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At the start
of this new year, like at the start of every other new year, I came across
dozens of articles about the importance of setting achievable goals,
challenging myself to do new things and fixing measurable standards and
working towards them.
But what
happens when you mess up the goals from last year? Where’s the real advice
about missed deadlines and lost goals that all but kill the inspiration to
come up with new ones? I didn’t achieve three out of the ten goals I had
set for myself last year, even though I was obsessive-compulsive about
looking at them each day and measuring my performance regularly. I’m
tempted to say that life got in the way or blame the shift in priorities
that happened mid-year. But these are things that can and will happen each
year. Instead of putting your life on hold the year when the strains and
stresses get too much, plan your goals accordingly right at the beginning.
If you
didn’t meet some of your goals last year, here are some questions that you
need to answer honestly, so that you do this time around.
Are you
actively pursuing your targets?
It doesn’t
work just to look at your goals each morning and then do nothing about
them. Sure, that’s a good start and it means you’re conscious of where you
are in your career, but if you want to move further, you need to create an
action plan. Instead of just making yearly goals, make monthly, weekly,
even daily ones and then try and meet them.
Also
important is to work towards what you want to achieve step by step. One of
my goals last year was to get published in Reader’s Digest. Guess how many
query letters I sent them?
Two.
You’re
laughing, aren’t you? I’m cringing. That’s because I know that two queries
just doesn’t hack it if you’re targeting such a high-level publication.
Two queries wasn’t even enough to get into my local newspaper; how’s it
going to land me a national assignment? If I had been serious about
getting into RD, I would have read every issue, sent a query each month
and built a personal relationship with the editor. Yet, I did none of
those things. Not surprisingly, my goal remained unfinished at the end of
the year.
Are you
being honest with yourself?
In my first
year of freelancing, I earned over a 100 published credits. That’s because
my aim was to reach this number, without caring about the money that came
in. That meant that I wrote for low-paying publications, publications that
paid in kind instead of cash, and on topics that I had absolutely no
interest in. The next year, I shifted my focus to cracking the nationals
and making a decent income from my work. But here’s where I went wrong: I
assumed that since I had already proven that I could write a 100 articles
in a year, I’d be able to do a repeat performance. But national magazines
require much more research, very specialized queries, and a great deal of
more effort per article. So while my goals of getting into national
magazines and increasing my income were met, my goal of getting another
100 credits wasn’t.
Are the
goals really yours?
I think
almost all of us get sucked into aping the tactics of someone we admire at
one point or the other. The thought process then works something like
this: If she could write two children’s books, pen twenty greeting cards,
author three non-fiction titles and syndicate a humor column in her third
year of freelancing, why can’t I? Never mind that I’m not really that into
children’s writing and I haven’t said anything remotely funny since I was
10.
I’m ashamed
to admit that I’ve been guilty of doing the above. It’s easy to look at
goals of other writers and think, “She’s got so many goals for the year
and I’ve got only five. Let me increase mine, too.” But “she” doesn’t have
your life, and you don’t have hers. So set goals that are appropriate for
your career and your ambitions, not hers.
What’s
your life like?
If you’re a
new mom, don’t expect to be able to work 80-hour weeks like you did before
you gave birth. If you have a full-time job, don’t try to take on same-day
deadline assignments. You need to set goals that are suitable to your
life, your speed and your talent, no matter what anyone else may do or
say.
It’s also
important to incorporate life changes into your goal-setting. I lost two
grandparents this year, which not only forced me to take a physical
vacation from work, but an emotional one as well. I needed to give myself
time to heal in order to get back to work refreshed and with new vigor. If
you’re going through stressful times, don’t expect yourself to be as
productive as say, when you’re having a great year. Cut down on your goal
list a little and be easy on yourself. Making yourself work too hard when
you’re not physically or emotionally ready to, will not help you meet your
goals; instead it’ll detract you from them.
Are you
confusing your long-term and short-term goals?
Writing a
novel is my long-term goal. A “someday.” But I’m not there yet. And I know
I’m not going to be able to work on my dream novel this year, next year or
maybe even the one after that. If I do, I’ll be taking time away from the
non-fiction work that pays the bills and for the next couple of years, I
can’t afford to do that. Putting “write a novel” on my list of goals for
the year isn’t going to make me feel too good about myself, especially as
this goal gets carried forward year after year. Instead, I’m putting it on
my “to do before I’m 30” list. That way, it’s not too near, and it’s not
so far away that it becomes a distant dream instead of reality.
Once I’ve
cracked a good number of national magazines, finished and published a
couple of non-fiction books and can afford to take time away from
non-fiction, I can consider taking a risk with fiction.
Are you
keeping track?
The biggest
problem I face right now is keeping track of where all the time went.
While to an outsider it may seem like I’m working almost all the time, the
truth is, I waste a lot of time on e-mail, reading newsletters, networking
with fellow writers and well, checking e-mail.
To counter
this problem, I started keeping a daily journal to keep track of where my
writing time was really going. My productivity’s almost doubled since I
started doing this. Keeping an hour-to-hour or even a daily tab of what
I’d achieved for that day kept me accountable and ready to tackle the next
important task on my list, rather than checking e-mail one more time. And
if an entry for a particular day reads, “Revised article for Wedding
Dresses, conducted research on a new idea,” I’d immediately know that I
needed to increase my productivity, and by how much. Sure, checking e-mail
is work too, but it’s not bringing in any money. So I make it secondary
work and answer incoming mails only once a day, unless they need urgent
attention.
Are your
priorities straight?
Which brings
me to my next point. Set your priorities right and work top to bottom. A
technique that works for many people is to make a daily list of things
that need to be done. Then, in the order of priority, tackle them one by
one, striking them off the list. At the end of the day, even if you have
some work unattended to, it can easily be transferred to the next day’s
list, since it’ll be at the lowest priority.
Do you
have a fixed schedule?
I still
struggle with this one, but each time I’m able to set a schedule for
myself, I find that I’m happier, more energetic and much more productive.
Getting up at six in the morning one day, not sleeping for another two
days and then getting a whole lot of slumber on and off for the next three
days eats into your energy and taxes your brain much more than it should.
It also becomes a cause for unnecessary delays and interruptions. Instead
of surrendering to your muse whenever it shows up, program your body to
work for a fixed time each day. Your brain will automatically recognize
that as time to work and get on the job. Make your routine consistent.
When our body gets used to doing something at a particular time, we’re
able to do with ease. So if you’ve decided to write five pages each
morning before the kids get up, make sure to do it.
Answer these
questions honestly and get to work on these techniques. You’ll find all
your goals ticked off your list by the end of this year.
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