Notes from the Queen

Yes, that's me.  The Queen of Procrastination.  I'm the one who always put off those term papers in high school, waiting until the last, possible moment to start.  They did get done and turned in on time, but the headaches and anxiety that caused didn't need to happy.

I can procrastinate with the best.  The best would be myself, when it comes to that.  It's so-o-o-o-o easy to put things off, especially the things that don't thrill me.

Sometimes that's writing.  Okay, often it is, if I'm going to be honest.  I haven't had a chance to procrastinate with that for a while and have missed the few TV shows I watch.  (I gave up a lot of TV, a long time ago.)


Procrastination is one of the easiest things to do.  The problem is, it doesn't have much value.  Things, chores, wants and needs have a tendency to pile up, if we ignore them with something else.  Let's take laundry, for an example.  Or washing dishes.  Or cleaning.  Or...  Yeah, all of those things that need to be done, yet get set aside.  For me, lately, they have taken a backseat to deadlines.  But today I finished the last of big deadlines.  Only a few to go.  Revisions, line edits and proofs is all that are left.  And you know I'll be right in the swing of procrastinating when they arrive.

Yes, I blog a lot about goals.  Unfortunately, I focus my goal setting on writing.  Daily things--other than "It must all be cleared" tend to fall by the wayside.   Why?  I've been focused on that writing.  I'm over a month past my normal schedule of getting my taxes done.  Guess what I'll be doing Sunday, when my desk is clear?  Yeah, you guessed it.  I'll be downing massive amounts of caffeine and looking for a wig to wear, after I've pulled out all my hair.  I am so not into math.  But it must be done.

Now that I'm back into the real world, instead of the trying-to-beat-it world of deadlines, I'm being smacked by all the things that didn't get done.  With what's left of tonight and into tomorrow (after running errands and watching Wichita State University try to make their 30-0 record a 31-record), at the top of my list of things to do is clear my desk.  O.M.G.  What a mess!  There's only an 8" square that I cleared a couple of hours ago where the actual top of my desk is visible.  And I have a pretty big desk.

So after I finish finding the top of my desk, my goal for the next few days--other than those taxes--is to make my goals for this month.  And they're going to have to include all the silly day-to-day things----dishes, laundry, cleaning...  Yeah, the fun stuff.  As for writing?  Yeah, there will have to be some of that.  I need to plot, I need to edit some things I worked on last spring...before the dreaded deadlines hit.  And I need to remember to kick back and enjoy a little TV, reading, or whatever strikes my fancy.

If you're looking at your goals for March (yikes! already?), remember to make time for a little enjoyment, while keeping those goals uppermost in mind.  Work on our goals should come first.  Okay, after family and personal hygiene.  We work to gain the perks of enjoying the good things.  While that doesn't sound like much fun, rushing around at the last minute to finish a goal that was ignored for too long, is even worse.  Don't procrastinate.  Do the work, the reward yourself with something, whether it's time or a small gift.

Here's hoping March will bring warmer weather, time to enjoy life and the satisfaction of meeting or even surpassing our goals.

Procrastination is like a credit card: it's a lot of fun until you get the bill. ~ Christopher Parker

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

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

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

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

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

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

My apologies for the missed blog last week and this week's being late.  My daughter's bridal shower was held last Saturday, and the days prior to it were filled with chaos.  Such is life. :)

Yes, it's goal-setting time again!

Fall is quickly sneaking up on us, although a high of 92 yesterday made that hard to believe.  But we're cooler today, and fall is in the air.  Fall is my favorite season for just about anything. :)

I've never been a "scheduled" person.  Most schedules have been given to me.  With four daughters, there were schedules set by others (school, Girl Scouts, sports, drama, etc.) that I had to follow to keep life within the bounds of sanity.  Add in the fact that we were a farm family, and nature dictated our schedules.  I am, by nature, a fairly laid back person.  There are those who might say I tend toward laziness, but I chalk that up to my being a more cerebral personality.  (Hey!  It sounds good, right?)  But over the years, I realized that, although I could get things done without a schedule and long-term goals, life often became chaotic.  And sometimes those goals were pushed aside.

