SMART Goals 4 - Final Friday

Today is the last of our SMART Goals series.  That doesn't mean you get a break, once today is over. :)  It means that if you haven't set a goal yet, it's time to get to work.  If you have set a goal, you should be working on it.

GOAL= I want
GOAL REACHED= I have

Between those two is work.  A person can't simply want without doing and hope for the best.  It takes work, it takes dedication, it means sticking to your goal and all the little goals that get you to have.

On this final day, we're going to look at the last of the tasks we need to focus on and the questions we need to ask ourselves.  The two words that define T in SMART are Time-Bound and Touchable.

TIME-BOUND
Our lives are all about time.  We know that there are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day.  Add 7 days in a week, 52 weeks or 12 months in a year, and we have the basis of time in our lives.  We can't work 24 hours a day for 52 weeks over the time we're here on earth.  We know there are things we have to do to live.  We eat, we play, we sleep, we work.  That's the cycle of our lives.  And throughout much of those things, we pray and wish.  Our lives are run by goals.  "I'm expected to get to work at 8 a.m."  "I sleep so I can be rested for tomorrow."  "I'm hungry, so I eat."  On and on, throughout each day, we have goals.  Most of the time we work on them without a lot of thought, because they've become natural to us.  Big goals, the ones that will help shape our lives and our futures, take more time and thought.

The final steps in setting a big goal is to ask yourselves these two questions.

• When will I achieve my goal?

"Someday I want to..." isn't a goal.  It's a dream.  Remember that dreams are the basis of our goals.  They're what spur us on to set those goals, to do things that will help us realize our dreams.

When setting the "when" of goal achievement, take into account that life never runs smoothly.  There will always be something that pulls you away from the steps and small goals you've set to get what you want...what you dream of having or doing.  

When we think of working on a goal, we often think of it in terms of weeks, months, or years.  Because these are the measures of time we use, keep them uppermost in mind when setting the time of achieving the goal.  Do you have a big goal, one that will take more time than one that's more simple?  Give it a year.  Give it two years, if needed.  Never short yourself on time.  Factor in those somethings that could pull you away from your goal.  Don't overwork yourself, but always try to keep you goal in mind.  And especially remember to take time for yourself (non-goal life), your family and your friends.

• What's my deadline?

Scary word, deadline.  I've come to the conclusion while working on my current deadlines that the word is apropos. Spot on.  Dead on.  I may be initially excited when I meet a goal on time, but when that rush of adrenalin vanishes, I may often want to sleep for days.  Not that I can, but I sure would like to. ☺

Do you know the origin of the word deadline?  Check it out here.  There's a reason it's called a dead-line.  That doesn't mean that deadlines are bad.  They're needed to reach our goals, whether it's getting healthy by exercise or losing weight (always a #1 on those New Year's resolution lists), taking a dreamed-of vacation, getting a better job, an education, or, yes, writing a book.  We need a way to reach that goal, that deadline.  We set goals.  We NEED deadlines, or we might never work toward our dreams and goals.  Goals take work.  Don't be afraid of doing it or from reaching your goal.

TOUCHABLE

Here's the question to ask yourself: 

•  What will I have to hold as a completed result?

Losing weight is touchable.  Our bodies are lighter, our old clothes aren't clinging to us as they did before.  We'll have new clothes to replace the old one's we give away.

Taking that cruise is touchable.  We feel the spray of the ocean on our faces, the movement of the ship across the water, the feel of the wind and sun on our faces.  And hundreds of photos to share with others and take out, from time to time, to relive the experience again and again.

A completed manuscript is something we can hold in our hands, and someday it may become a published book.  (Another goal to reach?)  

A college diploma that has been a long-term goal is touchable.  

Learning to ride a bike or a drive a car is touchable.

Have you set your goal?

Have you set a smart goal?

Here they are again, those questions to ask yourself as you set your goal.  As you work through your goal, you can use these questions to keep you on track and to adjust your goal, if needed.  

SPECIFIC - Who, What, When, Where, Why, How?

Can your goal be broken into smaller steps?

MEASURABLE - How will you know when you're done?

MOTIVATIONAL - Is your goal emotionally charged?  Do you have the energy to carry out the goal?

ATTAINABLE - Is your goal realistic?

ACCOUNTABLE - Can your goal be tracked and accounted for?

RELEVANT - How does this fit into your life now?

RESPONSIBLE - Will your goal or working on it cost you friends?  Respect from family?  Your integrity?  Will it be easy to respond to changes IF required?

TIME-BOUND - When will you achieve your goal?  What's your deadline?

TOUCHABLE - What will you have to hold as a completed result?


SMART (S.M.A.R.T.) Goals.  Our tools to make our dreams come true.

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. ~ Walt Disney

How to Survive Blah Season

Yes, the photo on the left is a black hole.  That's how I feel about this time of year.  You know, the holidays are over, the weather is, well, unspeakable in some parts of the country right now.  We're looking at at least another month and a half of dreary and probably closer to two months.  Around these parts, our worst winter storms tend to happen in March.  So if January is shutting down the South, I'm really not looking forward to what we'll get in the middle of the country before spring arrives.

Weather is changing.  Yes, January is supposed to be cold, at least in my neck of the woods.  Cold weather means staying in more than usual and bundling up when going out.  It means going out less, if possible.  While I'm not a big outdoor person--I spend most days at my computer, working on projects, no matter what season or weather--I still like breathing fresh air.  But I don't like going out in the cold.  Let's face it.  Most of us aren't kids anymore.  And just why can the younger ones deal with cold weather so much better than adults?

Aside from the weather, I consider this Blah Season.  Yes, Valentine's Day is coming up soon, but other than that, we're on a slow boat to spring.  Punxsutawney Phil will or will not see his shadow on February 2, issuing another 6 weeks of winter, either way.

