2013 Goal Setting for Doulas, Part 1

I am re-publishing last year’s four-part blog series on Goal Setting for Doulas. Have you set up your doula business marketing calendar for the coming year? I don’t know why I am such a fan of New Years. I guess it’s the idea of a fresh start. As an entrepreneur (and yes, doulas may want to view themselves as entrepreneurs!), I’m also big on setting goals for myself and then, at the end of the year, measuring how well I did. For example, in 2011, I increased my personal income by 52%! In 2012, I completed creation of my comprehensive Online Childbirth Preparation modules-a project that has been in process for two years and promises to become a huge income-booster going forward. Here’s a few tips:

  1. Set your goals. Make them specific, focused, achievable, meaningful, and measurable. Better to overshoot a bit than to undershoot. If you undershoot, then you are stating that your intention is to do less than you are capable of and/or desire. If you overshoot, then you challenge yourself to do more, to be the best you can be. Warning: If you have too many goals, then there will be no focus to what you are trying to accomplish. Keep it focused!
  2. Identify the action steps needed to achieve each goal. For example, if one of your goals is to complete your doula certification requirements, simply create a checklist of what remains incomplete. Those are your action steps.
  3. Set deadlines for completion of each action step. Yes, really. Deadlines are your friend! Get a calendar, or create one online. Each action step must have a deadline attached.
  4. Work backwards from the deadline to create a work/task schedule. In other words, in order to accomplish an action step by the deadline, what specifically must you do? Now, instead of feeling overwhelmed by the sheer abundance of possibilities of how to proceed, you have a plan. Just work the plan.
  5. Hold yourself accountable. On at least a monthly basis, give yourself a measure of your progress. If you fall short, rather than abandoning your system, readjust as necessary to stay on track.
There is a saying, “Do you know how to make God laugh? Show him your plans.” And this: “Life is what happens while we are planning other things.” So, yes, we all experience unforeseen challenges and obstacles that can pull us off track. But without a plan, we are like a ship’s captain with no destination … when the storms come, we will be tossed about, but even in fine weather, we simply go wherever the current and the wind takes us. Once we commit to a destination, the odds are in our favor that we will get there. Don’t let your New Year’s resolutions become a “to do list for the first week of January!”
Anyone else have a System for Getting Things Done? Next week: Overcoming Obstacles.

Patty Brennan is a DONA International Birth and Postpartum Doula trainer, owner of Center for the Childbearing Year (Ann Arbor, MI), and author of The Doula Business Guide: Creating a Successful MotherBaby Business. She is offering a workshop on Building Your Birth-Related Business on Saturday, January 26. Early registration discount available through 1/5/13. Earn 6.5 continuing education credits along with business-building strategies.

Posted by Patty Brennan on January 3, 2013 • Filed under
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