E-Paper
Work, life, money: Three experts help you set (and meet) your 2024 goals
Three HT Brunch readers. Three goals for the year. Three experts to help them. Will 2024 make their dreams come true? Only if they plan it right
The good thing about any new year is that the ghost of the previous one still lingers. It’s possible to recall your own year-in-rewind Reel on Instagram and cringe. The pain of unmet goals still stings. Hopes for the future remain clouded by the playbook of the past.
To help 2024 top 2023, we connected three HT Brunch readers with experts to help them meet their professional, financial and personal goals. Are their targets achievable? Are they on the right track to meeting them? Or are they doomed to repeat old mistakes and cringe on the 2024 Reel too? Let’s find out:
For 2024, I want to...
“Help more musicians and songwriters secure the rights to their work.”
Anhad Anand
Anand, 32, is a former actor, lives in Delhi and is currently the business manager for Turnkey Music and Publishing. “Much like book publishers do for authors, we administer the publishing rights of independent songwriters and owners of copyright in music,” Anand says. “There is a huge lack of awareness of music publishing rights. Artists often don’t receive the royalties due to them.”
Pre-recorded music pops up in ads, as background scores on social media, or as cover versions, often without the creator or songwriter’s permission. “This is copyright infringement, and invites legal action.”
It’s what he hopes to get more folks to understand in the new year. “We want to be the bridge between creative people and business people,” Anand says. “Music is meant to stir the soul, but one can also make a living off it.”
Getting it done
Vinati Dev, an executive professional coach, has been trained by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and is co-founder of educational startup Sai Shiko. She analysed Anand’s profile.
“Everyone must have a plan in place to achieve their goals; otherwise, those goals are just wishes,” says Dev. She notes that Anand’s experience in the creative field, from his acting years, may help him understand his music clients better. But he’s in the early phase of his career. She warns that self-doubt can sometimes creep in.
“I advise him to be patient play the long game. He should make strategic monthly goals to address progress at varying levels,” Dev says. She cautions that it’s easy to lose long-term vision in the minutiae of running a business. “Set your strategic goals and factor them into your daily tasks. This could be anything from looking for fruitful partnerships, seeking funding, handling internal organisational matters, or keeping an eye out for talent.”
Small habits every day will deliver big changes over time. “If you want to write a book, you practise writing for two hours a day. You cannot wake up one day and be a writer. Process and habit are the only way to achieve a long term strategic goal. You have to reset your daily resolve to fit your big goals.”
For 2024, I want to...
“Get my start-up to bring in more money ”
Shikha Shah
Shikha Shah, 34, is the founder of Varanasi-based Scrapshala, a sustainability startup in which local artisans re-purpose discarded materials into functional products. They turn old rubber tyres into sunglass cases, and damaged keyboards into pen stands. Shah made it to Season 1 of Shark Tank India but wasn’t able to secure a deal. “Handicrafts still aren’t seen as a scalable business,” she says. “The negative connotations of scrap material make it difficult to convince potential investors to support us.”
Shah’s goal, unsurprisingly, is to raise money for her business. She has been exploring government schemes aimed at women entrepreneurs, and is scouting for investor partners. She hopes to not go broke trying. Shah is also looking to increase her own liquidity for daily expenses and earn more than 50 percent of income through investments. “Working in a semi-rural area has opened my mind to solutions that can be practised at a personal level,” Shah says. “When there is a shortage of water in villages, people don’t wait for government pipelines, they dig a community well by studying the water table there.”
Getting it done
Niranjan Shastri is a certified management accountant and associate professor and programme chairperson at SVKM’s NMIMS School of Business Management in Indore. Shastri looked over Shah’s business plan and portfolio to determine if she’s on track to meet her goal.
“She has the core competence required for the venture she is involved in,” Shastri says. “More importantly, she seems to be passionate about what she is doing.” He recommends that Shah complete a management development programme, something that includes finance for the non-finance professional, so she has a better handle on how to raise and manage the money for Scrapshala. He also recommends that she study the commercial aspects of succeeding in the art business, especially one focussed on sustainability.
“She could pitch for funding from the Sustainable Development Goals unit of the United Nations, along with exploring debt funding under government schemes,” Shastri says. He also advises a marketing tweak: Renaming her startup to remove the word ‘scrap’ and include words such as ‘circular’ instead. It would help, he says, if Shah concentrates on scaling the physical side of the business more than the e-commerce, as customers may appreciate the company’s products better after seeing them in person. A good partner for her, he says, is one who can exhibit her work on a wider platform.
For 2024, I want to...
“Live lighter, smarter and more creatively.”
Pranati Khanna aka Peekay
“I grew up on rock and roll,” says Khanna, 31. But with artist Krishen Khanna for a grand-uncle, she was also inclined toward art. She’s pursued fine art, digital art, graphic design, music production, singing, acting, video production, animation, and photography. Above all, Khanna is a vocal advocate of mental health, having struggled with anxiety since the age of six. She lives in Hyderabad.
“I’ve just been going going going since I was 18, and now I’m 31. I honestly feel a little burned out,” she says. “My goal for 2024 is to just go with the flow.”
But there’s music to release and tours to complete. Her goal of “making art for the love of it and not to make everything a project” still requires effort. Fan loyalty is fickle. This might be at odds with her emotional wellness goals that allow lots of days off, putting more faith in God’s plan, enjoying her workouts, spending time with family and friends and allowing herself to fail.
Getting it done
Archana Singhal, Delhi-based educator, counsellor and family therapist, studied Khanna’s profile and says that it’s great to see her envision clear goals and set her heart to achieve them. “To go with the flow sounds great, but it’s also important to make small actionable plans that are easy to follow.”
A good way to not lose sight of goals is to literally keep them in sight by writing them down. Khanna could then determine the significance and pressure of each task so she can get through the urgent items on her to-do list before others. Singhal also recommends that Khanna identify, in advance, any potential distractions that may derail her progress.
“To be successful in meeting her goals, Khanna must keep sight of the big picture spanning the next five years,” Singha says. “She can then divide these goals into tiny benchmarks.” It will make those small frequent (but essential) breaks sting less.
For creative folks such as Khanna, Singhal recommends following the rule of three: She should be receptive to stimuli coming her way and using that to determine the three most important things she should spend her time on. It would also help Khanna to surround herself with people who elevate her vision; and to share her joys with others to manage stress and find peace.