I've had to re-evaluate, over the years.  I've learned to do things in different ways.  I've learned that setting goals, especially with writing, keeps me going.  I really like proving to my inner critic that I can do what I set out to do.

That re-evaluation took time.  My current manuscript will be my fifteenth published book.  While that isn't a large number for some, when I look back, I see how much I've grown, not only as a writer, but as a person.  And I expect to continue growing.  I continue to learn.  School is always in session!

One of the keys to setting goals is making adjustments.  This particular book has been filled with those.  But this time I didn't sit on my hands, waiting for news of a contract or rejection.  I put my butt in my chair and my hands on the keyboard (aka BIC-HOC) and worked on other manuscripts.  In just over two months, I wrote two books.  Luckily, the first three chapters of both books had been written and only needed some small changes.  No deadlines, no parameters with the plots or stories, I wrote for myself.  This did two things for me.

1. For the first time in several years, I wrote with the freedom to tell stories that didn't fit the parameters of what's currently selling.  My only goal was to finish them and discover how long it might take me.
2. When I finally received the contract for the current book, I was able to jump right into writing it, without the usual warm-up time. (HINT:  If you don't keep the writing muscles toned, getting back into writing after a long spell of non-writing, it takes a while get "in the writing groove.")

You don't have to be published to set goals!

I learned to set goals early on when I decided (actually was coerced by my writing friend) to enter writing contests.  The deadline was then set for me, and I had to set smaller goals to reach that big one.  I entered many.  Results varied.  And knowing in advance that if, by some crazy chance, my entry might lead to a request for a partial or full, I made sure the entire manuscript was finished.  You know, just in case. ;)  That paid off for me.  I'd been making the final rounds in some contests, earning second and third, but had never won a contest.  For the first time, I entered a contest without having finished the manuscript.  While it was being sent out to judges, I finished it.  That entry one first place in the Georgia Romance Writers Maggie Contest and the full manuscript was requested by the senior editor of the publishing line I'd targeted.  All I had to do was a quick polish, and off it went.  Eventually, it became my first Silhouette Romance, Rachel's Rescuer.  The door had opened.

With that open door came deadlines...and revisions and edits, oh my!  I felt like Dorothy in the Land of Oz.  Fitting, considering I'm a Kansas girl.  I learned to write on a fairly daily basis.  Those revisions had to be made and had to be done by deadline.

The road to publication has twists and turns.  Sometimes, along the way to that first contract offer, I wanted to give up the fight, become a "normal" person and stop writing.  But determination and some pushy friends kept me going.  So did one thought.

If I quit now, I'll never know if I might have made it.

 I landed on the Yellow Brick Road.  That road contains twists and turns.  Silhouette Romance closed, and I had to find a different line where my writing fit.  It took a while.

Sometimes the Wicked Witch of the West came along to try to stop me. That Wicked Witch being the Demon of Self-Doubt.  I still haven't found the bucket of water to throw on her and probably never will, but there will always be times when I laugh in her face and tell her that she won't get the Ruby Slippers.  I will write.  I will set goals.  I will reach those goals.

Now is the time for all good writers to set goals.  If you're not a goal-setter, start small.  Start slow.  Use your brain, as the Tin Man did.  Keep writing--on a fairly regular schedule--so you don't have time to rust, as the Tin Man did.  Be courageous, as the Cowardly Lion did, and submit your work, whether to a critique group, contests, or editors.  You'll find many Wizards to help you along the way!

It really was no miracle. What happened was just this... ~ Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz

Vacation? Not on the List of Things to Do.

Yesterday, life changed.  Why?  It was the first day of summer vacation for our local schools.  That meant that it was also the first day we were invaded by the children of my children.  Four of them, plus the three-year-old, who is here throughout the school year, will spend the weekdays with us, until sometime in August.  I haven't yet counted the weeks.

When does the writing get done?  Whenever there's a little piece of peace and quiet.  Rare, but it does happen, even in the middle of the day.

Staying up late and working into the wee hours isn't an option for me, even during the school year.  Setting a schedule of writing from 8 to 3 or any specified time doesn't work either.  Not only are the grandchildren a constant during the week, but I also own a website design company, and requests for updates come in randomly.  But the writing still gets done, although it isn't a constant each and every day.

