Set the right goals for 2023

Set the right goals for 2023.

Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes, 55 seconds

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Preface: I know I’m late given we’re halfway through Jan but give me a chance...

Setting goals is absolutely crucial to getting to where you want to be.

But most people are doing it wrong. Especially YouTubers.

Everyone seems to have a goal, but barely anyone has a ‘mission’.

Sounds intense right? Don’t worry, it’ll be worth it.

Let me explain…

Firstly, why am I talking about goals?

Well, I was recently trying to set some of my own goals for the year (selfish, I know) and something didn’t feel right.

It felt like I was setting these ‘followers’ and 'subscribers' goals for the sake of setting goals.

The whole point of a goal is to give yourself direction, focus and motivation but I couldn’t help but think I was manufacturing them. Focusing on superficial things that I can’t really control.

In reality, these goals would have sent me in completely the wrong direction, with little focus and fleeting motivation.

I decided to dig a bit deeper and had a realisation…

I was missing a step.

I was trying to set goals without having a mission.

What’s a mission I hear you ask?

Your ‘mission’ is the reason you’re doing something. In most of our cases, the reason you’re making content.

Not for yourself but for others.

Without a mission, goals tend to be inherently selfish (hit X subscribers, get Y views).

They're still really important (this isn’t an ‘anti-goal’ piece) but for me, setting effective goals is when you use them to ‘measure your mission’.

Otherwise, you just become a slave to superficial metrics you can’t really control.

For example, if your goal is to hit 1 million subscribers, the best way to get there would be to keep adjusting your content until you find something that gets you the most subscribers, as quickly as possible.

You'd maximize your chances of achieving your goal but you’re not going to care about what you’re making, only the result of what you’re making.

This might work for some but for most, to create truly great content over the long run they need something more. They need a mission.

So, how do you find your ‘mission’?

Don’t worry, you don’t have to go on a 6-month spiritual retreat to India.

You just need to find the why behind your content.

Imagine a singular viewer (a real person) watching your content and the effect you want it to have on them.

Still not with me? Let’s look at some examples:

MrBeast: Make the best videos possible and make the world a better place

Colin and Samir: Educate and empower the next generation of storytellers

Dude Perfect: Become the most-trusted entertainment brand in the world

These channels will also have extremely ambitious goals, but it’s these ‘missions’ that give them the real direction, focus and motivation to achieve them.

Let's try and bring it all together...

My goal here is to help you. Give you tangible advice that will actually benefit you.

So here’s a step-by-step guide on setting goals for 2023 (with useful resources):

Step 1: Establish your mission

I’m making content to [benefit to the viewer]

• Think long-term (like, really long-term)

• What’s your why, your purpose behind making content?

• There’s a great video by Simon Sinek explaining this very thing for businesses (it’s 100% worth watching, just translate what he’s saying to YouTube)

Step 2: Establish your goals

A good measure of achieving my mission is [tangible metric]

• This could be something like subscribers, views etc

• When attached to a mission goals can be very powerful, ‘converting’ your mission into something you can measure and tangibly achieve

• There’s a lot of stuff on goal-setting out there - here’s one video I’d recommend (in isolation, this is the old goal-setting I don’t like but when combined with steps 1 and 3, it works)

Step 3: Establish your process

To achieve my goals, I need to [actions you can consistently achieve]

• Think actions - e.g upload every week, brainstorm ideas every day

• Instead of focusing on the destination, focus on the journey to get there

• Ali Abdaal has an excellent video about turning ideas into systems (processes) - definitely check it out, it’s very specific to YouTubers as well

And there you go. Everything you need to crush 2023.

All centring around working out your core mission that will give you real direction, focus and motivation. Good luck.

Thanks for reading. Jay Alto.

Too busy to reread? Here’s a summary written by AI:

This chapter of the Curious Creator explains why setting goals is so important for YouTubers, and how to set effective goals you need to establish your mission first.

Key takeaways:

1/ Goals should be used to measure your mission, not for the sake of setting goals.

2/ Your mission is centred around the true reason you're making content.

3/ Use your mission to set goals, and your goals to create a process.