Well, happy new year tomorrow. LOL
Just a quick post to thank everyone for the wonderful success of KISSES ON HER CHRISTMAS LIST. It stayed in the top 100 for Kindle genre romances and contemporary romances for a week. Which is so cool. And tons of fun to watch. And it's still under the 2000 mark in overall Kindles.
I also loved all the kind posts on both Facebook and Twitter about how much you loved the book. These two characters were near and dear to my heart. They were funny, yet were both really deserving of a happily ever after. And Finley was a hoot to write.
It warms any writer's heart when her book is so well received.
So thank you all!
Also...
For those of you doing the goal setting lessons. They will be coming down next Saturday. You have an entire week to finish up. Or cut and paste them to read later!
Happy New Year, everyone!
susan
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Goal Setting Lesson 8 Pulling It All Together
Session Eight: Pulling it all together
By now you are probably aware that motivation inspires goals and good goals inspire you to manage your time more efficiently.
You probably also realized that the more important, or necessary, the goal, the easier it is to motivate yourself to accomplish it. In the last two lessons, we talked specifically about time management. Though I taught that you must find your peak performance time and gave you a few tools for working the most efficient ways possible, you probably also noticed that inherent in those lessons was the truth that there are some things that don’t need scheduled, yet they always get done. Come hell or high water we generally accomplish our “necessary” goals like feeding our children, going to our day job, or getting everyone where they are supposed to be every day (Ms. Carpool).
Because it’s true. We will do the things we “must” do without hesitation, without question and generally without having to put them on a list.
But did you realize while we were walking through all these sessions that you could actually set a goal and artificially make it a must? Did you realize that you could turn almost any goal into something you do without hesitation, without question and generally without having to put it on a list…if you motivate yourself sufficiently?
You probably did, but just in case you didn’t let’s talk about the motivational technique I’ve found the most helpful in accomplishing my personal goals (things like regular exercise) and professional (writing) goals by shifting them from “wants” to “musts.”
It’s Tony Robbins’ Rocking Chair technique. (BTW, Tony/Anthony Robbins is the author of the runaway bestseller Awaken the Giant Within. His 30 Days to Personal Power tapes were phenomenal. He also does “change your life” type of seminars. He’s very smart and very successful and his techniques have helped me tremendously! I don’t merely want him to get credit for this technique. If you need some extra help organizing or figuring out your life, Tony Robbins work isn't just among the best. In a lot of ways, it is the best.
Okay, testimonial over, back to business…
I don’t want to use writing as the example of Tony Robbins’ Rocking Chair Technique because I don’t want to influence you. I want you to see the technique and then do it yourself so your answers to the questions are real and personal, and therefore, have the power they are supposed to have.
So, since I’m beginning the new year as a little ball of butter, who will not be able to wear her own clothes and will have to spend money buying new things from Omar the Tentmaker if I don’t slim down, I’m going to use eating healthy as the example. Because that’s one of the hardest goals in the Universe!
Mr. Robbins basically tells us that manufacturing motivation (turning a “want” into a “must have” or “necessity”) is easy. All we have to do is get ourselves to the place where we recognize how the results of our bad habit or lack of action will hurt us. Once we get ourselves to realistically see the results of our bad habit or lack of action, then we have to feel the pain that accompanies those results, so that when we leave that place, we will remember the pain and our behavior will change.
So, here’s me. In the prime of my life, with a full head of hair, no beer belly, nice legs and not too many wrinkles, no cough, no insomnia, and very little dementia, how do I get myself to feel the affects of my poor eating habits?
I sit in my rocking chair.
Tony Robbins tells you to sit down, close your eyes and imagine five years of time passing in fast forward, with you keeping your present eating habits. When five years pass, stop! Take a look at yourself. Are you heavier? (Hah!) Are you tired? (Hum….) Are you sloppy? (Ouch!) Is your husband going out without you to grocery shop because he has more energy? Worse, is he going to movies or the mall alone…Dear God!
That’s scary stuff. But don’t stop. Tack another five years onto where you are at the end of that five. Eyes closed, deep breath, continue to picture yourself as you did when you zipped five years into the future – kinda chubby and slow, maybe breathing a tad heavier, then fast forward again. Zip another five years into the future with no exercise and lots of fast food.
Then, stop! Suddenly, catch yourself off-guard as you really would be.
Are you fatter? (Do fish swim?) Is your breathing labored? Is your hair washed? Are your clothes ugly? (Probably) Is your room dark? (This is a good one. Most people realize that after year ten of the continuation of a bad habit their room is suddenly dark. As if your life is bleak!) Is your husband home…or is he out, again, without you?
Ouch. But don’t stop here. Get back in the chair. Eyes closed. Deep breath. Fast forward ten whole years this time. 20 years from today. Fast food, fast food, fast food, doughnuts, doughnuts, cappuccino. Stop!
How big are you now? How tired are you now? Where’s that darned husband of yours! Do you fight a lot? Do you spend lots of time alone…with your doughnuts? Probably. House dark? No question this time. You are alone, fat, tired, sitting in the dark and a failure. All because you couldn’t get yourself to eat a darned vegetable!
But don’t stop here. Reverse the clock. See it all backward. Take it all back. Reverse all those food decisions. Go back and back and back until it’s today again. Take a deep breath. You’re not 100 pounds overweight. You’re twenty. Would you like some fast food? I doubt it. Does walking on the treadmill seem like work or salvation? Probably salvation. Do you feel differently? Probably. Not because you don’t want to gain weight, but because you don’t want to be alone, sitting in the dark!
You have a second chance!
Plus, your choice is no longer the choice between a doughnut and a carrot. It’s the choice between a dark, dingy room in a barren life and happiness.
Hummm….Interesting. Really think that through. If you truly felt the pain of your bad habit, your entire mindset should be different. And you should be motivated to do whatever you can to NEVER to be the person you saw in your imaginings!
As I said, I used weight as the example and not writing for a very good reason. I didn’t want to impose my “notions” about writing on you. So now that you have the concept down, we’re going to repeat the exercise, but without me giving you examples or hints about how I would be feeling.
So, close your eyes and fast forward five years. In that five years, writing is not your priority. It’s a hobby. You work “when you can.” You write hit or miss, never committing, never thinking writing is your passion…Every time somebody invites you away from writing, you leave your desk. It takes longer and longer to get yourself motivated to write. Some days your work room stays dark. You don’t even turn on your computer. This goes on for five years…
Now Stop! Open your eyes…Where are you?