One of the things that helps me is the BIAW program that my writing group has twice a month.  We post our page goal for the week (first and third Sunday and ends on the following Sunday) and report the number after the last day.  My participation has been spotty this year, I'll admit, but for this week, I decided to jump in with both feet.  My goal is 40 pages.  Not so bad when factoring in that we have eight days, which breaks it down to 5 pages a day.  It's doable, but requires actually putting words to paper, sometimes after a day that screams for sleep.

This week didn't start out well.  Our group's meeting was scheduled for that third Sunday.  Because we're wrapping up a writing contest and I'm the coordinator, Sunday morning meant tallying scores sent by members who judged to determine who won.  Of course the numbers didn't add up correctly, because I was rushing to get it done, so it took more time than it should have.  With the final tally done, I had barely enough time to shower and dress, then drive to the meeting.  Except...  As I was climbing out of the shower, the tornado sirens went off in our city.  I grabbed clothes and fumbled around as I gathered the things needed to head for my oldest daughter's house, three blocks away.  The meeting was, of course, cancelled.  We were lucky and received only large hail, high winds, and a whole lot of rain, instead of what could have happened.

Monday was taken up by website work, until school was out.  After dropping off the others, I left to take my oldest granddaughter to her ice skating lessons.  Ten minutes before it was over, someone turned on the television, and I saw the pictures of the tornado that had destroyed a large area of Moore, Oklahoma.  Once home, we spent the day checking on friends in the devastated area and watching the news.  By Tuesday, the images were still burned into my brain, but I finished the website work started the day before and took donations to the ice rink for the tornado victims, while my granddaughter had another lesson.  The evening called for other things and writing was forgotten.

Along came Wednesday, with it's usual interruptions that included a Kindergarten graduation and a 5th Grade graduation.  Another day to write sinking quickly.  Once the house emptied of small people after school--the Last Day!--I sat down at the computer.  At that point, I had a total of 3 pages the day before, although I don't remember when.  It wasn't a good start, but I'd managed to write those 702 words in bits and pieces of time.  By evening, I was at my desk and netted another 4 pages (768 words), finishing a chapter.  I then moved on to a new chapter.  By the end of the day, I'd added another 7.  Wednesday's total was 11 pages.  Word count for the day was 2394.  I was up to 14 pages for the week.  Not bad for three days of sheer madness.

Thursday (yesterday) I hunkered down at my desk, amid total chaos of the first day of School's Out for the Summer, and by late night, there were 11 new pages (2224 words).  I now have 25 pages written toward that 40-page goal.  Only 15 pages to go.  I'm determined to reach it.  After all, today is only FRIDAY, and the weekend promises some quiet writing time.  Still, I wonder what and who will come along to interrupt the flow of words, because I know something or someone will.

While I'd hoped I would have the first draft of this book written by tomorrow (dream big!), it won't happen.  That doesn't mean I'll stop.  Being behind can be inspiration to keep going, to keep working toward the goal.  One bad day or even a string of them, doesn't mean it's time to quit.  Writing every day helps keep the brain in writing gear, even if it's only a page or even 100 words.  Unfortunately, life can come along and keep that from happening.

The key is to set goals.  These should be reasonable goals, set with the knowledge of the amount of time necessary to complete, along with accepting that there were always be obstacles.  Learn to work around them and overcome them.  If a goal falls short, don't toss it aside.  Continue toward it, because in time, the goal can be reached.

Once your goal is met, you can celebrate.  Take some time off to enjoy yourself.  But don't let it take over.  Even though it's summer, we still have priorities to set and work to do.  I intend to make this a prosperous time, where writing is concerned.  You'll find that life has new meaning and that pride can lead to success.

Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.   ~ Tony Robbins 

Goals are Set. Now What?

MOTIVATION MONDAYS

Today marks the official last day of the first week of the new year.  Our goals should be made.  In theory, we should be moving forward on them.

Reaching our goal is like climbing a staircase.  We start at the bottom by deciding what it is we want to accomplish, then step by step, we move toward it.  That takes motivation.  The key is knowing what each step involves so we can more easily get to the top aka Our Goal.  That's where a little planning comes in.  My goals won't be the same as another's, but there are a few steps that we all can take to make the trip easier.