Seasonal Affective Disorder
Yes, SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is real.  Let's face it, we need SUNLIGHT!  The Winter Blues affect millions of people.  But there are ways to effectively deal with them and get through Blah Season.
(Found on SmartPeople:  10 Cool Ways to Beat the Winter Blues)

1. Exercise  Okay, I'm not a big exercise fan.  I enjoy a nice walk, but this isn't the season for it.  Numb  and sometimes throbbing fingers don't make me smile.  I'm also not a fan of gyms.  So what to do?  I have a treadmill that doubles as extra "closet space."  By that I mean that I have a tendency to hang my clothes on it. ;)  I'd get some exercise by reducing that particular closet space, then I could actually use that treadmill for exercise.  And let's not discount the small collection of exercise videos that collect dust on the shelf.  I guess that means I really can use #1 after all.
2. Eat a Healthy Diet  I'm allergic to the word "diet."  Each time I hear, read or type the word, I want to rush out and get a shake at Sonic.  Or eat a container of ice cream.  Or a bag of candy bars.  Yeah, you get the picture.  Still, it couldn't hurt to eat more veggies and cut down on the sweets.  Couple that with #1, and it might be a win-win situation.
3. Get Some Sun  There are two windows to my right with sunshine coming through.  I make four trips a day to two different schools, so it's not like I never leave my house.  And I leave early on those trips, so I have a good parking place, then I sit for 20 minutes, waiting for the school bells to ring and the students to come rushing out.  (I spend that time working, reading, or even listening to music.)  For now, I have this one covered.
4. Act on Your Resolutions  Remember those New Year's Resolutions we made four weeks ago?  Or have they been forgotten.  I did work on one of them this morning, although I don't call it a resolution.  If I do that, I set myself up to fail.  What one did I work on?  Being grateful.  After Max the Dog woke me this morning, I realized it's Wednesday.  Hump Day.  Hump Day in Blah Season.  Is that an oxymoron?  My first thought, after saving my fingers from Max's playful bites, was that I'm grateful it's Wednesday.  Get through this day, and there are only two more days to make those school runs.  Now that's something I look forward to.  Yes, I'm acting on my resolution to start the day on a positive note.
5. Avoid Binge Drinking  Really?  And I was thinking this might help.  Shucky darn.  Bummer.  My binge drinking amounts to nearly nothing anyway, so where's the fun in that?  Okay, this one is taken care of. :)
6. Treat Yourself  Hmm, this one is tough.  Then again, I do manage to do this, now and then.  Last night I watched my two favorite college basketball teams on TV.  Because they played at the same time, although not each other, we flipped back and forth between channels.  Both teams won!  One of those teams, Wichita State University aka WSU, is ranked #4 in the nation.  Yes, watching them win 22 straight games has been a treat.  I also downloaded a book to my Kindle that I've been wanting to get for some time, found it discounted and am reading it.  I'm reading!!  Now that's a real treat!
7. Relax!  Yeah, sure.  I recently finished revisions on my August book, jumped into writing the next book which is due in less than a month, and received line edits on that first one on Monday.  Relax?  You've got to be kidding!  By the time I make it to bed at night, my brain has quit functioning.  Meditation hasn't been happening for several days, so that's off the list for now.  Still, I've been reading that book in #6, so I do get some relaxation.  Another winner.
8. Embrace the Season  This one is hard, but since I'm determined to be more positive, I'll try to stop complaining about the cold, terrible roads when it ice and storms, and enjoy the beauty of snowfall at midnight.  Okay, I admit that I enjoy nature, even during Blah Season.
9. Get Social Support  Isn't that what Facebook, Twitter, and email is for?  Not to mention the telephone.  And because my youngest daughter lives with me, I'm rarely alone.  No, being lonely isn't something that comes with Blah Season.
10. Catch Some Zzzz's  Okay, now I'm really rolling on the floor laughing.  Writers on deadline sleep?  But I have been sleeping in later on weekends and not getting up nearly as early on weekday mornings, gaining me a half hour.  If Max doesn't decide it's playtime at 7 a.m.  On rare days--and I do mean rare--I'll sneak in a nap.

If the above list didn't help point in the wrong direction, try Buzzfeed's 13 Simple Tips and Tricks for Beating the Winter Blues.  If nothing else, the photos are fun and at least chase the blues away for a few minutes.  Sometimes that's all we need.

Before we know it, the snow and cold will be gone, garden season will be in full swing, trees will be budding, and we'll all be getting out more.  Until then, if Blah Season or the Winter Blues are getting you down, try the tips above for some strong offense.  And remember, March Madness is just around the corner!  Go Shox!

I like these cold, gray winter days. Days like these let you savor a bad mood. ~ Bill Watterson

Old Man Winter Brings a Hodgepodge of Thoughts

The weather yesterday was beautiful!  62 degrees.  Not bad at all for late January.  And then evening came and so did the cold front, sending 60 mph winds through the area.  Today's high?  24, and I'd bet that lasted the few minutes it took for the weather guys to chart it, then dropped again.

It's been a weird winter for everyone, what with polar vortexes and snow in places that rarely see snow.  Last year, we were hit with a snowstorm that dumped 20 inches in our area.  A record, for sure.  I've seen a foot or a little more a few times, but 20 inches?  That's crazy!

With two more months of winter--we have our biggest snows in March--I shudder to think what else we'll get to deal with.  Then I shudder with the cold from what we have in the present.

I spent most of the weekend writing, trying to catch up on days I wasn't able to write during the weeks before.  My total for our first BIAW this month was 82 pages.  I chart that, and even my mouth dropped open when I saw my word total for so far this month.  Last January my total word count amounted to zero.  With a goal of 200,000 words for the year in 2013, I wondered if my expectations might have been too high.  But things have a way of pushing us, and I finished with more than my goal.  Some of that was need, some of that was determination, and the rest is just plain being stubborn.

Today brought line edits for the next to last Desperation book.  With a February 24th deadline, I don't get to lay around and watch TV.  In fact, what little TV I usually watch has dwindled to very little.  I like to watch TV.  I used to do a lot of it.  I was once a soap opera junkie.  General Hospital was my drug of choice.  I'd watched it for so long, I could remember the original characters from the early days.  Not necessarily by choice.  My mother was a soap opera junkie, too.  But one day I realized what a waste of time it was and I quit.  Cold turkey.  I set a date.  Felicia and Frisco's wedding.  I'd watch that, then no more.  Amazing, even to me, I stuck to it.  I haven't gotten hooked yet.  Strange, but I've never missed it.