Get a clear picture of what your life would be like if you continue on as a writing hobbyist. Where will you be five years from now? Take your time and really be honest about where you will be if you treat writing hit or miss, if you treat your passion as if it’s a passing fancy. Really think it through. See the dust on your desk. See the half-finished manuscripts. See the unfulfilled promise…All right, so I am nebbing my nose in a tad here…
Now, close your eyes again and fast forward another five years. Do you even have a schedule? Do you miss entire weeks?
Now, fast forward that last ten years that takes you to year twenty… Do you even consider yourself a writer anymore? Or do you just remember when you “wanted to write a book”?
The real bottom line is …
Do you want to be the person you picture twenty years from now if you don’t discipline yourself to write more than “when you can”? Do you want to be the person you picture twenty years from now if you never commit to becoming the best writer you can be?
Interesting question.
And the question with which I leave you. Success and failure are your choice. You may not have complete control, but you have a lot more than you think.
So think.
The next time you want to be lazy, the next time you blame an editor, an agent or your critique partners, when you know deep down inside the work submitted wasn’t your best effort…
The next time you decide to write for a line or publisher without reading that line or publisher…
The next time you think the rest of us are just lucky…
Think. Think about everything I’ve told you this month and then realize the choices are yours.
Keep the promises you make to yourself!
Peace.
susan meier
By now you are probably aware that motivation inspires goals and good goals inspire you to manage your time more efficiently.
You probably also realized that the more important, or necessary, the goal, the easier it is to motivate yourself to accomplish it. In the last two lessons, we talked specifically about time management. Though I taught that you must find your peak performance time and gave you a few tools for working the most efficient ways possible, you probably also noticed that inherent in those lessons was the truth that there are some things that don’t need scheduled, yet they always get done. Come hell or high water we generally accomplish our “necessary” goals like feeding our children, going to our day job, or getting everyone where they are supposed to be every day (Ms. Carpool).
Because it’s true. We will do the things we “must” do without hesitation, without question and generally without having to put them on a list.
But did you realize while we were walking through all these sessions that you could actually set a goal and artificially make it a must? Did you realize that you could turn almost any goal into something you do without hesitation, without question and generally without having to put it on a list…if you motivate yourself sufficiently?
You probably did, but just in case you didn’t let’s talk about the motivational technique I’ve found the most helpful in accomplishing my personal goals (things like regular exercise) and professional (writing) goals by shifting them from “wants” to “musts.”
It’s Tony Robbins’ Rocking Chair technique. (BTW, Tony/Anthony Robbins is the author of the runaway bestseller Awaken the Giant Within. His 30 Days to Personal Power tapes were phenomenal. He also does “change your life” type of seminars. He’s very smart and very successful and his techniques have helped me tremendously! I don’t merely want him to get credit for this technique. If you need some extra help organizing or figuring out your life, Tony Robbins work isn't just among the best. In a lot of ways, it is the best.
Okay, testimonial over, back to business…
I don’t want to use writing as the example of Tony Robbins’ Rocking Chair Technique because I don’t want to influence you. I want you to see the technique and then do it yourself so your answers to the questions are real and personal, and therefore, have the power they are supposed to have.
So, since I’m beginning the new year as a little ball of butter, who will not be able to wear her own clothes and will have to spend money buying new things from Omar the Tentmaker if I don’t slim down, I’m going to use eating healthy as the example. Because that’s one of the hardest goals in the Universe!
Mr. Robbins basically tells us that manufacturing motivation (turning a “want” into a “must have” or “necessity”) is easy. All we have to do is get ourselves to the place where we recognize how the results of our bad habit or lack of action will hurt us. Once we get ourselves to realistically see the results of our bad habit or lack of action, then we have to feel the pain that accompanies those results, so that when we leave that place, we will remember the pain and our behavior will change.
So, here’s me. In the prime of my life, with a full head of hair, no beer belly, nice legs and not too many wrinkles, no cough, no insomnia, and very little dementia, how do I get myself to feel the affects of my poor eating habits?
I sit in my rocking chair.
Tony Robbins tells you to sit down, close your eyes and imagine five years of time passing in fast forward, with you keeping your present eating habits. When five years pass, stop! Take a look at yourself. Are you heavier? (Hah!) Are you tired? (Hum….) Are you sloppy? (Ouch!) Is your husband going out without you to grocery shop because he has more energy? Worse, is he going to movies or the mall alone…Dear God!
That’s scary stuff. But don’t stop. Tack another five years onto where you are at the end of that five. Eyes closed, deep breath, continue to picture yourself as you did when you zipped five years into the future – kinda chubby and slow, maybe breathing a tad heavier, then fast forward again. Zip another five years into the future with no exercise and lots of fast food.
Then, stop! Suddenly, catch yourself off-guard as you really would be.
Are you fatter? (Do fish swim?) Is your breathing labored? Is your hair washed? Are your clothes ugly? (Probably) Is your room dark? (This is a good one. Most people realize that after year ten of the continuation of a bad habit their room is suddenly dark. As if your life is bleak!) Is your husband home…or is he out, again, without you?
Ouch. But don’t stop here. Get back in the chair. Eyes closed. Deep breath. Fast forward ten whole years this time. 20 years from today. Fast food, fast food, fast food, doughnuts, doughnuts, cappuccino. Stop!
How big are you now? How tired are you now? Where’s that darned husband of yours! Do you fight a lot? Do you spend lots of time alone…with your doughnuts? Probably. House dark? No question this time. You are alone, fat, tired, sitting in the dark and a failure. All because you couldn’t get yourself to eat a darned vegetable!
But don’t stop here. Reverse the clock. See it all backward. Take it all back. Reverse all those food decisions. Go back and back and back until it’s today again. Take a deep breath. You’re not 100 pounds overweight. You’re twenty. Would you like some fast food? I doubt it. Does walking on the treadmill seem like work or salvation? Probably salvation. Do you feel differently? Probably. Not because you don’t want to gain weight, but because you don’t want to be alone, sitting in the dark!
You have a second chance!
Plus, your choice is no longer the choice between a doughnut and a carrot. It’s the choice between a dark, dingy room in a barren life and happiness.
Hummm….Interesting. Really think that through. If you truly felt the pain of your bad habit, your entire mindset should be different. And you should be motivated to do whatever you can to NEVER to be the person you saw in your imaginings!
