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