My Goals for 2024
Things I'll be aiming to achieve this year
I recently shared my career goals for 2024 in my LinkedIn post. Those goals included:
Earn $30k~/yr for my independent consulting gig
Get 1 or 2 more direct clients
Give a talk/presentation at 2 different tech conferences
Earn $30k/yr for my consulting gig
First of all, making $30k/yr is pretty stretching for me to achieve because I still plan on working on consulting projects as a side gig aside from my day job. Given that I only made ~$5k in 2023, the goal of making $30k is 6x more than I made. I also still need to finish the technical book I’ve been working on. It’s realistic to think that I’ll have a chunk of time for my consulting gigs starting in Q2 after I’m pretty much done with the book.
$30k/yr is $2.5k/m. If you put it that way, it looks a lot more doable. If I charge $200/hr then I’d need to get a project that requires only 12.5hrs/m. Also, I’d propose to clients who’d prefer an hourly pricing model, a monthly retainer model where I guarantee the number of hours I work for them and I get paid a fixed amount of money each month. If they require me to work more, I’d charge those extra work as hourly. This is not a true retainer model, but it guarantees clients my work and guarantees me some income. It’s probably easier to propose this after working with the client to build trust though.
If I were to go all-in on my independent consulting gig this year, then the story would be a lot different. If that’s the case, I’d aim for at least $150k/yr in revenues and I’d first try to get gigs through other consulting firms (while making an effort to get direct clients). I’d reach out to my previous companies and clients I’ve worked at/with to let them know I’m available and to see if they have immediate needs. I’ve worked at a few consultancies before and I have connections at a few different consultancies, so I hope I can have enough projects to pay the bills and to make my revenues to $150k/yr.
Get 1 or 2 more direct clients
To get another direct client, what I think I need is proof that I can solve a specific business problem for a particular client. For that, what I’ll do is set aside some time to ponder on what services I should or want to offer to my clients. And I’ll create my company website to showcase my services along with my testimonials and some use cases. These use cases are to show the kind of business problem I can solve, speaking to a specific set-up audience.
Doing all this takes time and effort for sure, but it’s very much needed to succeed in independent consulting. I believe having dedicated time to “think“ will be the key to this.
Give a talk/presentation at 2 different tech conferences
This goal is half done because I’d already submitted talks for a conference and it’s already determined I’ll be presenting. I’ll still need to seize another talk/presentation for one other tech conference though. Towards the mid-year or the end of the year will probably work best.
Summary
I may or may not add and adjust my goals along the way. And I make sure I don’t suffer my well-being in accomplishing my goals. It’s better to not achieve my goals than to sacrifice my health.
What are your goals for this year? Setting realistic goals and achieving them not only stretches you as a professional but also builds confidence as a human being.