What's your BIG PROJECT for the final quarter of 2024? Come take a look at mine

Sharing my own BIG PROJECT plan for 2024 so that you can have a go at it too and also so you can hold me accountable and even join in the challenge!

Hi there, I’m Selina, a Career and Life Design Coach, author and podcaster. I’ve been helping people design lives and careers they love for almost two decades.

When I’m not writing here on Substack, I’m coaching clients all over the world, from my little green office in South East London. If you’re curious about what my coaching programmes could do for you, you can come and check them out over here

The final quarter of 2024 is always a big one for me. A time for learning, creating and making things happen.

I actually think this is the best time of year to make things happen
a) because of this natural deadline created by the year coming to an end
b) because we have energy to spend after a summer of filling up our cups and
c) because here in the northern hemisphere the days are becoming colder and darker, so what better time to snuggle down and embark on new projects.

And projects really are my thing.

I truly believe that the best way to design a life and career you love is by turning your dreams into practical projects, that turn them into reality.

That’s why in The Club over the past few weeks, the weekly Pep-Talks, journaling prompts and Monthly Workshop have been focused entirely on showing members how to turn their dreams and goals for this final quarter of 2024, into a practical project.

And I’ve been working my way through my own Q4 Project Plan too and wow, have I been reminded of just how powerful it is.

And so today I wanted to share with you my own Project Plan, walking you through it, step by step so that you can do it too.

(If you’re an Inner Circle Club member, you’ll find a fillable version of this Project Plan and the workshop to guide you through it here)

Become a paid subscriber today and join The Club that will show you how to design a life and career you love, one week at a time 🤗

My PROJECT PLAN for the final quarter of 2024

My focus this quarter is all about my Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025 journal. This is the third year I am self-publishing it after I turned down a double book (or rather, journal) deal with a big global publisher three years ago (you can hear me share about why I did that in this podcast ep with the brilliant

Sarah Weiler

)

This year I have printed 2000 journals *gulp*. They are launching on 16th October and this year I want to play full out and get every last one of those journals sold.

And so I took that dream and put it through my Project Process and I’m so glad I did…let me talk you through it….

THE OUTLINE

What my project is:
To sell out 2000 copies of the Goodbye 2024 Hello 2025 journal by 7th Jan and have FUN doing it!

Start off by getting clear on what you want the outcome to be. What is the game you are playing? What is the goal or the intention? When you write it down does it feel exciting, expansive, fun or appealing. If it doesn’t - if it feels more like a ‘should’ - then ask yourself if it really is the game for you.

And if it is what you want to focus on, maybe it’s how you play the game that matters. If I’d just written down ‘Sell out 2000 copies of the journal’ I’d feel a bit sick with the pressure and seriousness of it, but by adding ‘and have fun doing it!’ the whole feel and focus of the game I’m playing suddenly changes. Now the aim is to make it FUN. So now i’m excited (as well as a bit nervous - but that’s OK).

When I aim to have done it by or how long the project is for:

7th Jan!

Having a date by when you will have reached your goal or a period of time that you’re going to dedicate to it, helps to create a container - a timeframe which encases the game.

Why this is important to me:

Because I really want to grow my journal business and have fun growing it. I know I can get it out there further but I've been hiding and playing small and I don't want to do that. I want to have fun playing big!

Know your why - why this is important to you, beyond simply reaching that goal and making that thing happen. For me, while I am super confident in my coaching and love that side of my work, I tend to play it small when it comes to marketing my other projects and businesses. I’m full of good intentions, but then when it comes to it I chicken out and want to hide away and hope people will just hear about my journals, podcast, membership or whatever else it is I’m putting out into the world. It feels like an important part of my growth journey to be bold and dare to play big and TAKE UP SPACE.

WHAT IT WILL INVOLVE

Now it’s time to start getting clear on the steps that will actually turn this dream into reality. At first, for this next section, I was writing down things like ‘creating a buzz that gets the journals out there’, but that is far too vague. I had to drill down into what I meant by ‘creating a buzz’ and get clear on what exactly that would look like and what would I be doing…

What exactly I’ll be doing:

Setting up shops online that are really engaging and have people wanting to buy it straight away

Contacting people who can get it into shops - Tate & Bookspeed + setting up an online order form for small independent shops that want to order wholesale

Getting journals out to Amazon UK, Amazon US and Jo in Germany for the EU crew

Creating some kind of invitation for people to buy in bulk as employee Xmas gifts - maybe promo on LinkedIn

Most of all HAVING FUN spreading the word about the journal through Substack, social media, podcasts, asking people to spread the word and press

Daily posts on social media and weekly posts on Substack that are fun, playful, engaging and offer lots of value

Inviting people to join the Goodbye Hello club for free so they can enjoy the live journalling sessions in December 😍

Running those sessions

What I'm particularly looking forward to doing:

Finding fun, playful, creative ways to do ALL of the above and celebrating the tiny wins every day

When I looked at the list of what exactly I’d be doing my heart sank a bit - there is so much putting myself out there and marketing - neither of which appeals much. So again, I gave it the focus of making it fun and playful and celebrating each tiny win and suddenly it came alive to me and felt appealing.