As it was last year, my goal this year is a specific word count.  Because of that, I have a good idea of what I can do in that amount of time.  I set last year's goal at 120,000 words.  I included both blogging and book word count and ended up nearly doubling my goal. This year I'm sticking totally with main writing word count, which I've increased to just over last year's total.  A quick look on the right will show that I haven't made any progress yet.

Why no progress?  For nearly two weeks before Christmas and after New Year's Day, there have been five grandkids, ages 3-11, here from morning until evening.  By the time they leave, I do well to know my name.  Now that they're back in school, I can relax and work some during the day.  (3-year-old will still be here during the day.)  What I realized last night is that I've been waffling, not knowing for sure what I specifically want to work on this year.  I gave it some thought yesterday and last night, and I now have a clear idea of what I'm going to do.  Of course it can change, but I can look up that long stairway and see the top.  I know how to work my goal.

Stuck with no idea of where to start?  If you're working on a specific book/manuscript or more than one, it doesn't matter whether you've set your goal to write to the finish or if you'll use page count or word count as your goal.  By now you should have broken that big goal into smaller ones.  You should also know what you want to work on.  That puts you one step up.  Forward motion!  What's left is each of the rest of the steps aka mini-goals.  It's like losing weight.  We do it day by day, pound by pound, whether dieting or exercising or both.  Writing goals work the same way.

There are a few things that can help make the journey easier.

1. Know what kind of story you'll be writing.  Whether it's romance, suspense, paranormal, inspirational or other, have an idea of 
2. Know your characters.  Not just their names, but who they are, what they do, and especially where they came from.  This is where GMC comes in.  This doesn't have to be done in a day, and quite often when the writing is moving along, we often discover things about characters that we didn't know when we wrote the first words or even chapters.  Or even more often, we've had these characters in our mind for some time, growing little by little.
3. Know where your story is going.  This doesn't mean your book must be completely plotted or even a little plotting, but if you know where it needs to start, what the main turning point will be, and some kind of an idea of how it will end, you can go from point to point more quickly and smoothly, without a major panic attack.
4. Know when your best writing time is and write on a regular schedule.  I'm guilty of not doing this as much as I should, so it's something I need to work on.  Remember, the more often you write, the easier it becomes.  You might even get lucky and make it a habit.  If you know on Monday that you're going to be writing the second scene of chapter four on Wednesday, you can be thinking about how that scene will play out.
5. Know in your heart that if you get behind on your mini-goals, you can still make progress and quite possibly still make your goal.  You missed a day writing on your 3-page-a-day goal?  Write one extra page for each of the next 3 days, and you're back on track.  Or give up an evening of television to make some progress.  Your goal isn't over until the time is up.

If you've found some ways to keep yourself motivated through the year-long goal, share them!  We learn not only from what we do, but from others do, too.  

Let's make 2013 the year we meet and maybe even exceed our goals.  I'm willing to try.  How about you?

Everyone has inside himself a piece of good news! The good news is that you really don’t know how great you can be, how much you can love, what you can accomplish, and what your potential is! - Anne Frank

Final Friday

Have you set your goals for 2013?

It's Final Friday, the last Friday of 2012.  There are only four days left of this year to begin, work on, and finish the list of goals we'll be working toward next year.  This time next week, we'll be four days into the new year.

It's goal setting time!

It's hard to stay productive without knowing where and how you're going.  That's how goals help us.  My local writing group has been working on a goal all year.  Actually, we've each had our own word goal which is part of the overall word goal of the entire group.  We'll be talking about a new word count challenge at our January meeting and how we can make it more successful than this one.  We've all learned something this year about goals and writing, so next year can be even better.  The following are a few of those things I learned over the past few years when setting and trying to reach goals.

