Sometime today between putting up Christmas decorations and watching football games (Go Gators!) I will find a few quiet moments to make some goals for 2016. I used to only think about it from a personal perspective, but I now also come up with my business goals as well. You’ve probably already thought about your business goals, but I learned the hard way that I have a much better chance of actually meeting my goals if I actually write them down.

We often think in terms of money when it comes to goals. But as business owners and writers, it is important to have goals that are measured in more than dollars and cents. While money is important and pays the bills, I think it’s also important to have goals that help us enjoy our work and take advantage of the benefits of being a freelancer.

I found a post that I wrote three years ago about five goals to set and realized that I felt even stronger now about having all five types of goals each year. So this week, I decided to update that post since I will be setting the same five goals this year.

Here are five goals you should set this year:

Work/Life Balance Goal

In 2015, I met part of my work/life balance goal by taking two real vacations where I didn’t work. But I did a terrible job on other fronts of the work/life goal. I often found myself working after the kids came home just to get things done. So this year, I am going to do everything I can not to work from 4 pm to 8 pm each day. I don’t mind getting back on the computer after bedtime or working a few hours on the weekend while they are hanging out with their friends, but these four hours are when I really need to be there for my tween and teen kids. This year I am going to try to turn off my computer at least three days a week during this time frame so I can be more present for my kids.

While one of the reasons many freelancers get into the business is the flexibility, I know many freelancers who don’t fully take advantage of that because it’s easy to work all the time. Spend some time thinking about your situation and what you really want in terms of time off. Do you want to take every Friday afternoon off or do you want to have the weekends off? Figure out what you want and then figure out the compromise to make it happen. And then try to stick to it. If anyone sees me online during that time, please call me out on it.

Bucket List Goal

Is there a brand or publication that you REALLY want to write for? You know, one that would make you so excited that you would call your mom and post it on Facebook. Or jump around your kitchen until your dog looks at you like you are crazy. Your bucket list brand or publication doesn’t need to make sense to anyone but yourself. It should give you immense joy at your accomplishment for whatever reason is important to you. I didn’t realize how badly I wanted to write for Microsoft until I saw my byline on their site and felt my heart jump 57 beats. My other bucket list company is Publix, which is more for sentimental reasons than business ones. Just thinking about Publix makes me want to eat their fried chicken.

Marketing Goal

Yes, this one isn’t as fun as the others. But without marketing, you won’t meet any of your other goals. It is very easy to only market when you don’t have work, but that is a poor strategy and often results in taking lower paying assignments out of desperation. Make a weekly or monthly goal for marketing efforts and stick to it. It can be sending out a certain number of LOI’s, making cold calls or attending local networking events. Think about what marketing activities have been most successful in the past for you and make a point of following through this year. For me, I forget to keep my website updated so I am making a goal of updating my website on the last Friday of every month.

Stretch Yourself Goal

I wrote in my previous post on this topic that my mom used to always tell me that “A ship in the harbor is safe, but that isn’t what ships are built for.” And I still think she’s 100 percent right. My goal for 2015 was to add content marketing strategy to my services, and I managed to land a huge strategy project with an existing client. I have to say that I was questioning my mom’s logic as I nervously walked to the front of the room to present my content marketing strategy plan to my client’s customer. But the feeling after the client loved the strategy was worth every nervous pain in my stomach. I felt like I had just climbed a mountain or gone skydiving because I had really pushed myself outside my comfort zone. It felt good to try something new and stretch myself. It was scary. It was fun. And I learned that I want to do more of it.

So this year set a goal to go outside of your comfort zone and do something new. It could be adding a new niche, writing a new type of deliverable or starting your own blog. Approach it as a learning experience. And realize that even if it doesn’t turn out as a success that you have learned and grown from the experience.But at least you left the harbor.

Income Goal – And yes, it is essential to have an income goal and to work towards it throughout the year. Most of us are not content marketing writers just for the joy of it. We need to make money to support our families. Just make sure that this is not your only goal. I find that I am least happy when I am working only for money.

So make some time for yourself today and your business. Find some quiet. Figure out what you need to do to take your business to the next level as well as bring yourself personal satisfaction. And write it down.

What are your goals this year? Did you meet your last year’s goals?