The New Year is almost here and you, dear friend, know what that means.

It’s time to set some goals.

I knew a writer once, we’ll call her Sarah, who would create elaborate goals. She was super organized and super enthusiastic. Everything was a goal. Her school-teacher-like handwriting filled journals with everything from “get my hair cut” to “sell my first manuscript”. Her lists were color coded, tabbed with post its. She even had 1 year, 2 year, and 5 year goals mapped out.

But Sarah rarely accomplished her goals. Things she’d written down (like “get my hair cut”) were easy and quick to accomplish and she took pride in marking that off her list. But that feeling was short lived. Getting your hair cut isn’t really much of a goal. It’s more of a To Do.

Soon after the new year her list was trimmed to real goals. Hard goals. And she worked on those. At least, she tried. At first. But, by midyear, her goals were forgotten, life would take over and she’d give up. Only to start the cycle again the next year.

Why wasn’t Sarah successful? First of all, she had some crazy goals on her list. Things she had no power over. She never set a deadline for her goals and therefore always thought she had “plenty of time.” She confused goals with To Do items and therefore overwhelmed her list and her focus.

Remember that goals are things that you can a) set, b) work toward c) control the outcome and therefore accomplish. Things that are outside of your control are not goals.

Making the best sellers list is not a goal. That’s a dream.

Selling your book is not a goal. That is also a dream.

Set goals that you can accomplish.

Example: Finish the book so that I can submit to a publisher where I will have the potential to “sell the book.”

See, you have no control over whether or not a publisher will in fact publish your book. None. Unless you go the self-pub route. But you do have control over each word you write, finishing your book, and submitting your book.

And along the way, you can write the best you can, act as professionally as possible which might help your dream (sell the book) come true.

Now, for each goal, you should have steps you need to take to achieve the goal.

Back to the book… write 1000 words a day until it’s finished. That’s a good way to achieve your goal. So write that step down.

What else do you need to do?

How about research publishers so you’ll know where to submit? Also a good way to achieve your goal.

Give yourself a deadline. When you set goals, don’t be vague. Be as specific as possible. Set a date that you’ll accomplish the goal by. This will make the goal more concrete in your mind.

Don’t be like Sarah. Set goals you can accomplish. Break down your goals into actions you can tackle daily. And set deadlines for your goals and tasks so you can work toward them and finish them in a timely manner.

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