As I said, I used weight as the example and not writing for a very good reason. I didn’t want to impose my “notions” about writing on you. So now that you have the concept down, we’re going to repeat the exercise, but without me giving you examples or hints about how I would be feeling.
So, close your eyes and fast forward five years. In that five years, writing is not your priority. It’s a hobby. You work “when you can.” You write hit or miss, never committing, never thinking writing is your passion…Every time somebody invites you away from writing, you leave your desk. It takes longer and longer to get yourself motivated to write. Some days your work room stays dark. You don’t even turn on your computer. This goes on for five years…
Now Stop! Open your eyes…Where are you?
Get a clear picture of what your life would be like if you continue on as a writing hobbyist. Where will you be five years from now? Take your time and really be honest about where you will be if you treat writing hit or miss, if you treat your passion as if it’s a passing fancy. Really think it through. See the dust on your desk. See the half-finished manuscripts. See the unfulfilled promise…All right, so I am nebbing my nose in a tad here…
Now, close your eyes again and fast forward another five years. Do you even have a schedule? Do you miss entire weeks?
Now, fast forward that last ten years that takes you to year twenty… Do you even consider yourself a writer anymore? Or do you just remember when you “wanted to write a book”?
The real bottom line is …
Do you want to be the person you picture twenty years from now if you don’t discipline yourself to write more than “when you can”? Do you want to be the person you picture twenty years from now if you never commit to becoming the best writer you can be?
Interesting question.
And the question with which I leave you. Success and failure are your choice. You may not have complete control, but you have a lot more than you think.
So think.
The next time you want to be lazy, the next time you blame an editor, an agent or your critique partners, when you know deep down inside the work submitted wasn’t your best effort…
The next time you decide to write for a line or publisher without reading that line or publisher…
The next time you think the rest of us are just lucky…
Think. Think about everything I’ve told you this month and then realize the choices are yours.
Keep the promises you make to yourself!
Peace.
susan meier
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Goal Setting, Lesson 7 What If You Have A Deadline
Session Seven: Time Management, segment two, what if you have a deadline?
That’s a good question because most time management books and tapes deal with us as if our lives are nice little parades of events and obligations, and all we have to do is organize them. Most don’t understand that writers don’t just have events and obligations, we are usually dual career people, with spouses, kids and a house. And just when we think we have everything under control. Boom. Along comes a deadline.
If an editor has asked to see a full manuscript, you don’t have a year’s worth of doctor’s appointments to pen scenes. And you most certainly can’t wait for your mood to turn sour to kill all the people who need to die for your mystery! Even an hour of Walker, Texas Ranger time every night won’t be enough time to get done what you need to get done!
So what do you do?
If you’re one of those people who has a deadline, has an editor/agent waiting for a manuscript, or has a upcoming conference at which you want to pitch a completed manuscript, then you are going to have to go into your schedule and do some disrupting.
Yikes! This is exactly what I told you not to do in the last lesson! I know. I didn’t precisely lie. What I gave you last lesson was the best case scenario. Today, we talk about the worst case scenario! (I’m giving you both because your life isn’t hectic all the time, but neither is it peaceful and orderly all the time. You need to be able to recognize both scenarios and adapt accordingly.)
Okay. Worst case scenario…
When people come to me with the dilemma of a deadline they despair of making, just like when people come to me trying to figure out how to squeeze some writing into their day, I first I ask them to figure out if they are a morning or night person.
Why? For the same reason this works in your regular schedule. Morning people can set their alarms for an hour or two earlier and get lots of work done that way. Night people can sneak into their offices when everybody else is in bed and get their work done that way. That’s a quick, easy solution to a potentially big problem. And, again, it’s relatively painless to your family. Because, let’s face it, they are the ones who will start complaining big time if they feel you are shortchanging them! So your best solutions are always the ones that tiptoe around their time and needs.
But scheduling extra morning or night writing has another benefit. You use your chemical makeup and your optimal writing time, so that you aren’t fighting yourself, you are working with yourself. And that’s when you really get the most work done!
You probably already know whether you’re a morning or night person, and also that it’s better to work in the part of your day in which you achieve maximum efficiency, but if you don’t, it’s time to figure it out. When you have a deadline, a true deadline that you cannot miss, you don’t have time to figure it out. You also can’t waste time piddling around trying to work when your biorhythms aren’t cooperating.
So figure out when you get your best work done, and then make arrangements to use that time. When you have a really tight deadline, no matter what it takes, put yourself into a position where you are at your desk, writing, during your peek efficiency time.
And, btw, for those of you who have day jobs that occur during your peek efficiency time…I took two weeks vacation once to write the first draft of a book with a god-awful deadline. I was upset – kinda mad actually – to have to use my vacation time for work. But that book resulted in my first multiple-book contract and that contract resulted in my being able to quit my day job.
Sometimes you have to go to extreme measures.
In fact, I look at it like going on a diet. (Yes, people, after three weeks of harassing myself, I finally started a diet! Woo-Hoo!) Anyway, I look at getting a big project done on a deadline the same way I look at going on a diet. I decide that my schedule, my life, my everything will be dedicated to moving this one mountain for however long it takes, knowing that it won’t take forever, and the more dedicated I am, the more quickly I will get done.
Why? Because that kind of focus works. Putting yourself in the frame of mind that this isn’t forever, but it is necessary will be like accomplishing number seven in the seven steps to goal setting… Resolving never to quit. It mentally prepares you to tackle any obstacle that comes along.
For instance…
If my husband has a day off when I’m on deadline, I don’t play hooky. I explain that this is a temporary situation. That I need a month to finish a book. And that when I am done, I will take several days off with him.
That doesn’t just remind me of my goal of hitting my deadline, it reminds him, too, to take my writing seriously. It also gives both of us something to look forward to. I’ve even told him to spend the four weeks I’m working to figure out something we can do together when I am done. (Usually, it ends up being a golf outing somewhere…fairly predictable, but the planning keeps him busy and happy and occupied so I can work!)
You can use a similar system with your kids. Particularly if they are older. I used to make a game out of my deadlines. It was a three-step system that went something like: Step One: Mom has to get a book done so everybody gets a chore (one of my chores, like doing dishes, or gathering the day’s laundry and taking it to the laundry room. I did that as a way to make them feel a part of the situation and to do something for which they can be proud, giving them ownership of the situation, too.) Step Two: Everybody is told that it’s their job to let Mom alone. Then, Step three: When the deadline is met, we will all … Go out for ice cream, or go to Hershey Park, or go bowling…Something.