What I know I need to do to make this happen:

- Great looking Amazon page, Shopify site and page on projectyouprojectyou.com

- Create a launch incentive (a freebie) to get fans on board to buy from Amazon and leave a review

-  Send out to micro-influencers to help celebrate and spread the word

- Keep checking in with Simon to get it into the Tate

- Keep checking in with Bookspeed to get it into their collection

- Share the journey of getting my journals out there on social media and Substack

- Share the stories of people who have used it over the years? Create an online gallery of stories and people doing the journal all over the world?

- Decide what the campaign is going to be - have someone help me with that

- Do 'Another Way' Xmas gift list

What I don’t yet know and need to figure out/learn/find out/get help with:

I need some help with what the online marketing campaign is actually going to be about, what I’m going to focus on and what content I therefore need to create

MAKING TIME FOR MY PROJECT

We can have a great vision, make the best plans and detailed to-do lists, but if we don’t schedule in time to work on our dreams and ideas, too often they can end up not happening because ‘we didn’t have the time’.

News flash: almost noone ever has the time. We have to make the time.

When I’m going to work on my project:

An hour every day, first thing (unless I have a coaching session, then it will be after that)

How I’m going to remind myself to do it:

Get it in the calendar!

I actually had not put this in my calendar, but now I have the time blocked up next week - at least one hour every day and just seeing it in there in my calendar feels great!

OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES

Now this section is SOOOO important. In fact this was the section I spent most time on in our ‘Let’s Make It Happen’ workshop, because it is so important to be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead and to know what to do when they inevitably come up.

What I think I might find challenging:

Keeping up being brave and bold, staying visible and not letting my Shitty Committee stop me by saying I shouldn’t be taking up so much space

What I can do to help me overcome that challenge:

Do a power hour every morning on this project before my Shitty Committee has fully woken up. When I feel my energy slumping, get dancing around the kitchen to music that gets me feeling fired up. Get really creative with the content I’m creating so that I really enjoy creating it. Feed up on inspiration find people who are creating fun, playful, engaging content that offers value and also promotes their products and services - hello

Lucy Werner

and

Claire Venus

! And when the Shitty Committee does come into town, turn to my cheerleader crew who won’t let me take the Shitty Committee’s nonsense.

WHO IS ON MY TEAM

It makes such a big difference when you have people who know what game you are playing, who want to see you do it and who believe you can do it. Agreeing a way to check in with them regularly - same day every week, for example - can add a powerful element of accountability into the mix which can be a huge motivator.

Who I’m going to share this project with so that they can support, cheer me on and hold me accountable:

My online community of fellow life designers (that’s you 😉), The Club (that might also be you 🤗) and the cheerleaders in my life

How I’m going to make sure I check-in with them and keep them updated

I’m going to send this to them (hi Vicki and Laura 😉) and suggest they do it too and we do a weekly check-in on Whatsapp

WHAT I NEED TO REMIND MYSELF OF IF I EVER FALL OFF TRACK OR

I love this one. It’s like writing yourself a message of love and support to your future self - a future self that is feeling stuck and deflated.

This is my message to future Selina, to read whenever I notice myself slipping back into playing small and worrying that I’m taking up too much space:

It is FUN playing big. Blast some big music, get that motivational energy going and do ONE thing that puts you out there. Do the hard stuff first thing in the morning. And go find someone to celebrate with. YOU HAVE GOT THIS!

I can’t tell you how differently I feel now that I have written out this project plan. What felt like more of a hope than a dream, when I first sat down to write this plan, now feels something totally achievable.

I’m clear on the plan, I know what I need to do, I’m prepared for the bumps in the road and I really believe that I can do this. And with the focus on making it fun, I’m excited about doing this.

So grab a pen and your own dream or intention for this final quarter of 2024, follow the steps above and let’s get you making a dream of yours come true too, before the year is up!

x Selina