How to Set Goals for Networking
When you’re in a transitional period of your life, whether that’s changing jobs, relocating, getting married, losing a loved one, or starting a business, setting goals is essential to help guide your focus, trigger new behaviours and sustain some real momentum in life.
No matter what period of your life you’re in, this week’s blog is sure to resonate as I walk you through a few simple things that helped me become the ultimate goal-getter, so you can too!
DITCHING THE 9-5
Back in 2016 I made a big decision to quit my corporate job that paid me 6 figures and I decided to drive for Uber and Lyft instead. Now, I know what you’re thinking…. pretty bold move on my part, and one that made my family, friends (and probably yourself as you read this) think, I was a little crazy! (and maybe I was!). Deep down though, something inside of me knew that staying at my corporate gig wasn’t what I wanted or needed to make me to truly fulfil me. So, one day I made the jump and quit my damn job.
While I was driving people around for 5-star reviews...I also knew that being people’s chauffeur wasn’t going to be my permanent gig either. It was a safe place where I could earn a little dinero and take some time to figure out my next move.
In order to figure out my next move, I reached out to my network and hooked up with a couple friends. My NOW business partner Leslie, she and I are the co-founders of CutClass and our other friend Aman - who’s a dope illustrator.
Together, we started a bullet journal club.
WHAT IS A BULLET JOURNAL?
A bullet journal is a method of personal organization developed by designer Ryder Carroll. The system organizes scheduling, reminders, to-do lists, brainstorming, and other organizational tasks into a single notebook.
The beauty of the bullet journal is there are no rules that dictate how the journals are formatted. The lack of a rigid structure behind bullet journaling opens itself up to creative interpretation. It’s just about getting your thoughts in one place.
Members of a Bullet Journal club or ‘pod’ use the time together to work on their journals and chat. Those with experience in bullet journaling offer tips and guidance to novices and everyone gets creative! Nurturing their goals with the effortless beauty of pen and paper.
Bullet journaling is a simple way of expressing yourself!
During our club get-togethers, we would detail our high-level goals for the year, then we’d identify how we would make progress on those goals in a 3-month time frame. From that 3-month time frame, we would break the goals down even further to…monthly tasks, then weekly to do’s and right down to daily errands.
This took us from a 50,000 ft view on our goals all the way uncovering the individual tasks on a daily basis that would help get us there.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF A BULLET JOURNAL ‘POD’?
I setup my bullet journal pod for a number of reasons which really highlight the benefit of these tools:
Provides Clarity - I was in a space of being a little lost and not really knowing where I was headed to next in terms of my career.
Brings People Together - I was a little lonely and wanted support from people that were also in a period of transition. A part of me didn’t feel like I could share with my close friends and family how I felt so reaching out to my network to form this support group was essential for me to reach my goals.
Maintains Structure – In the Corporate world I was shackled to my electronic calendar with endless meetings, tasks, and to-dos...so when my electronic leash was cut...my life lost its structure. For 8 years I had lived and died by my inbox and synchronised calendar so when I started driving people around...all I had to worry about was waking up and getting in my car.
Starting a bullet journal pod was so helpful to see that I was still achieving things in my life even though I was no longer at my corporate job this bullet journal pod is what got me to my next step…. which was getting a job in Manhattan!
ACHIEVING YOUR GOALS
In this section I am going to share how I leveraged my network to get me through this transitional period in my life, with the hope that you can use these tips to do the same. I would also like to note...you can also use these tips if you are not going through a big transition! They are incredibly versatile and guaranteed to create real shifts in your life regardless of where your heads at!
First, let’s start with my end goal:
I had to ask myself...what did I want? Did I want to get a job? switch industries? gather information? meet a specific person? find healing or pitch to a company or client. Whatever it is I was trying to achieve, I wrote that down as my main goal. For me, it was not feeling like a loser all day long because I was driving people around for pennies, and more importantly trying to find my next move.
Second, how was I going to get there? Take a step back to break down your goal down. For example, I knew that my corporate life thrived with structure (that structure being my calendar). I love ticking off a list to see what I have accomplished throughout my day, and I had a boss I needed to report to which (although painful) held me accountable...so I needed to add these 3 elements back in, in order to reach my big goal.
I found people in my network who were also going through a transition...Leslie was leaving her COO position and Amann was trying to find contractual work for his illustrations. These people served as my new bosses because we all held one another accountable for our goals. So, tick that off of my list.
Document the Journey - Next, we shared what we were up to and then decided to bullet journal. The point was to write down and track our progress to our goals. I had never bullet journaled in my life...but I knew I needed some structure that resembled my electronic calendar. So, bullet journal it was.
Day to day – Here I focussed on the small tasks that I needed to do each day to reach the big goal of finding my next career move. For me, that started with brainstorming what I loved doing. I loved cooking, fitness, sci-fi movies and I needed to overlap that with what I was really good at: Managing teams, sales, public relations and contract management. I wanted my next career move to be an intersection of what I loved and what I was really good at. (That’s possible right?)
Stay Accountable - So, Leslie, Aman and I would write these smaller tasks down each week...and set a meeting for the following week to check-in with one another. These check-ins replaced the structure I had at my corporate job. Leslie, Aman and I did this for at least 3-4 months... in which time I managed to land my next move which was getting a job working for a boutique fitness company in downtown Manhattan!
My goal was to get a job in the fitness industry (Something I loved), managing teams (something I was really good at), and in New York (I was ready to get out of California and start all over).
Some of my tasks to get to this goal included reaching out to my network in the fitness industry, people that I knew lived in New York, and of course cold-emailing/calling job boards and employees at the company I wanted to work for. I visualised what I wanted and I sure as hell went out to get it!
So, when you are in a transitional period or want to shift something in your life. Here are 3 things to consider to help you get there while leaning on your network:
What’s the BIG goal? Are you trying to get a job? Get in front of a client? Attend a networking event? Gather information? Write that down.
How can you get to that goal? What do you need to achieve it
A way to think about this is to think about how you complete projects or tasks right now. Do you use a calendar, do you have meetings.
If so, that would tell me I need to add these things into whatever goal I am trying to achieve. For me...it just boiled down to structure and accountability.
Next, find like-minded people to join you on this journey. Reach out to your network and see if there are people that are in the same situation -- maybe you can support each other through this process.
Now break it down. What smaller tasks will it involve?
For example, when I first moved to Newcastle, I was a branding consultant in the restaurant niche but would only take on high ticket clientele. I knew a small mom and pop shop couldn’t afford the high price tag. I was going after restaurant groups (that was my big goal). I needed to find those restaurant groups - that was task. I didn’t want to talk to the business development managers or the HR people either...I only wanted to speak to owners (another task!). So, I needed to find the owners names (task)… you get the jist here! As I began to break down my goal down into smaller and smaller tasks, I could see how I was going to eventually get in front of these restaurant group owners and get closer to my goal.
So, for you, one of your tasks will be to reach out to your personal network to help you get to your end goal. This same concept of breaking your big goal down into smaller tasks, applies to whatever it is you are trying to achieve. But remember to always add your network (new and old, into the mix cause you will always get to your goal so much faster that way)
Finally, hold yourself accountable either with an accountability pod or with a good friend.
Alright ya’ll… I want to hear all about your goals! Hit me up on instagram at ItsRoGroh or at LetsCutClass. You can also say hello to me in my free Facebook group Allergic to Small Talk.