We all have our passions.  Reading has always been mine.  Sad to say, but time for reading has shrunk to very little over the past couple of years.  I pat myself on the back for reading Stephen King's 11/22/63 last fall.  With over 800 pages, it took a while, and most of it I read in bits and pieces.  Considering the length, should I count that as at least two books?  I think so!  I'm currently reading, although it's slow going.  I work until midnight, sometimes later, then read a little before turning out the light.  When I realize I've just read the same sentence or paragraph more times than I can remember, I put it away.  I'm currently reading a book I'd wanted for some time, found it discounted on Amazon last week, and grabbed it.  It's slow going.  Not because it's not a good book, but because of the lack of time to read.  No doubt I'll finish.  I have to know if the main character's son is the murderer.

But tonight is Castle, so I'll enjoy an hour of it, then go back to the keyboard and see if my characters will behave or at least talk to me.  Yes, those voices in my head are real. ;)  At least I'm never alone.

Winter is nature's way of saying, 'Up yours.' ~ Robert Byrne

SMART Goals 3

There are three words that define the R in SMART: Relevant, Responsible, and Realistic.

All of the things involved in SMART Goals interconnect with each other, so there will often be duplications, but those duplications sometimes dig a little deeper with each step.  And sometimes we simply need it repeated ad nauseum, pounding it into our brains.  Setting goals takes practice.  Setting SMART Goals takes even more.


R is for Relevant
One key to clarifying what it is your goal will be is to check to see that you will be able to see results.  By breaking your big goal into smaller ones, you'll be able to see results and progress.  It's hard to stick with a goal if you don't see yourself moving forward.

For instance, your goal is to write a book in a year.  There are 52 weeks in a year.  Each week should include a smaller goal that pertains to the large, main goal.  Using number of words or pages to write is an excellent smaller goal, and if you keep track of that, you'll see results.  Words and/or pages to be written are relevant because you'll see results...as long as you're working toward your goal.

Once again, ask yourself these questions as you're setting your goals.

• How many days in each week can you use to write?  To work on reaching your goal?  
• How much time in each of your days can you and are you willing to spend on your goal?
• When will you not be able to work on your goal?  This one is important.  We get sick, our family members get sick.  There are vacations and other personal things that we need to work around and factor in when we won't be able to work on our goals.

When I start to write a book, I know how much I can reasonably write in one day.  Because my books are broken down into scenes in chapters, I set a goal of one scene per day.  I know it can be done.  I also know it sometimes won't get done.  During the week is usually the hardest, because it never fails that something will come up to drag me away from my goal.  I do my catching up on weekends and hope there isn't a lot of catching up to do!

So what's relevant to your goal?

• Research.  I try to do research before starting the book, but it always seems to happen that I have to go look up something I missed.
• Taking time to unwind.  All work and no play makes Johnny and Janey dull, tired, and mush-brained.  Be sure to build in some downtime, when you don't have to think about your story.
• Working when you'd rather be playing.  Saying "next time" to an invitation from a friend that will drag you far away from your goal.  This includes phone calls.
• Track your progress.  Don't guess.  Keep a spreadsheet or whatever works best.
• Breaking down goals.  The idea of writing a book--or doing any other big goal--is exciting at first.  But as time goes on, it can become daunting.  That's why it takes thought and planning.  It's much easier to reach a small goal than a huge one.  We don't eat a Cattleman's Steak by cramming it in our mouth.  It's bite by bite.  Create bite-sized goals to reach the big one.

R is for Responsible

While burying yourself in your goal might seem admirable, it isn't.  There are more things in life than even major goals.  As much as I would like to sometimes, I can't lock myself in my office and shut out the world for extended periods of time.  Meals must be cooked or at least a run for hamburgers to the closest, cheapest and fastest fastfood spot.  Bills must be paid, laundry done, and dishes washed.  Getting out and breathing fresh air is a good idea, too.

How important is your goal?  Well, it's definitely important to you.  Mine is important to me.  Everyone's goal should be important to the person who makes the goal.  Otherwise, why bother?

What we don't think about when dreaming of reaching our goal is how it can affect others.  When setting your goal, ask yourself these questions.

• Will it cost me friends?  We like to think that our friends are as excited about our goals as we are.  Many of them are!  And some of them may discover down that line your goal has usurped time you once spent together or talked, emailed, whatever.  Good friends will cheer you on and listen to you whine.  But there's a limit to that with most friends.  Be sure to make time for your friends, even if it's a quick email or limited phone call to say "I'm thinking of you."
• Will I have my family's respect?  No matter what, there will always be times when family wants our full and undivided attention.  It may take talking it out and reaching a compromise, where they agree to leave me alone for X amount of time on X day(s), and I will take them to X or spend X amount of time with them.  (Small children especially will need more time than, say teens, although they, too, will notice that your full attention is not on them.)  Family members are like the person with the goals.  At first it's all bright and shiny, but when it starts to take time away from real life, somebody is going to be unhappy and think you care more about the goal than them.  Word of advice?  Deal with.  Don't ignore it.
• Will this cost me my integrity?  Integrity, smigtegrity.  Who cares, right?  Think again.  Two instances come to mind.  I'm sure you'll get the gist.

   1.  You're employed and have a good work record on which your employer has commended you.  Now that you have this big goal, you want to focus on it.  You get behind on your goal and start taking time off from your job.  You've compromised your integrity.  Both your employment and your goal are important.

   2.  You're a parent who people admire.  Now you have a goal, and by golly by gee, you're going to meet that goal, no matter what.  Your child(ren) can manage one day of wearing dirty underwear and socks.  Now that day has turned into a week.  Or your child may need help with homework, but you have your own work (goal) to focus on, not Johnny or Janie who is beginning to fail a class in school or is getting into trouble in school or elsewhere.  Big ding on the integrity you'd worked so hard to build.  Put your goal aside, revamp if necessary, and rebuild that integrity.  The goal will still be reached, just maybe not as soon as you'd planned.

