MANIC MONDAY: NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS
It’s nearly the new year – 2015. Just saying that out loud to myself stops be dead in my tracks to think back on the last 15 years since the turn of the millennium. But that’s another story. We’re looking forward, not back. When I started thinking about this post, about the list I would make, I thought about my recent post about resolutions from the previous year. And it was a big year – hard to top getting licensed and launching your own firm. But like anything else we do, if you’re not challenging yourself then you’re just standing still. And we don’t do “standing still” very well. So in setting goals for this coming year I’ve asked myself:
“What is this business for?”
It seems vague, I know. But it’s an important question to answer. Do I just want to make money? Am I out for personal or professional recognition and prestige? Or is there a larger mission to this business that I’ve started that will hopefully last much longer than myself? The answer is yes, honestly, to all of the above. Any business must make money in order to survive. Personal and professional recognition should come when you take your profession seriously and always strive to provide the highest quality service for your clients – especially in this field. But above that it’s important for this company to be actively involved in seeking opportunities to engage in socially responsible endeavors. It is with this in mind that I set my goals for 2015.
1. Build my business.
Continue to build the reputation of Rogue Architecture as a leading architectural design firm in this region by engaging and partnering with other small firms with similar philosophies. This has always been a central goal necessary for the success of this firm – rather than take on partners and grow a large firm, build relationships with other small firm architects and combine forces on specific projects to capitalize on specific strengths to best serve everyones clients.
2. Increase our social media presence.
I keep saying this every year and every year I get side tracked, busy, lazy, etc. But I have a voice and a decent core following that has put up with my sporadic and now relocated blog. I need to leverage my current audience through more consistent blogging and social media interaction. Blog posts will start to come regularly on Monday’s (Manic Monday posts) and Thursdays. If you’d like to guest post, please contact me and lets talk.
3. Sketch every day.
Like any skilled professional or artist, in order to be good at something you have to practice. When I was younger I was a decent artist. I drew my little doodles all over everything and got in lots of trouble for it when I was supposed to be paying attention and taking notes. Over the last couple of years my sketching has been very sporadic and my skill has suffered because of it. The best way to get better is to sketch something every day.
4. Increase 1% Project involvement.
A primary reason for forming this company and taking the leap to full time self-employment was to have the flexibility to take on social projects – housing, mission trips, better communities through design. If you’ve seen our post about the Guatemala Project you’ve seen the kind of projects I’m talking about. But like anything else, there needs to be a level of accountability. We started that off as members of the 1% Project and this year we plan to considerably increase our involvement on more projects of this type. If you’d like to come along side us and be more involved, contact us.
5. Make sure 1 through 4 don’t come before my family.
The last, and most important, reason I went out on my own is to dedicate more of my time to my family. My business is important and one day I hope to share it with my children. But it’s a tool, a means to an end – taking care of myself and my family. They’ll always come first, but as any entrepreneur knows it’s easy to “get busy” and forget that your family needs you.
At the end of the day I am one of the rare and very fortunate people in the world that genuinely loves what I do. While many may look at the new year and their resolutions with trepidation or anxiety or even fear, I look at mine with hope and promise and excitement. This year is going to be a great year for Rogue Architecture. I hope it is for you as well. And if we can help in making your year successful, contact us!