Step one and two serve the purpose of making your kids feel a part of things, even as those steps teach them responsibility. Step three teaches them that rewards come from obeying rules and working.
In addition to figuring out your biological clock and enlisting the help of your husband and kids, there are all kinds of other great things you can do to get a big project done as quickly as possible.
1) Divide a big project into little projects. In the same way that this helps when you don’t have a deadline or are meandering along in your life, this is a godsend for deadline work. Again, this is a way to make use of all that down time in your week that you can’t avoid, because you can take your little projects to the doctor’s office, your son’s little league game and/or ballet lessons and work on them there. But more than making use of downtime, completing little projects gives you a sense of accomplishment that will propel you onto the next project. Little projects also mark progress.
But, most important of all, little projects stave off procrastination. As I said before, most of us procrastinate because of a sense of overwhelm. We see this mountain of work and wonder how we can ever get it done – especially when it comes with a tight deadline. So when you break that big project into little projects and break the little projects into steps, everything seems manageable again. And procrastination usually goes away!
2) Creatively procrastinate. What the heck is creative procrastination?
That’s putting off things that really don’t need to be done. For instance, you cannot avoid feeding your children. (There are laws.) However, there is no law that says your refrigerator must be scrubbed every week. There’s no law that says every room in your house must be vacuumed daily. There’s no law that says you must wash every dish as it becomes dirty. There’s no law that says you must make your bed.
I know, I know! It doesn’t take that long to make a bed…But, if you’ve got a good thought, or an amazing idea for how to start your next chapter and you pause to make your bed, you could lose it. That’s how a lot of us get into trouble!
So, you need to creatively procrastinate. When I’m working on deadline I don’t clean my refrigerator, vacuum or dust daily. I vacuum and dust once a week and clean the refrigerator at the end of the project.
Which brings takes us back to one of our original points…There is an end to the project. And just like with making a deal with your husband or your kids to get them to help (or get them to leave you alone so you can work) sometimes the best way to find the time you need is to make a deal with yourself that you will do certain things when the project is done. Then, knowing your chores will be waiting for you when you’re done, you can let them go to the universe. If you have trouble with that, just ask yourself, which is more important? Dusting off the windowsill that no one will see, or getting your book in on time?
3) Curb your social life. Turn off the phone (or let the answering machine pick up). Forget email exists. And, again, remember that you can get back to everybody when you are done. Most times I let people know in advance when I’ll be disappearing, but even then I get phone calls and emails I don’t have time for. The truth is, if someone calls “Just to chat” after I’ve told them I’m off limits, I usually realize they simply forgot that I’m busy and I gently remind them and promise to get back to them when I’m done. You don’t have to make a federal case out of interruptions, but you have to know when to sidestep them or ignore them!
4) Take yourself seriously. Really, that’s the only way you will get anything done. If you don’t put enough of a priority on your project you will wheedle your way out, or your friends and family will talk you away. Don’t let that happen. Take yourself and your work seriously and editors and agents will too. In fact, I’ve discovered that’s a very interesting trait of editors and agents. They can spot a slacker from a mile away. Or maybe slacker is a bad choice of words. Maybe we should say hobbyist. No editor or agent wants to invest a bundle of time in someone only to have that person consistently and continually miss deadlines. Not because they can’t wait for a book, but because they have their own schedules they have to manage. It’s just much easier to work with people who hit the marks!
Assignment? I want you to think creatively about creative procrastination. Make a list of all the things you could put off or completely ignore the next time you have a tight deadline. I also want you to think about your telephone, your email, and your regular social routine and decide which systems you could implement to preserve your privacy and which things you could drop altogether to assure you have both the time and the peace and quiet to get done what you need to get done.
Then, when you get a tight deadline, when an editor calls for your complete manuscript, you won’t have to think it through. You will already have a plan in place!
So figure it out right now. What could go if you had a major deadline? Make your plan now. Be ready for the day when you “get the call.”
susan meier
That’s a good question because most time management books and tapes deal with us as if our lives are nice little parades of events and obligations, and all we have to do is organize them. Most don’t understand that writers don’t just have events and obligations, we are usually dual career people, with spouses, kids and a house. And just when we think we have everything under control. Boom. Along comes a deadline.
If an editor has asked to see a full manuscript, you don’t have a year’s worth of doctor’s appointments to pen scenes. And you most certainly can’t wait for your mood to turn sour to kill all the people who need to die for your mystery! Even an hour of Walker, Texas Ranger time every night won’t be enough time to get done what you need to get done!
So what do you do?
If you’re one of those people who has a deadline, has an editor/agent waiting for a manuscript, or has a upcoming conference at which you want to pitch a completed manuscript, then you are going to have to go into your schedule and do some disrupting.
Yikes! This is exactly what I told you not to do in the last lesson! I know. I didn’t precisely lie. What I gave you last lesson was the best case scenario. Today, we talk about the worst case scenario! (I’m giving you both because your life isn’t hectic all the time, but neither is it peaceful and orderly all the time. You need to be able to recognize both scenarios and adapt accordingly.)
Okay. Worst case scenario…
When people come to me with the dilemma of a deadline they despair of making, just like when people come to me trying to figure out how to squeeze some writing into their day, I first I ask them to figure out if they are a morning or night person.
Why? For the same reason this works in your regular schedule. Morning people can set their alarms for an hour or two earlier and get lots of work done that way. Night people can sneak into their offices when everybody else is in bed and get their work done that way. That’s a quick, easy solution to a potentially big problem. And, again, it’s relatively painless to your family. Because, let’s face it, they are the ones who will start complaining big time if they feel you are shortchanging them! So your best solutions are always the ones that tiptoe around their time and needs.
But scheduling extra morning or night writing has another benefit. You use your chemical makeup and your optimal writing time, so that you aren’t fighting yourself, you are working with yourself. And that’s when you really get the most work done!
You probably already know whether you’re a morning or night person, and also that it’s better to work in the part of your day in which you achieve maximum efficiency, but if you don’t, it’s time to figure it out. When you have a deadline, a true deadline that you cannot miss, you don’t have time to figure it out. You also can’t waste time piddling around trying to work when your biorhythms aren’t cooperating.
So figure out when you get your best work done, and then make arrangements to use that time. When you have a really tight deadline, no matter what it takes, put yourself into a position where you are at your desk, writing, during your peek efficiency time.