• Is your goal easy enough to respond to and change, if needed?  Life happens.  I'll be honest.  If I won a trip just about anywhere, I'd take it in the blink of an eye.  My goal can wait.  Although I'd probably find myself at least jotting down random notes, because when a writer isn't able to work, the mind creates megatons of information. ;)  Sad things and happy thing abound.  As humans, we try (or at least should try) to roll with the punches.  Some things are more important than a goal.  Other things are not.  You get to decide on which.  
• Change the above to...  Is your goal easy enough to changes IF REQUIRED?  When it comes down to things that have no choices--maybe a stint in the hospital for an ailing family member, the loss of a family member, or something dire you must attend to immediately and even long term such as taking a second job--we, as caring individuals, will put aside our goal.  It can be picked up later, when life allows.  And life will allow it, as long as we keep a hold on the dream.  When goals have to be set aside, the dream is still there.  Believe it.

The nice thing about setting goals is that we have the opportunity to change and tweak them as we go.  There's nothing wrong if we find ourselves floundering with a goal.  But instead of chucking it all when that happens, making changes can get us to where we need to be.

R is for Realistic

It never hurts to go over this one again.  Can your goal be met by you, or so it require someone/something else?  Back to the I-want-to-write-a-book-which-will-become-a-bestseller.  The first part is doable.  The part after "which?"  That depends on a lot of things that are simply out of our hands.  With a goal, we do the very best we can do.  For the above, the next step would be to get a publisher interested.  It's possible.  It isn't set in stone.  But it doesn't mean you dump the entire goal.  A "someday I will be published" is more realistic, although never a given.  It may take five complete books, it may take ten or more, but your chances of reaching that dream becomes better and better.

The same goes with the time that goes into your goal.  "I want to write a book in 2 weeks."  Yeah, good luck with that one!  A short book, a children's book, either would be possible.  But there's a lot more to it.  That's the way it is with big goals.  Throwing away everything else in life to work on a big goal would be sad, if not a huge mistake.  One thing does not make a life.  It's all the little things that make it well-rounded and exciting. We want to make it a good life.  Be realistic.

One last Friday for SMART Goals next week!  We'll look at the letter T.  Another two-parter.  Time-Bound and Touchable.

Have you been working on your goals?  Are you still setting your goals?  Either way, how is it going?

There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, Yes, I've got dreams, of course I've got dreams. Then they put the box away and bring it out once in a while to look in it, and yep, they're still there. ~ Erna Bombeck

A Little History of Home

Campbell Castle 1890

Call me weird, but I have a thing for history.  Local history, to be precise.  There are two places that tickle my interest.  One is Wichita, the city where I was born and spent my childhood.  The other is Clearwater, where my mother's family settled, after immigrating from Germany and where I finished growing up.

The reason for the first is probably because my dad told stories about Wichita when he was growing up.  Born in 1910, he remembered things that are no longer there.  Theaters, drug stores, street names that were changed along the way.  Later, after I married, my dad and my grand-father-in-law, who were only a few years apart in age, would sit and share memories.  Of course I don't remember everything, but all of them fascinated me and made me aware of how history changes.

1885 Occidental Hotel 

Last night, my #3 daughter tagged me in a photo on Facebook, with an old photo of a building that was known as the Occidental Hotel.  According to the information where she found the photo, the hotel "was one of the Old West's most famous and grand hotels in its day. The Occidental played host to numerous notorious guests (including General Sheridan and outlaw Frank James) and the storied poker games of Room 12."  That set me off to visit the website where the photo had appeared, and I've now wasted spent at least an hour looking at Then & Now photos.  I've driven by the "Now" building many times and knew it wasn't new.  What I didn't know was the history behind it.

For the past three or four years, I've gone on a local "ghost tour" of an area of the city that wasn't a part of the city in the beginning.  The Arkansas (pronounced Ar-kansas', not like the state ☺) River bordered the original town/city on the west.  Beyond that was an area known as Delano. Infamous for gunfights, brawls and prostitution, the river kept the notorious out of Wichita.  In fact, guns were checked at the bridge before entering Wichita from Delany. (photo below)  Yeah, gun control in the 1800s. ☺  I never new about this, until I went on the first ghost tour with my youngest daughter. We've since dragged other family members along with us, but that first visit was the best. There's a story about an 1873 gunfight between two saloon owners, "Rowdy" Joe and "Red" Beard, in which Rowdy shot and killed Red.  During the ghost tour, this is one of the stories that's told.  Red's ghost still haunts one of the buildings that is now a hair salon.  Many of the buildings there now were built in the 1870s.  While Wichita has it's Cowtown Museum (a living museum of original buildings moved farther up the river and includes re-enactments of the time), it's exciting to hear and read the stories and see photos of the "other" Wichita, especially because I spent my childhood only a few blocks south of Delano and never knew the history, although I'm sure my dad mentioned it.  These days, the Delano District includes shops, businesses, restaurants and art galleries.  A wonderful place to visit.

Wichita (now East Wichita) on the left, Delano (now West Wichita) on the right

My dad also talked about Ackerman Island, situated in the middle of the Arkansas River.  (large island on the middle right)  Not just a simple island, it held an amusement park, complete with a roller coaster.  A drive along McLean, which I take often to go to the far west side of the city and follows the west bank of the river, now shows a completely different river.  No islands, no old boathouse, where people rented small boats, canoes and paddle boats.  I can only imagine what that might have been like.

While Wichita doesn't have the history of Boston or Charleston and cities along the east coast and south, it does have some some interesting stories.  Okay, a lot that are interesting. :)  Carrie Nation visited our fair city and smashed a bar in one of the local hotels, for one.  Then there's Rowdy Joe and Red Beard...  Ah, history.

Just another look at my childhood memories and far far before that.  Check into your own hometown history and see what you can find.  You won't be disappointed!

The past actually happened but history is only what someone wrote down. 

~ A. Whitney Brown

SMART Goals 2

For anyone who stopped by here to take a look on Friday, you're doing better than I am.  It's 11:20 p.m. my time, and I'm finally getting to this.  Between a grandson who was sick and didn't make it to school, but needed to be watched over, to far too many website updates and Facebook Page creating, to a daughter who asked if I'd pick up her daughter after school, to another daughter who had to attend a funeral, the day didn't work out as expected.  And I'm 3 days behind on my daily goals. *sigh*

But I'm here, and I'll share what I know about setting smart goals.  I still have a lot to learn.  Obviously.

