Many writers make resolutions or set goals for themselves at the start of the year. Very few are still working on them even one month later.
Often it’s not that they have consciously decided to stop; usually they just sort of forget about the goals because too many other urgent things come up.
That’s why I decided to remind you to remember your goals at the start of every month (which is also a good way of reminding myself of mine, of course). I hope it’ll help both of us stay on track so that at the start of the next year we’re not back to square one.
This post appears on April 1, three months after most people set their resolutions or goals for the year. Of course you may be reading it on some other date. That’s fine—it’s always a good time to check whether you’re moving toward your goals and to take corrective action if you’re not.
If you haven’t set any goals for your writing (for instance, writing a novel, getting an agent, or self-publishing your book) or other parts of your life, you might find it useful to take a look at the posts below in order; even if you have worked through them already, it’s useful to go back to them for a quick review.
Don’t wait until you’re on your deathbed, the time for action is now!
Take one look back, then it’ll be time to move forward
Design your writing (and other) goals with zero-based planning
How to think big about your writing and the other parts of your life
Why “unrealistic” writing and other goals are easier to achieve
The seven steps to reaching your goals
If you did set goals for yourself, take a few minutes to answer these questions now:
- In the past month, have you been moving toward your most important goals?
- If not, what has stopped you or slowed you down? You might find it useful to take a look at thistrouble-shooting guide.
- What can you do to get yourself back on track? Don't just do the same things that didn't work last time. Come up with alternatives and keep going until you find what works for you. (If you have trouble brainstorming ideas, see my book, ‘Creativity Now,” published by Pearson and available from Amazon).
- What’s the first step you can take today or tomorrow? Commit to it now.
As soon as you have taken the first step select the next step and keep going until you’re making progress.
Once in a while you may find that a goal you thought was important doesn’t turn out to be as meaningful after all. If you’re sure the goal isn’t going to give you what you thought it would, let it go and set a different one. However, the road to every goal is full of challenges, so don’t give up one goal just because you think maybe another one might be easier to accomplish.
If you subscribe to this blog today, in 30 days I’ll be reminding you again. If you have any questions, let me know at jurgenwolff (at) gmail.com. You may also find it useful to read my book, “Focus: use the power of targeted thinking to get more done,” published by Pearson and available from Amazon or your other favorite book seller.
Good luck and don't forget to enjoy the journey!
