I’m normally not one to set goals. Mainly because I’m usually very bad about fulfilling them or completing them. So it’s easier to not set them in the first place.
However, I’ve begun to learn that not setting goals can easily make a person lazy or unmotivated. In the end, who cares if you didn’t finish all of the goals you set for yourself. Nobody does and nobody expects you to be perfect in doing so.
So with that, here are my woodworking goals for 2017, roughly.
My number one goal is very broad but it is broad for a good reason. It’s the one reason or purpose that I work with my hands to make things. That is to make more projects and things for people. Whether they are gifts or things that people pay me to make.
The thing that I realized in 2016 is that it is far more rewarding to make something for someone else rather than yourself. This seems so obvious.
Nothing else made this more obvious than when I made a loft bed for my son and seeing the reaction on his face when he saw it for the first time. I made it as a present for his 7th birthday. I was able to actually finish it and make a video that I released on his birthday, October 28th. There were other things that I made for others that certainly attributed to this realization.
But, we are selfish by nature and like to please ourselves. So it’s very easy to have a hobby and spend all your time pursuing ways to make yourself happy. Naturally we think of selfish ways to make that happen.
Woodworking and having a shop or place to work in very often requires you to make projects for the shop space. It’s necessary and it gives you much needed practice and experience that you can use in projects that you eventually will make for others. So shop projects are good for honing your skills. But I don’t want them to be my main goal in 2017. This is something I have found to be easy to say, but far more difficult to do. Especially if I’m not currently working on making something for someone else. I have to be intentional with it, especially on social media.
I know making and sharing shop projects is important to a lot of people, but it can, over time, start to develop in you a selfish mentality. At least that’s what I’ve found. Again, I’m not knocking on making projects for your shop to make working in there more enjoyable and efficiently. But for me, I don’t want them to be my main focus in 2017. There are far more people out there with less tools and way messier shops that are making and doing some awesome things in them.
My second goal is to eventually start blogging and documenting my work. More than just showing a picture or two every day on Instagram. This is something that takes way more time than just uploading a picture. Giving an explanation or description or even sharing more details about something can be more beneficial to the reader or consumer. It’s a way for me to better connect with and relate to them as well. Sharing my thought process and the things I learned while and after making a project can go a long way and have a more lasting effect than just being entertained or even inspired for a brief few moments. This will include spending more time on this blog and converting it to more of a website where I can post the pictures and give further explanation and lessons learned.
My main goal in this is to not come across as fake and present this perception that the project came out perfectly. So sharing more gives me to the opportunity to be more open and honest about it.
Again, this will require me to be intentional about it. But I really think it will help me to be more selective and wise when posting something.
So I’m setting the goal that every time I share or upload a new picture or video, that I will write some sort of blog post or article to go along with it. It doesn’t have to be super long or even super detailed. I will simply share my thoughts and/or give further explanation about it.
Often, I would think about doing this or making the goal and would get discouraged because I would feel the obligation to go back and make blog posts on my past projects. I’m not going to put that pressure on myself. I’m only committing to doing this for future projects. So if you are looking for or asking about a past project’s blog article or post, that’s the reason why there isn’t one. It’s very difficult to put myself back there when I made something and to relive the process of making it to give an honest and detailed explanation.
My third and final main goal is related to the first two. It is to continue to grow my social media accounts to reach more people and to eventually turn this hobby into a business to help with the expenses of it. Eventually it will help to provide for the family. But that’s not something I see immediately happening. Not that I don’t want that to happen. But if I were making bigger projects, there would be more time invested and would bring in more profit. But, making smaller projects that don’t require as much time is where I see my hobby/business going in 2017. So if someone is paying me, which still makes me feel weird, then the profit will be smaller. Which I’m OK with.
Starting and running a business frankly is new territory to me and often intimidates me to even think about. But I do feel it is worth pursuing, even if it is daunting and out of my comfort zone. With time, my skills and knowledge will improve and eventually lead me down the path where I can feel comfortable charging someone a competitive price for something.
But in the mean time, I’m content with this just being a hobby that allows me to make connections with others out there and to hopefully make things that they can enjoy and benefit from.
May God Bless you!
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