Last week we looked into the Who, What, When, Why, How of setting goals.  Today we're going  to double up with the M and the A in SMART.  And both use two words each.

MEASURABLE

As it asks in the graphic above, How will you know when you're done?  A relative question, since a goal without end isn't a real goal.

A goal is something to work toward.  With writers, that goal can be a number of things.  The most popular are page goals and word count goals.  A goal might be to write a book, but that can often be more easily measured by the number of pages or number of words you'll need to write.  My books run between 58,000 words to 60,000 words.  Someone else's might be double that.  A novella might be a little more than half that.

The writers group I belong to offers two different chances to work toward goals.  One is short term, the other much longer.

Our short-term group is what's called BIAW or Book In A Week.  No, we don't expect to write a book in a week, but it doesn't give us incentive to write.  Although it's supposed to be a week, we extend it an extra day, so our week is actually 8 days.  (Hat tip to the Beatles.)  We do it twice a month, every month, beginning on the first Sunday through the second Sunday, then turn around and do it again on the third Sunday through the fourth.  Before it begins, those who want to participate declare by email how many pages we've set as our goal for the week.  My goal, beginning this coming Sunday, is 50 pages.  I know I can do it, but I'll have to work hard to reach it.

The second group is our yearly Word Count Challenge.  This is our third year.  In January, we declare our goal of words written during the year, and at the end of each month, we announce our monthly word total.  A spread sheet is used to keep track of each member's Goal, and both monthly and accumulated total.  The first year we tended to overreach.  Our group's yearly total goal for 2013 was 910,000 words.  The fifteen of us wrote 838,960.  We reached 92% of our goal, 1% better than the year before.  This year our group goal, a combination of all individual goals, is 1,340,001.  (That 1 is a race between two members, both published.)  Will we make it?  We'll try!

Here are a few questions to ask yourself when setting your goal.

• Is your goal is measurable?  Without knowing the specifics, you'll be at loose ends and may not reach your goal or struggle with reaching it.  Maybe you aren't a writer, and your goal is to lose 20 pounds in a year.  Or whatever reasonable and reachable goal of pounds might be.  A yearly goal makes it easy to measure.  Or you want to be more fit.  Walking, running, exercise all need goals, too.
• Can your goal be broken down into smaller goals?  Easy with a yearly goal.  There are twelve months in a year.  If I'm writing a 12 chapter book at approximately 60,000 words, I'll have to write 1 chapter per month/5,000 words.  You can break that down to the number of scenes or number of words.  Decide how much time you have for writing, and you'll know how many words or pages you'll need to write each day.  And you don't have to write every day.
• Are there other priorities that come before writing?  If you're a mother with small children or a working woman, or a working woman with children, huge chunks of writing time are hard to find. (Men also have priorities, the same as women.) Some people get up an hour earlier in the morning, some stay up an hour or two later.  Some people write during their lunchtime.  Some write during baby/child's naptime.  When is your best time?
• Will it be possible to work on your goals during holidays and/or vacations?  My daughters are grown, but holidays still roll around each year.  I've written during Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, summers full of grandchildren, and helping other family members with their own goals and schedules.  I do get more done on weekends, but for some people, this isn't always the best time to hole away.  Be sure to factor in the things you know in advance that will take time away from your goal.  Work around those time.  It may take a little less sleep, less television or movies, or something else, but it comes down to priorities.  Family is always first priority.
• What happens if sickness intrudes and messes up the goals?  It happens to the healthiest of us.  If it does, and you fall behind on your short-term goals, don't beat yourself up.  When you feel up to it, work a little on your goal, but don't wear yourself out and end up being sick longer.  That's counter-productive.  If you have to make up some time on your goal, do it in small stages.  An extra page here and there will soon have you back on your goal schedule.  The same goes for most everything else.  But don't give up food if you're dieting!!

Give yourself enough time to set reasonable goals.  Rushing into it without giving thought to your lifestyle, demands of others, and the inevitable things that intrude, will only cause you to give up.  That's not what working toward!  When that book, or diet, or exercise routine or whatever your goal is all about is reached, you're done!  And then you can turn around and do it again. ☺

Now for the second M.

MOTIVATIONAL

Is your goal emotionally charged?  Are you motivated enough to spend the time needed to reach your goal? 

1. Do you want to reach this goal bad enough to give up something else you love, once in a while?  Yes, that hot fudge sundae is calling you to take a spin to Sonic, but think of that weight-loss goal.
2. Do you have the energy to carry out the goal?  Training for a race can be grueling.  Staying up late or getting up early to do whatever it's going to take to reach that goal must be done in moderation that will keep you going, not lead you to giving up.  Goals can be adjusted.  Missed goal-working time can be made up.  But if you find you're not getting enough rest, and you're falling asleep at work or during your favorite TV show or your son's soccer game or daughter's dance recital, it's time to adjust the goal-work that's causing it.

Last but not least, we're to the two As.  All of the letters in SMART are needed for setting your goals.  Don't skimp, don't skip.  Think it through.

ATTAINABLE

Is your goal realistic?  We took a look at this last week with Will it Work?  Let's face it.  Most of us aren't going to run in the Boston Marathon our first time out.  The majority of writers will not sell their first book.  We aren't going to be an Olympian in only a few short months.  Or probably in a year.  But there are a lot of things that can be done in a year.  If you can break down a yearly goal into small chunks and bites of time or practice or training or whatever, it should be attainable.  Your goal shouldn't take up every moment of your life, but it should be a priority.  If you feel it's taking too much time away from other things, adjust your goal to fit you and your life.

ACCOUNTABLE

We're all held accountable for nearly everything we do.  It starts when we're young.  Remember chores and chore charts when you were growing up?  Mom or Dad made up the list, and we were accountable for getting them done.  Now that we're grown up, we're still accountable...to our boss, or spouse, our friends, even our children.

