“A Goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.”
In mid-march I decided to get serious about starting the transition to full-time artist. I had a dream, but now I needed a plan. The first step was to decide what conditions I would need to meet to ensure I could pay all of my bills without the security of the day job. So I did one of my favorite things - I made a spreadsheet! I made several actually.
Using all the fun maths at my disposal, I decided I would need to have the following in place before I left the day job:
- All credit cards paid off
- 6 months bills set aside in savings, plus a little extra wiggle room for unforeseen expenses.
- Enough inventory to cover at least 6 months average sales
- A full year of shows (45+ show days) booked.
Once I have all the requirements above met, I will be able to shuck my corporate overlords, and embrace the life of a full-time self employed artist.
I set a timeline of 2 years for myself to do this, as I think that will give me enough time to reach my goal markers without completely working myself to death in the process, while still being challenging enough of a timeline to force me to maintain my momentum.
So now that I know what I need, and when I need it by, its time to buckle down and get to work!