Creating in Community: May 2024

31 days of progress and accountability.

This is the month we Ma(y)ke Things Happen!

(One cofounder of this membership would like to apologize for the other cofounder insisting on using the pun. We won’t tell you which one is which, except to say that the one whose name actually rhymes with May should be the one to appreciate the pun more, but nooooo he has to be a stick in the mud.)

(Again, we will not be sharing more details at this time.)

 
 

🗓️ How it works

  1. Set Your Goal

    🎯 Everyone will set one clear goal for the month that will help guide you toward action. (See “Goal-Setting Guidance” below!)

    📣 We’ll share our goals with each other in this Google Sheet so we can cheer each other on and hold each other accountable.

  2. Make things happen!

    💥 Get prompts and other ideas to spark action shared to the community from Jay and Mel (and contribute your own!) as we make progress as a group.

    👋 Join our co-working video calls to block time + snap into flow more easily: no presentations or critiques — just join the call (with your video on and audio muted) to work quietly alongside other chefs.

  3. Report Your progress

    📈 Throughout the month, we’ll use Slack to stay motivated, updated, and connected.

    👀 Each Monday and Wednesday, you’ll get a progress check-in, poll, prompt or other message in #09_accountability-sprint to keep you focused.

    🎁 Each Friday, you’ll be encouraged to share what you produced in #03_show-your-work.

  4. Celebrate your wins!

    🥳 In the final week of the month, we’ll all hop on a group call to celebrate all we accomplished! (See calendar.)

 
 
 

🎯 Goal-Setting Guidance

 

Your Goal Must Be…

(Expand each for more detail & examples)

  • Because of what we do here in the Kitchen, your goal should be tied to the actual creation of net-new work.

    Creation-Focused:

    I will write 4 new blog posts that open with a personal story.

    I will record and edit two episodes of my new podcast.

    Not Creation-Focused:

    I will promote my blog posts.

    I will come up with a new tagline for my show.

  • In order to make this this month is worth your time, be sure to pick a goal that goes beyond what you’d do anyway.

    If you already write 2 blogs per month, don’t make your goal “write 2 blogs this month.” You were going to do that anyway!

    Aim a little higher and dig a little deeper.

    Not Ambitious:

    I will write 2 blog posts again this month.

    Ambitious:

    I will write four blog posts this month.

    I will write 2 longer blog posts that are infused with my new premise.

    I will work a vulnerable personal story into each of my blogs this month.

  • Usually, this means there needs to be a number, but if not, you need to be able to look at it and clearly know if it was achieved or not.

    Measurable:

    “I will publish 4 issues of my new newsletter”
    ”I will announce my podcast and launch episode 1.”

    Not Measurable:

    “I will work on my newsletter”
    ”I’ll prepare for my podcast launch”

 


🌟 Feeling stuck? Try these prompts to set your goal

Remember, we’ll all be setting and sharing similar goals. So we can always borrow from each other!

  • Level-Up An Existing Thing: Improve your ongoing work in a special way. Add, expand, go deeper, try new things.

  • Do A New Thing: If you have a new project in mind or in the works, get that going! Write, record, design, launch.

  • Do A Thing Every Day: Write, doodle, edit, shoot. Establish (or re-establish) a creative habit & get back into a groove.

  • Learn A Thing: Pick up a new skill, take a class, practice, and showcase your new skill with a “final project.”

  • Try A New Thing: Apply a new skill, take a new approach, use a new tool and generally just make in a new way.

  • Re-do A “Meh” Thing: Re-write, re-record, re-launch, re-design, re-format. Make the old new again.


📝 Goal-Setting Worksheets

The worksheets linked below aren’t required, and they aren’t Kitchen-specific, but they might prove helpful as you’re working on setting a clear and measureable goal. Each uses a different tested approach for goal-setting.

 

🎉 Final Group Call Celebrating progress

5/29 at 12p ET

At the end of the menu , we all get together to review what we learned, celebrate our wins, discuss our growth and generally just soak up all the delicious creator vibes of the community.