Can your goal be tracked?  This is a big one.  When it comes to goals, falling back on those chore charts might not be such a bad thing.  There are hundred, if not thousands or millions of ways to track goals.  I use spreadsheets.  And calendars.  Right now, I know I have to write 1 scene a day.  Why a scene?  It has a beginning and an end.  My calendar tells me what I need to be working on, what my goal for the day will be.  My spreadsheets help me keep track of how many pages and words I've written in a day, a week, a month.  They tell me how far I've gone and how far I have to get to the end.  My editor isn't going to accept a 40,000 words book.  I'm going to need a lot more than that.  I'll admit that it can be exhilarating, the closer I get to reaching my goal.  Those last two chapters, those last few scenes, almost write themselves.  I want to reach that goal, and by tracking my progress, I know I can make it or at least how hard I'll have to work to reach it.

There are all kinds of tracking programs and spreadsheets on the Internet for anything you might imagine.  Use one of them or make your own, as I do.  The one thing you have to remember is to KEEP TRACK each day as you work on your goal.  Find the best way to be accountable.

If you have a friend or family member who you can count on to keep you accountable (Did you write today?  Did you walk that two miles?), it's a lot easier to stay on track.  And be sure it's a friend who wants to see you succeed, not one who will lure you away from your goals. :)  Buddy-up with a friend, if h/she is working on a similar goal.  Encouragement from others can go a long, long way.

And you thought setting goals would be easy?  Nothing is easy.  But the rewards are magnificent!

Next week we'll work on the Rs=Relevant and Responsible.  Yes, more thinking and planning.  Before you know it, you'll be setting goals for all kinds of things.  And reaching them!

It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Guess What Day It Is?

Awwww, you guessed it.  Yes, it's Wednesday, and as I type this, I'm almost to the halfway point.  Okay, of the daylight part of the day, that is.  But I don't get to sleep when the sun goes down.  I get to stay up and work.  Daytime is reserved for all those things that can't be done after 6 p.m.

My list today included a call to the bank, answering emails, checking out Facebook (which I really don't have time for, but...), a trip to get 6 items at the store  (only 5 were available), and the usual taking and bringing-back of small urchins.  There's more, here and there, but those were the main items.  All are done, except that taking and bringing-back thing.  Two trips down and two more to go.  Speaking of two, there are only 2 more days before Friday comes around again.

Now, I don't know about you, but for me, weekends fly by at the speed of sound.  Sunday is not my favorite day of the week because of that.  It means Monday morning is just around the corner, and life starts anew, once again.  I'd love to stretch out a Saturday by doing nothing, but that rarely happens.  Then again, if I weren't busy, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

Last Saturday we watched basketball.  College basketball.  One team didn't win, but the other did, in an astounding game that had my mouth hanging open at the buzzer.  A real fingernail-biter.  The plan had been to clean or at least straighten my office.  Yeah, right.  It never seems to get crossed off the old To Do list.  But I did sort of clear the debris from the finished book and discovered that there really is a desk under all of that, not just a tall, flat pile of notes, timelines, character charts and storyboards.  Whoda thunk it?  The downside is that I can't find anything any better than I could before I cleared out the mess.

Watching TV has become a luxury.  It wasn't so bad during the summer.  Most of what I watch (a total of 4 shows and an occasional HBO or PBS series) weren't on.  Work did get done.  But now that those shows are back on, I'm finding that I'm still not watching. I'm 3 hours behind on Downton Abbey and don't know that I'll have time to catch up or even watch this week's show.

Going out to dinner or a movie?  What are those?  Dinner out is rare, except for a once or twice a month short drive for fast food.  And I'm not a big fan of fast food.  Unless it's Sonic ice cream.  It's been too cold for that. :(  And movies?  Like in a theater?  I haven't stepped inside one for over a year or even rented a movie for even longer.

So life, is dreary, although it isn't, really.  It's too busy to be dreary or boring or ho-hum.  But Wednesday Hump Days do provide at least a glimpse of something different than the usual list of things that must be done.  Saturday rolls around, and I allow myself to sleep in.  But then I have to, because Fridays nights are for writing and run right into very early Saturday mornings.  The brain must have rest!

I'm one scene ahead of the new writing schedule I started on Monday.  If I can keep this up, I won't have that dastardly and exhausting rush to the finish line aka deadline.  You bet I try to reach those small goals!  If not, I wouldn't see the light of day...except for those taking and bringing-backs.

Here's hoping your Hump Day is productive!  Do I hear a wheeeeee as we go down the slide to the weekend?

More SMART Goals on Friday. :)

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. ~ Douglas Adams

Monday Blues, Rock, or Whatever

My parents were music lovers.  Married in the 1940s, they were fans of the Big Bands.  Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey are among the bands I grew up listening to.  They also had collections of Classical music and Country/Western.  I even had a thing for Opera for a while in grade school.  I've never been to an opera. *grin*

I love music!

I've lost count of the number of songs on my playlist, probably because my taste in music is very eclectic and I listen to a lot of different types.  Of course I prefer some music over others, and I haven't been listening to very much of the current crop of hits.  I'm too busy enjoying what I know and already have.

Music, even the weepy songs, lift me up out of the doldrums and bad moods or helps with de-stressing during "one of those days."  It helps me relax and go to sleep at night.  I use it while writing and, yes, have made playlists for each book.  Those playlists sometimes have duplicate songs, here and there, but usually the music has something to do with the characters or the story.  An especially snappy tune will get me on my feet.  I love to dance, too, so the two go hand in hand.

A year-and-a-half ago, when I walked two miles each morning, I took my Mp3 player that included "walking" music.  Fast tempo stuff that forbade a leisurely stroll.  Was it the walking or the music that made me start my day on a better note than if I didn't walk?

I played piano, flute, and even taught myself to play a guitar (badly).  I sang in Glee Club and Mixed Chorus and have a 1st place gold medal from a music contest when I was part of an octet in high school.  I can't carry a tune in a bucket these days, but singing along with a little Simon and Garfunkel isn't out of the question for me.  Or the Beatles or Beach Boys or the Carpenters or...  It's impossible to keep from tapping my foot to bit of music...even a TV commercial that includes music with a good beat.

The speakers in my car are dying a painful death, so listening while I drive isn't done often.  But if I find myself feeling down, I'll turn it on, in spite of the crackling from one side or the other.  Music rarely intrudes on my thoughts.  It adds to them.  Makes them better, makes them clearer.  Whether the music has lyrics or is strictly instrumental doesn't really matter.  It makes the heart sing.