And, btw, for those of you who have day jobs that occur during your peek efficiency time…I took two weeks vacation once to write the first draft of a book with a god-awful deadline. I was upset – kinda mad actually – to have to use my vacation time for work. But that book resulted in my first multiple-book contract and that contract resulted in my being able to quit my day job.
Sometimes you have to go to extreme measures.
In fact, I look at it like going on a diet. (Yes, people, after three weeks of harassing myself, I finally started a diet! Woo-Hoo!) Anyway, I look at getting a big project done on a deadline the same way I look at going on a diet. I decide that my schedule, my life, my everything will be dedicated to moving this one mountain for however long it takes, knowing that it won’t take forever, and the more dedicated I am, the more quickly I will get done.
Why? Because that kind of focus works. Putting yourself in the frame of mind that this isn’t forever, but it is necessary will be like accomplishing number seven in the seven steps to goal setting… Resolving never to quit. It mentally prepares you to tackle any obstacle that comes along.
For instance…
If my husband has a day off when I’m on deadline, I don’t play hooky. I explain that this is a temporary situation. That I need a month to finish a book. And that when I am done, I will take several days off with him.
That doesn’t just remind me of my goal of hitting my deadline, it reminds him, too, to take my writing seriously. It also gives both of us something to look forward to. I’ve even told him to spend the four weeks I’m working to figure out something we can do together when I am done. (Usually, it ends up being a golf outing somewhere…fairly predictable, but the planning keeps him busy and happy and occupied so I can work!)
You can use a similar system with your kids. Particularly if they are older. I used to make a game out of my deadlines. It was a three-step system that went something like: Step One: Mom has to get a book done so everybody gets a chore (one of my chores, like doing dishes, or gathering the day’s laundry and taking it to the laundry room. I did that as a way to make them feel a part of the situation and to do something for which they can be proud, giving them ownership of the situation, too.) Step Two: Everybody is told that it’s their job to let Mom alone. Then, Step three: When the deadline is met, we will all … Go out for ice cream, or go to Hershey Park, or go bowling…Something.
Step one and two serve the purpose of making your kids feel a part of things, even as those steps teach them responsibility. Step three teaches them that rewards come from obeying rules and working.
In addition to figuring out your biological clock and enlisting the help of your husband and kids, there are all kinds of other great things you can do to get a big project done as quickly as possible.
1) Divide a big project into little projects. In the same way that this helps when you don’t have a deadline or are meandering along in your life, this is a godsend for deadline work. Again, this is a way to make use of all that down time in your week that you can’t avoid, because you can take your little projects to the doctor’s office, your son’s little league game and/or ballet lessons and work on them there. But more than making use of downtime, completing little projects gives you a sense of accomplishment that will propel you onto the next project. Little projects also mark progress.
But, most important of all, little projects stave off procrastination. As I said before, most of us procrastinate because of a sense of overwhelm. We see this mountain of work and wonder how we can ever get it done – especially when it comes with a tight deadline. So when you break that big project into little projects and break the little projects into steps, everything seems manageable again. And procrastination usually goes away!
2) Creatively procrastinate. What the heck is creative procrastination?
That’s putting off things that really don’t need to be done. For instance, you cannot avoid feeding your children. (There are laws.) However, there is no law that says your refrigerator must be scrubbed every week. There’s no law that says every room in your house must be vacuumed daily. There’s no law that says you must wash every dish as it becomes dirty. There’s no law that says you must make your bed.
I know, I know! It doesn’t take that long to make a bed…But, if you’ve got a good thought, or an amazing idea for how to start your next chapter and you pause to make your bed, you could lose it. That’s how a lot of us get into trouble!
So, you need to creatively procrastinate. When I’m working on deadline I don’t clean my refrigerator, vacuum or dust daily. I vacuum and dust once a week and clean the refrigerator at the end of the project.
Which brings takes us back to one of our original points…There is an end to the project. And just like with making a deal with your husband or your kids to get them to help (or get them to leave you alone so you can work) sometimes the best way to find the time you need is to make a deal with yourself that you will do certain things when the project is done. Then, knowing your chores will be waiting for you when you’re done, you can let them go to the universe. If you have trouble with that, just ask yourself, which is more important? Dusting off the windowsill that no one will see, or getting your book in on time?
3) Curb your social life. Turn off the phone (or let the answering machine pick up). Forget email exists. And, again, remember that you can get back to everybody when you are done. Most times I let people know in advance when I’ll be disappearing, but even then I get phone calls and emails I don’t have time for. The truth is, if someone calls “Just to chat” after I’ve told them I’m off limits, I usually realize they simply forgot that I’m busy and I gently remind them and promise to get back to them when I’m done. You don’t have to make a federal case out of interruptions, but you have to know when to sidestep them or ignore them!
4) Take yourself seriously. Really, that’s the only way you will get anything done. If you don’t put enough of a priority on your project you will wheedle your way out, or your friends and family will talk you away. Don’t let that happen. Take yourself and your work seriously and editors and agents will too. In fact, I’ve discovered that’s a very interesting trait of editors and agents. They can spot a slacker from a mile away. Or maybe slacker is a bad choice of words. Maybe we should say hobbyist. No editor or agent wants to invest a bundle of time in someone only to have that person consistently and continually miss deadlines. Not because they can’t wait for a book, but because they have their own schedules they have to manage. It’s just much easier to work with people who hit the marks!
Assignment? I want you to think creatively about creative procrastination. Make a list of all the things you could put off or completely ignore the next time you have a tight deadline. I also want you to think about your telephone, your email, and your regular social routine and decide which systems you could implement to preserve your privacy and which things you could drop altogether to assure you have both the time and the peace and quiet to get done what you need to get done.
Then, when you get a tight deadline, when an editor calls for your complete manuscript, you won’t have to think it through. You will already have a plan in place!
So figure it out right now. What could go if you had a major deadline? Make your plan now. Be ready for the day when you “get the call.”
susan meier
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Goal Setting Lesson 6 Time Management Begins
Session Six: Time Management Begins
I love time management. I always have. Ever since high school, I’ve believed there was a better way to do everything and I’ve spent the past *&^ years chasing those ways. Some of my experiments have flopped, some of exploded in my face, but some have yielded some fabulous results. In fact,
I’ve actually written a time management book – which never sold so eventually it will probably find its way here.
So when I tell you I adore time management and all its theories, I’m not kidding.
So…Where do we start?