• Murphy's Law of Goals: When working on a goal, especially a year-long one, life will always intrude.  Try to build in extra time when setting your goal.  If it's early in the goal and you discover you're behind, there's still time to make up for lost ground.  Write an extra page or the equivalent word count of a page each day or twice a week.  Your odds for catching up are fairly good.  If it's later in your goal, just keep working and don't worry about the deficit.  Any progress, no matter how small, is PROGRESS.
• Never give up because you've fallen behind.  Dumping a goal is the worst thing you can do.  Giving up gets you nowhere, and you'll always wish you'd kept going.  Recognize why you're not staying on goal and try to correct it, if possible.  If not, keep going.  Sometimes miracles DO happen!
• Don't expect perfection.  Write first, polish later.  It's easy to write a few pages, then spend days, even weeks, going back over and fixing this little thing and that little thing, never making real progress. It's true that we can polish the shine out of anything we work to death.  Never surrender.  Write now.  Fix later.  Remember, you can't fix a blank page, except by putting words on it.
• Have a road map of where you're going.  Whether your goal is two pages a day or ten, having an idea of where your story is going and who your characters are will make the writing much easier.  This doesn't mean you have to have a complex plot, complete with twenty page synopsis.  It simply means that you need to have a solid idea of who the story is about, what's going to happen to him/her/them, and how the conflicts will be resolved.  Plan ahead.  If that means planning only a few scenes or chapters ahead, go for it.  Having an idea of what's going to happen when you sit down to write will be one step closer to getting words on paper.
• Celebrate each small goal you reach.  We all tend to be harder on ourselves than we should be.  When we don't reach a goal, we frown, grumble and brood.  When we do reach a goal, we too often don't give ourselves even something as simple as a pat on the back or a "Way to go!"  Reward yourself, even if it's nothing more than an hour reading, watching TV, napping, or spending extra time with family or friends.

What did I learn this year?  Taking a look at my stats-to-date, I see I need to make some changes.  I'm amazed that I surpassed the word count I'd set as my goal.  This past year, my word count total included both regular book writing and also blog writing.  In 2013, I plan to significantly raise my regular writing goal and keep the blog word count separate from it.  This year my word count goal will be 175,000 words.  Having learned that I can write more than I thought I could, there's no reason not to raise my goal.  

For those who set a goal for this year, but missed meeting it, don't give up.  A new year is just around the corner, and learning from our mistakes is a blessing.

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. - Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Incentives and Rewards

WRITING WEDNESDAYS

Ask any child who has been in school for the past couple of decades what teachers did to get them to work.  Ask anyone whose livelihood depends on receiving a regular paycheck what gets them to work every day.  Ask anyone training for the Olympics or the Symphony or the stage what gets them to practice.

We all need a reason to do what we do, and many times that reason is that we'll receive something in exchange for doing it.

I didn't realize how much time had changed until my daughters started school and came home with something called Bonus Bucks or even a colorful pencil or handful of candy.  Teachers had learned that using incentives helped students try harder to get their work done so they could get a small reward.  I don't remember incentives other than good grades when I went to school.  My parents didn't pay me for my grades and, in turn, I didn't pay my children for them either.  The incentive wasn't tangible at the time and wouldn't be until I held a diploma aka reward in my hand.  That was the incentive and the reward for studying.  Either way, we had a reason to go to school and learn.

As writers, we, too, need incentives and rewards to keep at our craft, to put words on paper, to finish the book, to bite the bullet and send it to an editor or agent.  There's no reason to list the rewards.  Anyone who is seriously writing knows them as well as their own names.  It's the same for published authors as it is for those not yet published.  We all want a finished product to put in the hands of readers who will enjoy our words.

The longer we write, the more we forget about the little things that can help keep us going.  I'm as bad as anyone else about writing every day, even though I know it keeps my brain fresh and my fingers more nimble.  Or nimble, at least. :)  Since February, I've been working on deadlines for two books that will be available next year.  That's seven months of telling myself to write every day and making a schedule so I don't lose sight of where I am and where I need to be, when I'd rather be doing anything else but writing.  It's easy to procrastinate in the middle of a book.  Weeks have been spent writing, and weeks more are needed.  It's like standing in the middle of a tightrope.  Where we came from is the same distance as where we're going, and the best we can do is hope we don't lose our balance.

Over the past seven months I've learned a few lessons.  Although small, they're important.