There's no such thing in my life as a favorite song.  There's far too many to choose from.  I'd have to pick 3 from column A, a dozen from B, and a few from C.  No, it can't be done.

Do you have a favorite song?  Or favorite type of music to listen to?  Or are you eclectic, like me?  Give a shout out!  But shout loud, because I'll probably be wearing my earphones. :)

Music in the soul can be heard by the universe. ~ Lao Tzu

SMART Goals

There's a trick to goal setting.  I haven't mastered it, but I'm gaining ground.  I'm learning how I work and what inspires me to want to reach my goals.

Yes, we're already two weeks into a new year.  No, it isn't too late to set goals.  If you've already set your goals for the year, congratulations!  You're on the road to reaching your goal.  You've already begun.

But have you really set goals in a smart way, not simply picked something that sounded good and made it your goal?

If you haven't yet set your goals or your goals could use some tweaking, there are ways to do that.

I'm going to focus on writing goals, although the nuts and bolts of goal setting work for everything in life.  Exercise?  Weight loss?  Education?  Employment?  Everything we can set goals for should be done in a way that doesn't set us up for failure.

Your goal is to have a book published by one of the Big Five publishers?  A lofty goal, indeed!  But you really don't have control of this goal.  Instead, a goal of writing a complete book (including editing and polishing) and submitting it to one of the Big Five publishers would be practical.  Why?  Because we have no control over what one publisher or another will buy.  Well, unless you're J.K. Rowling or Stephen King, or one of the "biggies."  Set up your goal(s) for success!  Having that book published is a dream.  Your goals are there to lead you to that dream.

Here's the first step in setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals.

SPECIFIC

Know what your goal is.  This sounds easy, but it isn't always as simple as it seems.  Ask yourself some questions, as you look at your goal.  Answer them, and you're on your way to setting a goal.

• Who?  Simple, huh?  This goal is for you, right?  You're not doing this for someone else, you're doing it for you.
• What?  Again, one of the tricky questions.  Your dream is to become published by one of the Big Five or even yourself.  Yes, it's okay in today's ultra-modern world to indie/self-publish your book.  Check out Amanda Hocking and others. But let's be realistic and make that goal to write a book.  After all, a book can't be published (dream) if you don't write the book (goal).
• When?  Well, now is a good time.☺ Waiting until June or September probably isn't a good idea, especially if this is your first book.  We now have 50 weeks left in 2014.  It's definitely doable, if you have a goal.
• Where?  When it comes to writing a book, there's no specific place to do it.  I've written in my car, at my daughter's volleyball games, early in the morning, late at night, middle of the day, lunch breaks at the day job.  In an office, at a dining room table, in a car (yes, I do that often), in a park.  You name it, writing can happen anywhere.  But the best way to reach your goal is to find a specific place and time to do the biggest portion of your writing.  Make it a goal to write X number of words or pages every day or five days a week or even on weekends, if that's the only time available.  Make it a goal, stick to it, and it becomes a habit.
• Why?  Know why you want to do this.  Has writing a book been a lifelong dream?  Do you want to prove to yourself (and that English teacher in high school) that you can?  Whatever the reason, it's yours, not someone else's.  But don't do it simply on a lark.  Make it real.
• How?  Ah, now we come down to the nitty-gritty.  Think of your life.  What demands are made on you by others?  Are you a mom with small children?  Do you have a full-time job that keeps you away from writing for eight to nine hours a day?  Do you already have commitments that must be met?  Any or all of those things won't bring your goal to a screeching halt.  There are still those other times.  It may mean giving up something else you enjoy.  Do you watch television in the evenings?  Is there one, hour-long show you can live without?  Or two half-hour long shows?  Cut out the things that aren't the most important to you (family doesn't count), and use that time to reach your goal.  If dreaming is all you want to do, that's okay.  But if you truly want to make that dream come true, start doing.

Be SMART.  Don't set yourself up for failure.  Don't set goals that aren't attainable.

Next week we'll look at the next to steps in Goal Setting: Measurable/Motivational and Attainable/Accountable.  Until then, start thinking about your goal, start setting it up.  Make your goal specific.  Goals aren't set in stone, once they're made.  They can always be adjusted.  But goals not set are only dreams.  Make your dream a goal, and you're on your way to achieving it.

In everything the ends well defined are the secret of durable success. ~ Victor Cousins

Do-Overs and Deadlines

deadline - the point in time at which something must be completed

We all know about deadlines.  We have at least one a year for paying taxes.  Most everything we do has a deadline, from making meals (deadline is people who whine that they're hungry!) to that April 15th one.

I knew I'd heard the back story (writers term) about how the word "deadline" came into play.  The etymology of the word.  But since I don't trust my memory, I looked it up.  It's believed the word was used and came from the "do-not-cross" line in Civil War prisons (1864), which was made known during the Wirz trial.

Here's one of the best I found that will hopefully stick in my mind.

And he, the said Wirz, still wickedly pursuing his evil purpose, did establish and cause to be designated within the prison enclosure containing said prisoners a "dead line," being a line around the inner face of the stockade or wall enclosing said prison and about twenty feet distant from and within said stockade; and so established said dead line, which was in many places an imaginary line, in many other places marked by insecure and shifting strips of [boards nailed] upon the tops of small and insecure stakes or posts, he, the said Wirz, instructed the prison guard stationed around the top of said stockade to fire upon and kill any of the prisoners aforesaid who might touch, fall upon, pass over or under [or] across the said "dead line" .... ["Trial of Henry Wirz," Report of the Secretary of War, Oct. 31, 1865]

Not a pretty story, is it?  "Under the gun" comes to mind.  I'll have to look that one up, too.

So that's where I am.  On a deadline.  There are all those others to contend with, too, but this one has my full attention.  Last night, I finished that "do-over," rewriting much of a book my editor liked but thought could be better.  I hope it is.  One final read-through (maybe), and I'll send it off in a couple of days.  Anything I could ignore during the time racing for the deadline was set aside for later.  But later may be just as bad.  I have another book to write with a deadline of...February 24.  Yeah, I can see those guys standing with their guns, ready to fire.