Well, today, we’re going to be talking about four things. Number one, finding blocks of time. Number Two, learning to work ahead in “bits and pieces.” Number Three, being prepared. And Number Four: mood reading and writing.
Let’s jump right in with Number One, finding your blocks of time.
When it comes to finding blocks of time, I always advise people to start right where they are. I never advise anybody to change anything until they’ve spent a week evaluating. Why? Because in all my years of helping people evaluate their lives, I have discovered that there is always a block of time in everybody’s schedule that can be used to accomplish a goal. And when you find that block of time and simply begin to use it, you won’t so much as create a ripple of a ruffle in the feathers of your family’s life.
And that’s really what you want to do. You want to find the time to accomplish your goal in such a way that you don’t disturb anybody else’s life or ask anybody else to sacrifice. Why? So you’re not fighting your own personal inertia, along with a troop of deprived family members!
Here’s an easy example of how it works:
I’m an early riser. My family sleeps late. When my kids were still in grade school, I could easily set my alarm for an hour (or two) before their scheduled waking time and get my writing done before anybody stirred. (That reaped the added benefit of my working in a completely quiet house!) Nobody even had to know I was working. No one challenged me. No one wanted on the computer. No one had a button that needed sewn or a nose that needed wiped. They were all sleeping.
That was perfect time.
But what if you’re not an early riser? Worse, what if you are but your kids are too! Or what if there simply is no way for you to use that system?
You go in the opposite direction. Can you stay up an hour later and use that time productively? Note that there’s a restriction to that. You can’t just stay up an hour later, what you do in that hour must be of good quality. If not, that’s not good for you either.
So if you can’t get up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later and produce good work, what do you do then? You start evaluating. Really look at how you’re spending your time. Journal for a week or even just a couple days and you’ll see where your writing time is hiding!
For instance a friend of mine was addicted to the 7:00 and 7:30 back-to-back airing of her favorite sitcom (Golden Girls). She would get a cup of coffee, sit down and watch an hour of television while her husband had his quality time with their kids. When she told me this, after having sobbed about having no time to write, I gasped! My Lord! You waste an entire hour on a sitcom? There’s your writing time!
The funny part of it was, she didn’t even see it because the habit was ingrained.
Here’s another good example. This is something I recently started to do because I find I need more time for my web page, PR, and email that I can’t get done during the day when I’m actually writing. So I had to find a way to take a bite out of time and when I examined my schedule, this is what I came up with…
My husband is a big fan of Walker, Texas Ranger. I … well, I can take it or leave it. I used to win points by letting him watch the show a few times a week while I crocheted at his side. Now, I let him watch it every day because that’s another hour he’s occ-u-pod-o and I’m free to do whatever I want.
But there are other hidden blocks of time of your life that are going to waste. Blocks you might not even realize you’re wasting!
You wait in line at the grocery store. You wait for your doctor. You wait in traffic. You wait for your beautician. You wait while dinner cooks. All these blocks of time can be put to use.
Now, granted, you probably can’t “write” in some of these blocks. But you can read research books, other writers’ work, and how-to books. You can also jot down plot notes, bits of scenes, and descriptions.
And that takes us to topic number two of our time management lesson…
Learning to do things in bits and pieces.
We have a tendency to look at everything in big chunks. But, you know, a good writing How-To book is read one word, paragraph, section, and chapter at a time. Your own work is written one word, paragraph, scene, and chapter at a time. When you begin to look at it that way, fifteen minutes spent writing a paragraph or page suddenly has new value. And so will all those fifteen-minute blocks of time you have that go to waste.
I do odd things like write out descriptions in advance. Houses, rooms, offices, secondary character features, the way my hero looks when he's angry. I write and revise opening paragraphs for chapters. I write (and revise or polish) chapter ending hooks. And I do them at the dentist, the doctor, waiting for dinner to cook, and watching Walker Texas Ranger (when I can’t get out of it).
Do you know how helpful it is to have descriptions written out in advance? I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it is to have a 20-pages-per-day goal and have six or eight one-paragraph descriptions that can be “dropped in” in the appropriate places. Six or eight one-paragraph descriptions is two or three pages! Three pages of pre-written text that you can count as part of that day’s goal.
For those romance writers among us…Have you ever thought of writing your kiss or love scenes when you have a spare fifteen minutes…like waiting for your hair dresser?
For the romantic suspense and suspense writers… Have you ever thought of writing a particularly hair-raising scene while waiting for your doctor, your accountant, or your lawyer (I think the lawyer’s office is a particularly scary place, very conducive to those tense, nail-biting scenes) and having it ready to drop into place when needed?
There is a caveat to all this great advice, however. And it’s Topic Number Three for today’s lesson: Be prepared.
If you plan to use your wait at the doctor to revise the ending hook of all your chapters, you have to have the last page of all your chapters printed out and ready to take with you so you can work on them. You must have a pen and paper with you if you plan to write something from scratch. In other words, you have to have the supplies you need, when you need them.
This probably means you’ll need to carry a pen and pad with you everywhere you go. You don’t have to cart a legal pad. You can buy a little pad that fits into a shirt pocket or your purse. Or, if you’re really ambitious, you can create a folder that you can take to doctor’s (and similar) appointments that has your synopsis, pertinent information, paper and a pen.
You may need to begin carrying a paperback with you all the time so you can read in unexpected down time, like when your bus gets stuck in traffic or you’re at the back of a long line in the grocery store.
But, that’s okay. Do you know why? Because people who carry paperbacks are perceived as intelligent…So I would go for that one if I were you.
This also means, though, that you have to have plenty of books on hand. You must have novels, nonfiction and research books available to take to your doctor’s appointments, beautician’s shop and dentist’s office. But to most readers this is not a hardship.
Plus, I’ve learned to “mood read” and “mood write” because mood reading and writing reaps the best results for me. Which is Topic Number Four and our last topic of the lesson: Mood Reading and Writing.
If I’m in a distracted mood, nonfiction is usually best for me to read. If I’m feeling attentive, I prefer fiction (because I need my brain to analyze what I’m reading). So I know when to take a non-fiction book or a fiction book to my dentist so that I not only read the most, but also retain the information I’m reading.
But more than that, if I’m feeling lousy and I’m writing a book where someone needs to die, my mood and the scene are a match made in heaven. I can easily write the scene! When I’m happy, I don’t try to write the black moment of a book. I write a tender, happy scene. In fact, if all the tender happy scenes are written, it’s better for me to go back and revise and polish a happy scene when I’m happy, than to try to write the black moment. It simply will not be good enough. And, frankly, I would have wasted that time.
The point? I don’t struggle trying to write a happy scene when I’m mad or an angry scene when I’m happy. That’s counter-productive. And counter-productive is a waste of time!
I find I write some really great death scenes in the doctor’s office after I’ve been kept waiting over an hour for a ten-minute check-up.
I write the best kisses in my beautician’s shop. Why? Because they’re always chit-chatting and happy there. And there’s nothing like a happy mood to inspire me to write a kiss.
I’ve also been known to pen a black moment or two waiting for the dentist.
And that’s our first four points to time management.
Number One, find blocks of time where they already exist!
Number Two, learn to work ahead in “bits and pieces” (and probably write better!)
Number Three, be prepared. Take books, notebooks, pens with you everywhere you go!
And Number Four: Mood read and write. Take advantage of your mood to improve your prose and save some time!
So, what’s your assignment for the next few days? Look for your blocks of potentially available time and figure out ways to use them. Find your Walker, Texas Ranger hour (the hour when your kids and husband are entertained to the max) when you can slip away and write. Buy yourself a stash of books. Especially a few good writing how-tos. You may not have time to read the classics waiting for little Regina to get out of volleyball practice, but if you read only one good tip a day from a writing how-to, your crafting ability would increase dramatically!
Begin to identify your moods and write with them. (Even if it’s only a paragraph or two to get you started!)
And get some “stuff” that you can carry with you. Decide if you’re going whole hog by creating a folder with your synopsis and pen and paper so you can write actual scenes while waiting for the doctor. Or if you’re a simpler person who needs only the little tablet and pen for shirt pocket or purse.
And get to it! Use that time!
susan meier
I love time management. I always have. Ever since high school, I’ve believed there was a better way to do everything and I’ve spent the past *&^ years chasing those ways. Some of my experiments have flopped, some of exploded in my face, but some have yielded some fabulous results. In fact,
I’ve actually written a time management book – which never sold so eventually it will probably find its way here.
So when I tell you I adore time management and all its theories, I’m not kidding.
So…Where do we start?
Well, today, we’re going to be talking about four things. Number one, finding blocks of time. Number Two, learning to work ahead in “bits and pieces.” Number Three, being prepared. And Number Four: mood reading and writing.
Let’s jump right in with Number One, finding your blocks of time.
When it comes to finding blocks of time, I always advise people to start right where they are. I never advise anybody to change anything until they’ve spent a week evaluating. Why? Because in all my years of helping people evaluate their lives, I have discovered that there is always a block of time in everybody’s schedule that can be used to accomplish a goal. And when you find that block of time and simply begin to use it, you won’t so much as create a ripple of a ruffle in the feathers of your family’s life.
And that’s really what you want to do. You want to find the time to accomplish your goal in such a way that you don’t disturb anybody else’s life or ask anybody else to sacrifice. Why? So you’re not fighting your own personal inertia, along with a troop of deprived family members!
Here’s an easy example of how it works:
I’m an early riser. My family sleeps late. When my kids were still in grade school, I could easily set my alarm for an hour (or two) before their scheduled waking time and get my writing done before anybody stirred. (That reaped the added benefit of my working in a completely quiet house!) Nobody even had to know I was working. No one challenged me. No one wanted on the computer. No one had a button that needed sewn or a nose that needed wiped. They were all sleeping.
That was perfect time.
But what if you’re not an early riser? Worse, what if you are but your kids are too! Or what if there simply is no way for you to use that system?
You go in the opposite direction. Can you stay up an hour later and use that time productively? Note that there’s a restriction to that. You can’t just stay up an hour later, what you do in that hour must be of good quality. If not, that’s not good for you either.
So if you can’t get up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later and produce good work, what do you do then? You start evaluating. Really look at how you’re spending your time. Journal for a week or even just a couple days and you’ll see where your writing time is hiding!
For instance a friend of mine was addicted to the 7:00 and 7:30 back-to-back airing of her favorite sitcom (Golden Girls). She would get a cup of coffee, sit down and watch an hour of television while her husband had his quality time with their kids. When she told me this, after having sobbed about having no time to write, I gasped! My Lord! You waste an entire hour on a sitcom? There’s your writing time!
The funny part of it was, she didn’t even see it because the habit was ingrained.
Here’s another good example. This is something I recently started to do because I find I need more time for my web page, PR, and email that I can’t get done during the day when I’m actually writing. So I had to find a way to take a bite out of time and when I examined my schedule, this is what I came up with…
My husband is a big fan of Walker, Texas Ranger. I … well, I can take it or leave it. I used to win points by letting him watch the show a few times a week while I crocheted at his side. Now, I let him watch it every day because that’s another hour he’s occ-u-pod-o and I’m free to do whatever I want.
But there are other hidden blocks of time of your life that are going to waste. Blocks you might not even realize you’re wasting!
You wait in line at the grocery store. You wait for your doctor. You wait in traffic. You wait for your beautician. You wait while dinner cooks. All these blocks of time can be put to use.
Now, granted, you probably can’t “write” in some of these blocks. But you can read research books, other writers’ work, and how-to books. You can also jot down plot notes, bits of scenes, and descriptions.
And that takes us to topic number two of our time management lesson…
Learning to do things in bits and pieces.
We have a tendency to look at everything in big chunks. But, you know, a good writing How-To book is read one word, paragraph, section, and chapter at a time. Your own work is written one word, paragraph, scene, and chapter at a time. When you begin to look at it that way, fifteen minutes spent writing a paragraph or page suddenly has new value. And so will all those fifteen-minute blocks of time you have that go to waste.
I do odd things like write out descriptions in advance. Houses, rooms, offices, secondary character features, the way my hero looks when he's angry. I write and revise opening paragraphs for chapters. I write (and revise or polish) chapter ending hooks. And I do them at the dentist, the doctor, waiting for dinner to cook, and watching Walker Texas Ranger (when I can’t get out of it).
Do you know how helpful it is to have descriptions written out in advance? I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it is to have a 20-pages-per-day goal and have six or eight one-paragraph descriptions that can be “dropped in” in the appropriate places. Six or eight one-paragraph descriptions is two or three pages! Three pages of pre-written text that you can count as part of that day’s goal.
For those romance writers among us…Have you ever thought of writing your kiss or love scenes when you have a spare fifteen minutes…like waiting for your hair dresser?
