In this GREAT article on why we don't reach our goals, Heather Quisel states that there are two kinds of people:
- Those who set grand, lofty goals; and
- Those who don't set goals out of fear of embarrassment or shame when others see them fail.
She left out the third category: those of us who beat ourselves up when we fail to reach our targets.
As a writer, I don't tend to set specific goals. I fall into both categories 1 and 3. I'll think to myself, "I need to work on my novel", or "I need to finish my novel". Perhaps it's because of the vagueness and loftiness of my goal that it becomes unreachable.
In college, we had a target of writing 1,000 words of our novels/day, 5,000/week. I learned how to produce vast amounts of words, and I reached these targets every week. However, this did not guarantee the quality of my work, and it took a long time for me to regain confidence in my ability to write well - confidence I had had before I had a word count target to meet. Eventually, the words flowed, but I went through searing self-doubt before I reached that stage.
This article suggests that we set an activity goal, rather than an achievement goal. .This will definitely help with problems two and three: self-criticism and fear of criticism from others.
I've decided to set myself a minimum goal. Not to finish my novel, just to work on it a little every day, five days a week. (I'm not disclosing the specifics here, but I do have them).
If you feel anxious about meeting your target, or you are disappointed in yourself and wish you had achieved more in 2020, give yourself a break. Set a minimum activity goal, one that is truly achievable for you, and stick to it. You may surprise yourself by what you achieve!
What are your goals for this year? What strategies do you use to reach your goals? Please comment below.
Go here for my audio on How to Achieve the Results You Want.
Please share this with your networks. Thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment