Writing Goals 2009

Happy New Year!

I thought it would be appropriate that my first blog posting for 2009 focus on writing goals. I find that writing down goals and writing lists does help to keep you motivated towards achieving your goals. In Be Your Own Best Life Coach, The Tao of goal-setting, Jackee Holder states ‘…when we write down goals and lists and take actions that come wholeheartedly from our inner essence there just seems to be a different charge in the air that brings our desires – sometimes almost miraculously – into fruition’

So, this morning I wrote a list of my writing goals for the first 3 months of this year, which includes continuing blog-writing here (of course!), taking up a non-fiction narrative course, completing/submitting a short-story to Mslexia’s competition this month, and a few more.

Another tip – and forgive me for getting a bit technical – is to follow the SMART method to achieving your goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time bound. The reason for this is that it’s fairly easy to set goals, just like making New Year resolutions; however, achieving them is the challenge. It’s also a good idea to set goals in quarterly chunks rather than what might be a lengthy list for the whole year. This way you can prioritise goals in 3 monthly intervals, which I can confirm is far less daunting than focusing on the whole year’s goals.

However you keep motivated on your writing projects in 2009, my message to you is be true to yourself, write for yourself, don’t worry about perfection and celebrate your goals once achieved.