I’ve been thinking about what separates people who achieve their biggest goals from those who don’t. Here’s what I’ve realized:

​​Your wildest dreams should be a little scary! 

If they aren’t, you’re playing it safe. And that feeling (that little bit of a pit in your stomach) shows you really care and are truly invested in your dreams and success.

Here’s what I want you to remember: being overwhelmed by big dreams is perfectly normal. That fear only shows up when something truly matters to you, proving you’re aligned with what you want for your life, career, and creative work.

The overwhelm becomes less scary when you have a plan and can see the path forward. Let’s walk through how to bridge that gap between your big creative dreams and actionable goals that tangibly move you forward.

The Capacity vs. Ambition Gap

You have big dreams and ambitions, but do you have the time, energy, and financial resources to do it all right now? My guess is no. If you did, you would have done it already.

This isn’t meant to be discouraging. In fact, it’s the opposite. It’s a reminder to have compassion for yourself and give yourself some grace. You are human, and you have human limitations: limited time, energy, financial resources, and emotional capacity.

Most “overnight successes” are actually the product of years and years of hard work behind the scenes. Whether it’s an artist you admire, a public figure, or your neighbor who seems to have it all together, they’ve put in the time and energy. They were not overnight successes.

So be gentle, patient, and realistic with yourself. Even the (seemingly) smallest of baby steps are steps in the right direction and worth taking toward your dreams.

Reverse Engineering Your Creative Vision

The best way to achieve your big creative dreams is to reverse engineer them. Think backwards from your ultimate vision: What do you need to achieve to get there?

Set goals as stepping stones or milestones to your big dreams. Think of it like drawing a map. The milestones and things you need to do or achieve to get there become your goals. They keep you moving forward on the right path.

But here’s the key: Make them SMART goals. That means Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Instead of “I want to grow my creative business,” try “I want to gain 10 new clients through Instagram marketing by November 30th.” See the difference?

Now that your SMART goals plot the path to your big dreams, you can see that exact journey you’re going to take and actually track your progress along the way.

Start Where You Are

Creating a plan to achieve your goals requires brutal honesty about your current state. Be realistic about:

• Where you truly are right now
• What needs to be done to achieve each goal
• What you can do right now to start that forward momentum

Identifying the Gap Between Current Capacity and Goals

Here’s where most ambitious creative entrepreneurs go wrong: You’ll likely want to get out of the gate running, making strides toward ALL your goals so you can reach that big dream faster.

Trust me when I say this is the surest way to burn out and drop off the path before you actually achieve your goals.

Instead, be the tortoise, not the hare. Steady wins the race! Start with the first goal you identified. Don’t try to do them all at the same time.

As I ALWAYS tell my coaching clients: “You can do everything, just not all at once.”

Do a Capacity Calculation

A capacity calculation is where you get honest about your reality. Establish how much time, energy, and resources you CAN put toward your goals and how much you WILL put toward them. These are two different things, but they’re related, and you need to think about them together.

Here’s the thing: We tend to overestimate what we can do in a day and a week, but we often underestimate what we can do in a year. The steadiness compounds and builds on itself, creating momentum that grows you closer to your goals and dreams.

Creating Realistic Growth Timelines

Once you have a clear understanding of your current capacity, it will be so much easier to create achievable timelines. Making goals realistically time-bound makes them so much more likely to happen and allows you to check if you’re on track.

Many of the creatives I work with are multi-talented and have lots of different ideas and interests. If this is you, it can often feel hard to focus and may even derail your goals. But here’s the thing: instead of fighting against your multifaceted nature, you can work WITH it when you understand your capacity and can prioritize what to work on now vs. later.

The key is knowing your other ideas are ready and waiting for you. I recommend collecting these ideas somewhere safe (i.e. a dedicated journal, ClickUp, or a spreadsheet) so you know they’re there when you’re ready, instead of feeling like you’ve had to abandon them forever.

So how do you actually prioritize? Start by considering:

• Which goals you have capacity to work toward at the same time (or which ONE to prioritize now)
• Which ones must happen in sequence
• How your capacity is impacted if you work towards multiple goals at once

Remember: This is a marathon, not a sprint. We’re building a sustainable creative business, not a one-hit wonder flash in the pan.

The Hidden Cost of Saying Yes to Everything

Now, when you’re thinking about your capacity, here’s what I want you to remember: You exist in the real world with real relationships and commitments. Consider not just your professional goals but also your personal ones, plus other impacts to your capacity: physical, mental, emotional, financial, and actual time.

Think about other commitments and roles you hold—parent, daughter, spouse, sibling, aunt, best friend, mentor, PTA president, student… whatever it may be.

You cannot be everything to everyone all the time. But you should always make room for roles that are your top priority and most important to you.

Each role, each thing you claim, each “yes” you say impacts your capacity. It takes up your time, mental space, emotional energy, and financial resources. The sneakiest thing is how they add up to a much greater impact than we ever anticipated.

Glass Balls vs. Rubber Balls: A Creative Business Goal Setting Framework

I know this can feel overwhelming—how do you possibly choose what gets your attention when everything seems urgent? That’s where my favorite prioritization framework comes in.

Think of all your different goals, roles, and tasks as balls you’re juggling. Some are glass balls that will shatter if you drop them (causing permanent damage), while others are rubber balls; they’ll bounce back if you drop them.

Here’s how to prioritize where your time and energy goes when everything feels important:

Step 1: Brain Dump Everything

Write out all your roles, goals, and tasks. Get it all out so you can see it clearly.

Step 2: Eliminate What You Can

Look for “balls” you can get rid of, hand off, or put down for a while. This doesn’t mean they aren’t important—you’re just choosing to focus on other important things right now.

Step 3: Sort Into Glass and Rubber

Glass balls break if you drop them (unrecoverable). Think key relationships, non-negotiable commitments.

Rubber balls bounce if you drop them. They can be recovered, but it might cause a bit of chaos.

Step 4: Prioritize Glass Balls First

When it comes to your capacity, the glass balls are non-negotiables. Create a plan for each to make sure they get the time, energy, attention, and resources they deserve.

Step 5: Plan for Rubber Balls

If you feel you have remaining capacity after your glass balls are tended to, make plans for any secondary priorities. Give yourself grace knowing you may need to temporarily drop a few from time to time…and that’s okay. 

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome in Creative Business Goal Setting

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention imposter syndrome when talking about why big dreams feel overwhelming.

But here’s the truth: If you follow this plan (reverse engineer your dreams, take action, and consider your capacity) you CAN achieve the dreams you dream.

Look at your history as proof. All the hard things you’ve done, things that once seemed impossible that you DID achieve. All the times you had to put one foot in front of the other, learn something new, practice it, and perfect it before you got good at it.

Instead of asking “Why me?” think “Why NOT me?”

And remember what we talked about at the beginning: If your dreams aren’t a little bit scary, you probably aren’t dreaming big enough.

Your Next Steps

Creative business goal setting doesn’t have to leave you overwhelmed and paralyzed. When you break down your big vision into manageable stepping stones and honestly assess your capacity, those scary dreams become an achievable roadmap.

Start with one goal. Be the tortoise. Honor your glass balls. And remember, you can do hard things.Your dreams are worth the steady, consistent effort it takes to achieve them. Now get out there and start taking those baby steps toward your big, beautiful creative vision.