Setting Attainable
Goals as a Creative

Every creative I know has a big vision. A film they want to make, a client they want to land, a level they want to reach. The vision is rarely the problem. The problem is the space between the vision and today — and how most of us are terrible at building a realistic path across it.

I’ve set goals I was proud of and ignored within a week. I’ve also set goals that changed the direction of my business in ways I didn’t expect. The difference, I’ve found, isn’t ambition. It’s architecture.

Start With the Honest Inventory

Before you set a single goal, spend time getting clear on where you actually are. Not where you wish you were, or where you present yourself to be on social media — where you genuinely are in terms of skills, resources, relationships, and capacity.

This is harder than it sounds. Creatives tend to either undersell themselves out of imposter syndrome or oversell themselves out of optimism. Both lead to goals that don’t fit reality. An honest inventory — what am I actually good at right now, what do I need to develop, what resources do I genuinely have available — is the foundation that makes everything else more accurate.

The Horizon vs. The Next Step

One framework that changed how I think about goals is separating the horizon from the next step. The horizon is your big vision — where you want to be in three to five years. The next step is the specific, concrete action you can take this week that moves you in that direction.

Most goal-setting fails because people set horizon goals and try to execute them like next-step actions. “Build a six-figure production company” is a horizon goal. “Follow up with three warm leads this week” is a next step. Both are necessary. Only one is actionable today.

I keep both in front of me at all times — the horizon reminds me why I’m doing the work, and the next step tells me what to actually do when I sit down in the morning.

Make the Goal Smaller Than You Think It Should Be

This is the one that most ambitious creatives resist: when in doubt, make the goal smaller. Not because you shouldn’t aim high, but because an attainable goal that gets completed builds momentum in a way that an ambitious goal that gets abandoned never does.

Early in my career I would set monthly goals that required everything to go right. One slow week and the whole goal felt out of reach, which made it easier to abandon. Now I set goals that require consistent effort but don’t depend on perfect conditions. I finish more of them. And finishing builds the kind of confidence that actually lets you raise the bar over time.

Review and Adjust — Without Guilt

The best goal-setting practice I have is a monthly review where I look at what I set, what I actually did, and what got in the way. Not to punish myself for what didn’t happen — but to get smarter about what’s realistic and what keeps derailing me.

The goal of a goal isn’t to be right about what you thought you could do in January. The goal is to keep moving in the right direction over time. A goal that needs to be adjusted isn’t a failure — it’s information. Use it.

Applying This to Your Brand

Everything I’ve said about creative goal-setting applies equally to the brands we work with on video strategy. The most common mistake we see is brands setting video goals that are too vague to be actionable — “we want to do more video this year” — or too ambitious to be realistic given their actual resources and timeline.

The brands that get the most out of their production investment are the ones who come in with a clear, attainable goal: “We want one brand story film that converts better than our current homepage” or “We want a bank of 20 content assets we can use across our channels for the next six months.” Specific. Measurable. Achievable given their budget and timeline.

Start there. Build from there. The big vision will take care of itself if you keep hitting the smaller targets along the way.

A producer’s goal board — gear purchases, finances, relationships, home. The horizon is clear. The next step is what gets you there.