• I should always...ALWAYS...count on something coming along to screw up the perfect schedule I created with lots of extra time built in.
• While I used to write at night, now I'm up early in the morning to take grandkids to school, so by the time 9 p.m. rolls around, it's as if my memory has dried up and blown away.  I'm lucky to remember my own name, much less the names of my current characters...or family.
• I can't always count on weekends for catching up on the writing that didn't get done during the week.  Someone or something will always come along and steal my time, whether it's an unexpected visit from one or more of the g-kids, an unplanned shopping excursion, or a car that won't start.
• Even when I think I'm almost done, I'm not.  There's always another story rattling around in my head before the first is finished.  To be honest, there should be.
• ....  Can we say brb?

Right.  I didn't finish that last one.  I forgot about an appointment and had to leave, so 5 1/2 hours later, I'm back and don't have a clue what that last one is.  See how that works?

Back to the topic...

Big rewards are good, but when looking at the goal from three months out, that reward dims in the light of day.  The cure?  Choose small, daily incentives with rewards to keep moving along.  That doesn't mean spending money.  There are many things that can be even more helpful to meet those small, daily goals.  It's the new fall season for TV, and what better time to set a goal and work to reach it before your favorite show comes on?  Or maybe a chapter of a book you want to read.  Or, like me, just being able to mark my progress on a calendar and word count table can give me a lift or be an incentive to do better the next time.

And for the rewards?  Something special, always.  Today I was able to put FINIS on my current work, so not only is the pressure off, but I have a few days to kick back and be free from writing.  Not much of a reward?  Maybe not, but Fall Renaissance Fair is this weekend, and I know of a special gift to get myself.  Then back to work on Monday and a fresh new start on a new story and new schedule.

Have a wonderful rest of the week!  Make your journey as joyous as your destination.

Call it what you will, incentives are what get people to work harder. ~ Nikita Khrushchev 

Patterning

MOTIVATION MONDAYS

Finding a title for this blog post took more time and thought than deciding on a topic.  The thing is, it's easy to talk (or blog) about something, but actually doing it and repeating it can sometimes prove to be difficult, if not impossible.

I pulled out my handy Synonym Finder (The Synonym Finder by J.I. Rodale) and looked up the word "habit," because what we're really trying to do is to motivate ourselves enough to make something--writing maybe--a habit.  Right?

Habit, routine, practice---none have the right ring to them to make me want to repeat the same thing over and over.  Oops!  Now that sounds really boring and not very positive.  Let me tell you, finding an image that had something to do with repeated action was much simpler.  When I saw the escalator, the light bulb went on over my head.  An escalator goes and goes, never stopping until, well, probably when the mall or store or whatever closes--if it does--and then it's started again the next day.  (Gee, sounds like my life!)  Making something a habit is much the same.

We've all watched small children shrink back in fear of stepping on an escalator.  I vaguely remember when I was a child that my mother kept telling me to just step on it and stop being afraid.  I was convinced my foot was going to get caught somehow and I'd be pulled down between those panels of steel to be cut into ribbons.  (BTW, the escalators at Macy's in Chicago went about 100 mph.  Or seemed to.)  As an adult, I rarely give it a thought.  Stepping on an elevator with barely a glance has become a habit for most of us.  Wouldn't it be nice to make a habit of writing regularly (or anything else!) the same way?

So I checked out a few more words, since habit, routine, and practice struck me as being on the not too nifty side of the list.  There had to be words that were more positive and would lure me into making something a habit.  A GOOD habit.

I came up with two.  Custom and pattern.  Of those, I chose pattern.  The reason I chose it is because the word patterning came to mind.  Here's what dictionary.com has to say:

patterning  pat·tern·ing (pāt'ər-nĭng)  n. 

 A method of physical therapy in which a rigid pattern of exercises is imposed to stimulate weak or paralyzed nerves and muscles to act on their own.

Oh, yeah. Uh huh.  Weak or paralyzed nerves and muscles?  What a wonderful description of what it's like to try to get back to writing (or playing the piano, exercising, painting, etc.) after not having done it for a while.

As for the word pattern, this definition pretty much says it.

 pattern pat·tern   noun

5. a combination of qualities, acts, tendencies, etc., forming a consistent or characteristic arrangement: the behavior patterns of teenagers.

