looked at my resume a few years back and realized that almost every job change I had made was in the Spring.
Those of you who have been readers for awhile know that I like to follow business planning cycles according to the seasons, as I described in my first post on this topic Planning by the light of the moon and my second Remember today is Winter Solstice: good day for planning!.
Here is how I did against the Winter goals:
Spend lots of quality time with my son Joshua – YES! Thanks to my supportive family, I was able to spend a lot of time with "the bubs" and watch him learn and grow. This by far was the biggest accomplishment of the season.
Write write write! Get 2 chapters of my book done, and at least 5 blog posts a week – Sort of and YES! I have done some rethinking on the contents of the book, but it is shaping up and I will undertake massive writing starting in April. As for the blog posts, I have been very regular and average 4-5 a week. This has been really fun and I have loved the people I have met as a result.
Connect with 4 good partners and set up mutually-beneficial projects to promote our work and grow our businesses in 2006 – YES! I have identified some great partners to work with in 2006. Rich Sloan of Startup Nation is a fun and creative partner that always has good things cooking. I hope to be a frequent commenter on a new section of their site that will be launching soon. I will be working with Suzanne Falter-Barnes as a coach for her new Get Known Now Blast-Off Group starting in April. I am developing a very cool assessment to help people discover what work they are meant to do with Louise Garver who is an incredibly seasoned career coach. And I am working with benefits guru Paula Peck on a very useful primer to help entrepreneurs create a self-funded benefit plan.
Grow my subscriber list by 1500 – No to this one! I have made some good progress, but what I realized is that I need a much more compelling freebie to entice people to join my mailing list. So I am writing an email course: "Plot Your Escape from Cubicle Nation – 5 things you must know before you quit your corporate job." Once this is done, I will really promote the heck out of it and hopefully get some new fun subscribers. (those I do have are really wonderful – I feel lucky for that!)
Work with 2 willing cube-dwellers-to-entrepreneurs, and help them grow their businesses – YES – I worked with Rashida Mungin, a budding yoga teacher who has left her cube, and Marilyn Scott-Waters, the paper toy master extraordinaire. Both have been a true honor and delight to work with, and will continue to do great things!
Now on to this season’s goals!:
-Continue to spend quality time with Josh
-Complete my e-course and really grow the subscriber list by 1500. No holds barred. If you haven’t signed up, please do! (you will get cool free stuff and a subscription to my ezine Get a Life)
-Create two new products: the "work you are meant to do" assessment and the "self-funded benefits primer" (obviously we will come up with catchier titles!)
-Write 3 chapters of my updated Escape from Cubicle Nation e-book
I am tempted to add more, but I realize that this is a big list already. So I will stop here.
I share all this with you my dear readers to encourage you to set out specific goals for your budding businesses. If you are trying to start things on the side of a corporate career, it can be very easy to let things slide. The more you have specific goals and deadlines, the more likely things will get done.
Feel free to share your goals for this season right here!
I can hardly believe that Spring is here already! It is by far my favorite season, as it carries an air of hope and rebirth and sunshine and everything good. I looked at my resume a few years back and realized that almost every job change I had made was in the Spring. 
Now on to this season’s goals!:
Great post, Pam! Publicly announcing (and committing) to your goals can be so powerful. There is such overwhelming support and encouragement. And it definitely holds you accountable, which is so critical to your success when you are a solo entrepreneur. It keeps you moving forward.
I followed your lead and posted my spring goals on my blog.
Good luck this season, Pam. Keep writing! Your words are needed.