On Writing: Setting Goals

When I started learning about being a consultant for Arbonne, one of the main things they tell you is to write down your goals. You are 70% more likely to succeed at a goal that is written down. That's pretty amazing.

The second most important thing I learned is that if you want to be a successful consultant, you have to take on that attitude: you have to think of it as a business, treat it as a business from the get-go. You don't start acting professional once you get a certain level of sales or something.

Anyway. So what does all this have to do with writing as a profession? Everything.

If there was something simple you could do to make achieving your goals 70% more likely, wouldn't you rush right out and do it? Yeah. Pick up the pen and scratch out your goals. Be specific. Break it down. What do you expect to accomplish daily? Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? Yearly?

Treat writing like a business. Chances are, you're not going to end up with a contract for a novel, or with a published article if you're not taking your writing seriously. How do you do this? Define your goals. Define your hours.

For example, my daily goal is to write 1000 words on my current WIP. I get up about 7am and before I check email, before I pass go and collect $200, I get those 1000 words done, or as near to it as I can. I make up whatever (if anything) is left during Anna's nap time.

That means a goal of 7000 words weekly. Keep track of your progress. And that, ladies and gentlemen is why I started my Wednesday posts!

I've found it helps to reward yourself for meeting your goals. If I meet my weekly word count, I hop on over to Starbucks for a Caramel Frapuccino. :) Whatever works!

If you look back at those Wednesday posts of mine, you can see that it doesn't always happen. I don't always make it. But I've actually done more writing on the whole since I started those posts than I did in some previous months. So it's starting to even out and become a daily habit-- and that's really what I'm going for.

Anyway. Enough rambling. So write those goals down this week. Make a list every day. Scratch off each item you complete. It's a good feeling and helps you monitor your productivity.