Apparently I've been doing some patterning and didn't realize it.  I know it's important to write every day.  When I don't write for a while, I have a very hard time getting back into it.  The simple act of thinking up words, much less stringing them together to make a coherent sentence, can be almost physically painful after not doing it.  While I know I need to do these things, I don't.  I find something else to do.

Let's face it.  I understand goal setting and how breaking a large goal into smaller pieces is the key to reaching that goal.  Well, that and actually doing those daily goals. ☺ That's where my problem lies.  But I'm working on correcting that.  For the past two weeks, I've been writing steadily and reaching goals better than ever.  I've been stimulating those weak and even sometimes paralyzed writing nerves and muscles.  I'm within a chapter of having a book finished and shouldn't have a problem of making my deadline.  After that?  I plan to keep going.  Who knows what I can accomplish?  Who knows what we all can accomplish, if only we learn to use patterning?

"Watch your thoughts for they become words. Watch your words for they become actions. Watch your actions for they become... habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny! What we think we become." ~ Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady

A Time to Work, A Time to Play

MOTIVATION MONDAYS

The four sports depicted in the photos on the left share something in common.  They all involve a goal of some kind.  Of course the obvious goal is to win, but a team must make more goals, scoring than the other team to win.

I've blogged a lot here, especially on Mondays, about setting and working toward goals.  I've even mention that we should reward ourselves in some way when we reach each goal, no matter how big or small.  But while reading the latest blog post, Scheduling Success, at Left-Brained Business for Write-Brained People, I started thinking about how much we use setting goals for work, but many of us don't tend to set goals for play.

I'm probably the worst person about making time for fun or to just relax.  There are some days that I work twelve to sixteen hours.  While that isn't always fast-paced work, it's still work and doesn't leave a lot of time for play.  I'm beginning to notice that more and more.  It isn't just because of writing or Facebook/Twitter.  Long ago, when my daughters were young, I discovered I couldn't spend each evening in front of the television, so I pretty much stopped watching.  Don't get me wrong.  I find television entertaining, but to get things done, I had to give up the majority of shows I watched.  Amazingly, it didn't kill me!  Only in the last few years have I decided I could allow myself television time, and I've begun watching again.  Not so much this summer, of course, although HBO is kind enough to offer programs the grab and hold my attention.

So I've added some TV to my life again.  I've also added walking.

I understand that there are some people who might look at me as if I'd lost my mind when I say that walking is relaxing.  They're partly right.  It isn't relaxing in the true sense of the word, but it does help start my day on the positive side.  I listen to music on my Mp3 player, get some exercise and fresh air, and clear my brain.  I've also found that if I don't force it, major breakthroughs in my stories have resulted by just getting out there for thirty minutes or more each day and putting one foot in front of the other.  I also discovered that I missed my walks when the temps were so high that even mornings were miserable, forcing me to take a break for a few weeks.  My only fear is that by the time I get home again and do whatever needs to be done to get the rest of the morning going, I may forget.  (Note to self:  Check again on getting a small voice recorder.)

I've discovered that time spent with friends makes life better.

It doesn't happen often.  Although my writing group gets together for a meeting once a month, it's work related and doesn't count as a simple get-together with friends.  Yesterday, I met friends Patricia Davids, Penny Rader, and Deborah Eades, at the movie theater to see Hope Springs. We had a great time, just kicking back in a cool theater with popcorn and drinks, while watching the movie unfold.  (A super movie, especially for anyone over 40.)  Seeing a movie is something I do maybe twice a year.  This really should change.

I'm learning again that life isn't just doing the day to day things that must be done.  It's more than paying the bills and keeping the car running. It's more than writing and creating websites and getting grandkids to school.  And even though I've had to re-adjust my writing goals and am running on a tight schedule toward deadline, I'm definitely going to find a little more time to enjoy television, a few movies, walking, and friends.

Next time you start making goals, be sure to build in some play time.  It doesn't have to be a lot, it doesn't even have to be every day, but it should be often.

Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold.  But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow. ~ Douglas Pagels, These Are the Gifts I'd Like to Give to You