Let's face it, I'm under the gun and don't want to cross that line to be shot.

So now you know the whole story.  Or most of the high points, anyway.  If my blog is late, so be it.  Those guns are pointing at me.  Sometimes I don't know what day it is, but I keep plugging away, keeping that line and those guns in view. *shudder*

Have a great week!  KEEP WARM!!!

A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it's better than no inspiration at all. ~ Rita Mae Brown 

New Year, New Goals

It's the first Friday of a brand new year.

How did you feel when you read that sentence?  Excited?  Shocked by the truth?  Afraid?

Goals are something I think about often.  They both excite me and scare me.  Sometimes they baffle me.  Sometimes they make me sigh, because there are days I don't want to think of them, much less work on them.  And at other times, they push me to work...not always with a smile, but determination of some kind.

Goals are also something I've blogged about often.  Why?  Because they're important.  They move us forward, make us work, and give us a reason to live.  Without goals, whether tiny or huge, they are what spurs us to get up and get going.

Goals are not a To Do List, although they should be a part of it.  Goals are what we work for, usually over a period of time.  There are short-term goals and long-term goals.  Many of the short-term are small and a part of a big, long-term goal.

I didn't think of goals as a child.  Many of us don't.  Sometimes we aren't taught about goals, how to make them, how to use them to improve our lives, except in a broad way.  

"Okay, boys and girls, we're going to take out our crayons and draw a picture of our family."

Teachers work on goals for themselves and their students, before the school year even begins.  Large companies/corporations work on goals.  Individuals do, too, although sometimes we don't think of them that way.  Kids?  Most goals are chosen by parents, but children have an advantage.  They tend to dream more than adults.  Their thinking is much less defined by past experience, so limits are few...unless a grown-up comes along and tells them their dream, their goal, isn't possible.  As adults, we do them a disservice by doing this.  We also do ourselves a disservice by thinking it, because we start believing it.

Nothing is impossible.

Dream/Want/Need=Goal

Goals are simply steps to reach something we want.  Whether it's something we want to do, become, experience, or have, doesn't matter, but getting there does.  Even the simple act of getting a drink of water is part of a goal.  

Dream/Want/Need
I'm thirsty, I need/want a glass of water.  That water isn't suddenly going to appear in my hand.  I'm not a genie.  I can't make it magically appear.  I must do something. 

Steps to Reach the Goal 

• First step:  I move from where I am to go where water is accessible:  the sink, the refrigerator, that case of bottled water, wherever the water is kept.
• Second step:  Because it's a bit awkward to stick my head under a faucet, open my mouth, and let the water pour in, I must find a "tool" aka a glass.
• Third step:  I fill the glass with water from the faucet or a pitcher/container in the refrigerator.  If the latter, there's an extra step.  I have to open the refrigerator door and remember to close it when I'm done. (Warning to small children.)

The Goal is Reached

• I drink the water and am no longer thirsty.

While most goals are more complicated than getting a glass of water, each thing we do, each movement we make and thought we think, is a step toward our goal.

We set goals every day, thousands of times a day.

January 1st of each year is traditionally the day we begin new, personal goals.  We're now on the third day of that new year.  Have you set a personal goal?

If you're an artist, whether a painter, writer, sculptor, designer, maker/creator of anything, you need goals.  Without them, you may start many things, but never finish.  You won't move forward more than a step or two.  If you're thirsty and want a drink, but don't move to get to the kitchen, you'll continue to be thirsty.

If you're a writer, your writing goal is important.  Start with something you want to accomplish, whether it's a full book you want to write, a collection of short stories.  Simply sitting down and writing when the mood strikes won't get you to your goal.  You must work on it daily, if possible.  The overall goal doesn't need to be big.  Small is fine.  But taking the steps to reach it must be taken.  Thinking about doing it won't get it done.  You won't reach your goal.

Since this is January, the beginning of this new year, I'll be posting about Goals all month.  Sometimes it takes a little time to think of a goal, define it, and then find the steps needed to reach it.

Do you have a goal for 2014?  Feel free to share it and how you plan to reach it!

Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind. ~ Seneca

All Work and No Play...

I'm in the midst of revising rewrites.  Sounds crazy, doesn't it?  I've rewritten 30,000 words of a nearly 60,000 word manuscript over the past month.  Not the most fun way to spend the first day of a new year, but it is what it is, and nobody will do it for me.

Monday is my goal to have this done and sent to my editor.  At the rate I'm going, there'll need to be an extension.  The holidays, family, and friends have taken more time than I'd planned, but I don't care.  Family and friends are important, and I won't give them up for anything.

I haven't made it through the first of the eleven chapters yet.  I've been making notes, re-reading the notes from my editor, and making more notes.  One way or another, I'll shove, pull, smash and whatever else it takes to get this right.  Or as right as it can be.

No, writing isn't always a joy.  I have a feeling of dread that the new writing I've done on this may be a bunch of dreck and not at all what it should be.  On the other hand, I know there are some things that are better than they were.  Definitely not the same, that's for sure.  I'm rethinking everything, probably more than I should.  Paranoia is rattle the door to my mind, but I'm trying to ignore it.  Final deadline for this is January 20, giving me a little more time.  But I have a February 24 deadline for another book, so...

I work weekends, evenings, late nights, and whatever small bits of time I can find during the weekdays.  Very little time for TV and fun things, although our family enjoyed Christmas together and New Year's Eve was spent playing Trivial Pursuit and ringing in 2014 with oldest daughter, granddaughter, son-in-law and my youngest daughter.  Today my four girls (and their children) went to their dad's for a grilled chicken dinner.  I'm sure they left stuffed and satisfied.  A good thing, since time to cook at my house has shrunk.

But today I'm revising those rewrites and probably writing a few more new words...to take the place of the ones that will need dumped.  Such is the life of a writer.

Daughters are back, so it's time to hear how their afternoon went.  I hope you and yours started the new year on a high note, and 2014 is filled with everything good.  Stay well, stay happy!

May your New Year flourish with new discoveries, wonderful inspirations, and happiness to fill your heart. ~ unknown