Posts Tagged ‘goals’

The only way to make continual progress with your writing is to set goals. There’s no job description for writer and no standard measurement for advancement. So, it’s up to you to establish a framework that defines your goals and strategies for success.

It’s a good idea to set a mixture of short- and long-term goals. Ask yourself where you want to be in the next three months, six months, one year, two years, five years and ten years. Dream big dreams and don’t let “reason” restrict your vision for yourself.

Use the well-known acronym, SMART, to help you create your goals. SMART stands for:

Specific: Be precise. Instead of “I will write more often,” say, “I will write every morning.”?

Measurable: Write quantitative, rather than qualitative, goals. Make sure you can measure progress, or how will you know when you’ve attained your goal??Action-Oriented: Choose goals you can control. Rather than “I will be published in a national magazine by June of this year,” write “I will send a query letter each week to possible markets until I am published in a national magazine.”?

Risk/Realistic: Set goals that will make you stretch your capabilities, but don’t set yourself up for failure. If you have a full-time job or small children at home, writing a novel in one month is an unlikely feat.?

Timed: Deadlines help you pace yourself to complete your goals within a specific period of time. The publishing world rises and falls on making deadlines, so push yourself to hold firm to your commitment. ? ?

Other Tips

1. Put your goals in writing.
2. Post your goals where you can see them or make it a point to read them at least three times a day: when you awake in the morning, mid-day and before you go to sleep.
3. Share your goals with a supportive friend or relative. Your writers’ group may be your support group. The act of sharing your intentions releases them to the Universe and also will help keep you accountable–you will want to perform to expectations.
4. Celebrate your successes! When you can cross off a goal or make a check mark on your list, buy yourself a new journal, pen or book. See a movie or have lunch with a friend. Schedule a manicure or massage.
5. Get back to work after your celebration. Keep going.
6. Be flexible and adjust your goals when necessary. New opportunities always arise and you may find yourself attracted to magazine writing when you thought you wanted to write screenplays. Be open to possibilities that are as yet unseen.
7. Never beat yourself up or consider yourself a failure for not completing a goal in a specified time. Review your setbacks and revise your strategy. Never, never, never give up!

Portions of this article are reprinted from 4Ps to Publishing Success: Get Your Manuscript Off Your Desk & Into Print by Shelley Lieber.  Find out if you need 4Ps to Publishing Success>>>

Are you tired of making lists: things to do, goals to make, promises to keep…? I am. It seems it never ends and there’s always another list to make. So, I decided to take a good, honest look at why I haven’t lost the weight, made the money or gone on the trip.

This is what I discovered. I’ve accomplished far more than I had thought, but there are still important milestones I’ve yet to reach. So, what is the difference between what I have accomplished and what I have not?

At first I thought is was a matter of belief. But I truly do know I can lose five pounds, make more money and go on a vacation, because I’ve done that all before. So I looked again at my list of what I’ve done and what I haven’t done–and something jumped out at me with serious “aha” velocity.

The single distinguishing factor between my lists was that on one I had let go of my old ideas about how to do something and tried something new. Where I was stuck in the mud, I was holding on to how I’ve always done it. So, it was no surprise that what hadn’t worked in the past still did not.

And so, I have made an Ultimate Resolution that I believe will change my life. I am open and receptive to all possibilities. That means never saying (or thinking) I can’t do that, I’m too old for that, I don’t have enough money for  that…and so on. It means never dismissing any idea just because it challenges my comfort zone.

In the past year, just changing my attitude about social networking (that it’s only for kids) has revolutionized my business. And once I decided that I would just play around with it, suddenly it wasn’t so hard to navigate the websites. The know-how seemed to come to me in all sorts of ways: tips online, people who knew how to do it, and my relaxed attitude about it all seemed to make the instructions easier to follow.

Several business strategies I wanted to employ but hadn’t because of the costs become possible when I decided that I’d find a way to do it without spending the money. Suddenly people who could provide what I needed showed up and wanted to partner with me for an exchange of services. 

Do you see how simply opening your mind to all possibilities can change your whole world? No big visible big effort needed, just an ongoing gentle reminder to yourself not to reject anything or anyone without first looking with open eyes and open mind.

How many opportunities have you dismissed just because it didn’t fit your current view of reality? The only reality is that things change, so why not go with the flow instead of resisting?

Say it out loud. “I am open and receptive to all possibilities.” 

Doesn’t that feel good? Much better than “I can’t,” which makes you feel yucky. And it applies to everything on your to-do list and goals sheet. 

Join me this year in a creative thinking exercise. What’s really holding you back from achieving what you want? The circumstance, or how you think about the circumstance? Let’s all employ the Ultimate Resolution–I am open and receptive to all possibilities–and meet back in a year to tell our stories.

Are you in? Write your comments below. Do it now!