GOAL MANAGEMENT FOR WRITERS

Are your New Year's Resolutions already forgotten?
Are you wishing you hadn't made a list of everything in your life you'd like to change?

A resolution is defined as a firm determination. Like “self-control,” a resolution sounds like something we’d only do with a whip held over our heads. That is why they fall aside so quickly.
     Goals? Not so much. A goal represents something positive a person wants to achieve. Positive is good. Resolution bad.
      A goal can be as simple as a mental picture of something you want to accomplish or can be a formal outline for how you plan to accomplish the goal. The most important thing about setting goals is to choose goals you are excited about achieving, excited enough that you will stay motivated to complete them.

Goal guidelines:

1.   Write the goal down. Give goals the added formality of typing them and printing them out. If you’re a writer, or an entrepreneur, you might want to have a separate list for your those goals for the week, month, and year. Anthony Robbins even advocates having a five-year plan! Think about what you’d like your life to look like in five years—it’s an eye opener!

2.  Display your goals for the week somewhere you will see them every day.

3.  Be sure each goal is something you are excited about accomplishing.

4.  Don’t try to do too many at once. Pick two or three, or only one if it is something important to you.

5.  Make a list of action steps you will do in order to achieve your goal. Divide the steps into long and short-term solutions.

6.  The action steps must be specific.  Add dates for their accomplishment too if you find that helpful

Procrastination can feel overwhelming, thus emphasizing the need to have increments toward the achievement of your goal. Begin with a tiny, baby step—but begin! Many years ago, I was stuck in a job I found unfulfilling and my goal for the year was to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement plan it offered and go back to school for my Master’s degree. It felt like an impossible task that involved a lot of work just to get started. I took very simple first step and contacted a local university for information about the programs. I began classes that spring and graduated three years later.

Make that first step a small one and make it today—it is the most important one. You’ll be surprised how it will inspire you to keep going.


Dear Readers,
       I wish all of you a healthy and amazing 2016! If you have any great tips for goal achievement, please share it with us in the comment section. I find my weekly goals most helpful and tape them (on an index card) to the bottom of my computer so I have to face them every day. What works for you?
Till next time,
Marla