In this episode, we continue the theme of effective goal setting to help you become a successful author.
Have your writing plans ever gone off track because of a significant life event? What did you do?
Mariëlle and I talk about our experience and what helped. We consider strategies, but first, it’s essential to recognise that a crisis needs attention. Dealing with issues mentally and emotionally can be just as debilitating as a physical injury or disease.
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In this episode, we continue setting practical goals that can turn you into a successful author.
Be honest about what you want and how much time you have available. It’s easy to take on too much. Women especially have to be everything, super-fit, a wonderful mother while holding down a job and running a home.
Routine and creating writing habits can go a long way to ensuring you work on your fiction, but life happens. When it does, prioritise and consider the cost of letting some things go. Most people experience stressful times when life is challenging, but think about what else might be happening if this becomes the norm. Where are your boundaries? Can anyone help? Is there anything you could give up?
How quickly do you bounce back from disruption?
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In this episode, we dive into the subject of short-term goal setting, which is much more complex than it initially appears.
Studies have shown that choosing a goal and setting a time limit increases the odds of achieving that goal. Partly because it keeps you focused on what you want, but goals should evolve and change as your life changes.
While long-term goals are powerful tools to help reach your potential, short-term goals keep you on track, but they are more than the building blocks to achieving larger goals. It’s the process of identifying manageable, achievable steps that increases your awareness of what you want and where you are going. In turn, it allows you to make decisions that are aligned with who you are. For example, everyone’s definition of success is different, and it’s worth considering what you want your career to look like when you look back. That way, you can commit to your belief and set goals that align with who you are. The process of reviewing goals and considering whether they have been achieved, and scaling their difficulty level helps identify and challenge unconscious conditioning and other issues that get in the way of writing.
Some people find one type of goal setting easier than the other. What comes more accessible to you long-term or short-term goal setting? Why do you think this might be the case?
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