For the romantic suspense and suspense writers… Have you ever thought of writing a particularly hair-raising scene while waiting for your doctor, your accountant, or your lawyer (I think the lawyer’s office is a particularly scary place, very conducive to those tense, nail-biting scenes) and having it ready to drop into place when needed?
There is a caveat to all this great advice, however. And it’s Topic Number Three for today’s lesson: Be prepared.
If you plan to use your wait at the doctor to revise the ending hook of all your chapters, you have to have the last page of all your chapters printed out and ready to take with you so you can work on them. You must have a pen and paper with you if you plan to write something from scratch. In other words, you have to have the supplies you need, when you need them.
This probably means you’ll need to carry a pen and pad with you everywhere you go. You don’t have to cart a legal pad. You can buy a little pad that fits into a shirt pocket or your purse. Or, if you’re really ambitious, you can create a folder that you can take to doctor’s (and similar) appointments that has your synopsis, pertinent information, paper and a pen.
You may need to begin carrying a paperback with you all the time so you can read in unexpected down time, like when your bus gets stuck in traffic or you’re at the back of a long line in the grocery store.
But, that’s okay. Do you know why? Because people who carry paperbacks are perceived as intelligent…So I would go for that one if I were you.
This also means, though, that you have to have plenty of books on hand. You must have novels, nonfiction and research books available to take to your doctor’s appointments, beautician’s shop and dentist’s office. But to most readers this is not a hardship.
Plus, I’ve learned to “mood read” and “mood write” because mood reading and writing reaps the best results for me. Which is Topic Number Four and our last topic of the lesson: Mood Reading and Writing.
If I’m in a distracted mood, nonfiction is usually best for me to read. If I’m feeling attentive, I prefer fiction (because I need my brain to analyze what I’m reading). So I know when to take a non-fiction book or a fiction book to my dentist so that I not only read the most, but also retain the information I’m reading.
But more than that, if I’m feeling lousy and I’m writing a book where someone needs to die, my mood and the scene are a match made in heaven. I can easily write the scene! When I’m happy, I don’t try to write the black moment of a book. I write a tender, happy scene. In fact, if all the tender happy scenes are written, it’s better for me to go back and revise and polish a happy scene when I’m happy, than to try to write the black moment. It simply will not be good enough. And, frankly, I would have wasted that time.
The point? I don’t struggle trying to write a happy scene when I’m mad or an angry scene when I’m happy. That’s counter-productive. And counter-productive is a waste of time!
I find I write some really great death scenes in the doctor’s office after I’ve been kept waiting over an hour for a ten-minute check-up.
I write the best kisses in my beautician’s shop. Why? Because they’re always chit-chatting and happy there. And there’s nothing like a happy mood to inspire me to write a kiss.
I’ve also been known to pen a black moment or two waiting for the dentist.
And that’s our first four points to time management.
Number One, find blocks of time where they already exist!
Number Two, learn to work ahead in “bits and pieces” (and probably write better!)
Number Three, be prepared. Take books, notebooks, pens with you everywhere you go!
And Number Four: Mood read and write. Take advantage of your mood to improve your prose and save some time!
So, what’s your assignment for the next few days? Look for your blocks of potentially available time and figure out ways to use them. Find your Walker, Texas Ranger hour (the hour when your kids and husband are entertained to the max) when you can slip away and write. Buy yourself a stash of books. Especially a few good writing how-tos. You may not have time to read the classics waiting for little Regina to get out of volleyball practice, but if you read only one good tip a day from a writing how-to, your crafting ability would increase dramatically!
Begin to identify your moods and write with them. (Even if it’s only a paragraph or two to get you started!)
And get some “stuff” that you can carry with you. Decide if you’re going whole hog by creating a folder with your synopsis and pen and paper so you can write actual scenes while waiting for the doctor. Or if you’re a simpler person who needs only the little tablet and pen for shirt pocket or purse.
And get to it! Use that time!
susan meier
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Lesson 5 Goal Setting
Session Five: The other half of seven steps to Goal Setting
In the last session I told you that the seven steps to goal-setting are:
1. Decide what you really want
2. Write your goals out on paper
3. Determine the price you have to pay
4. Make a plan
5. Take action immediately
6. Do something every day that takes you to your goal
7. Resolve in advance that you will never quit.
Two lessons ago, we delved into understanding what we really want. We decided that we don’t want money or toys as much as we want emotions like happiness, security, love, respect, affection, and self-respect. Then we also realized that want of those emotions is the true bottom line reason behind why we do things like work hard at being a good parent, or pay our bills, or get married. Then I instructed you to set goals, or, more realistically put, decide how you will spent this year’s time, based upon the emotions or “states” you need to achieve.
In our last lesson, we took your goals and we refined them to be clear, specific, measurable and time bound. We also accomplished steps two through four. We wrote our goals on paper, determined the price we would have to pay to achieve them and made a plan.
We deserve a round of applause because all of that was hard work. And important work. But today we get to the good stuff.
Why are steps five through seven the good stuff?
Because anybody can know what they want, anybody can write out those goals on paper, anybody can determine the price they have to pay and anybody can make a plan. But not everybody can take action immediately, discipline themselves to do something everyday that will take them to their goal and resolve in advance that they will never quit.
These last three steps, taking action, disciplining yourself to do something every day that would get you closer to your goal and resolving never to quit are the hardest part of any goal, because they are the “heart” of the goal.
Let’s start by examining step five, take action immediately. Why is that so important? Why is that part of the “heart” of your goal setting process?
Because, quite simply, by actually taking action on your goal, you physically say you are committed. You tell yourself you believe you can do this.
If you don’t take action immediately, there’s always a question mark. Sure, you said you could write your book this year, but you haven’t even turned on the computer, so do you really think that you can write a book this year? Or were you wishful thinking again? Do you really have faith in yourself? And if you don’t…Have you chosen the right goal?
The ability to take action immediately speaks volumes about your self-confidence, your capabilities, and your belief in your talent.
Conversely, if you won’t take the steps, if you will not immediately do something that takes you in the direction of your goal, it also speaks volumes and you should be listening to what your subconscious is telling you!
But there’s another reason to take action immediately. The beginning of any project is the hardest. Once you set your goal and then take action, the difficult hurdle of “beginning” is handled. Your goal no longer seems like something off in the distance. Instead, it’s something you’ve already started.
It becomes real, manageable, and you begin to feel the sense of ownership necessary to commit for the long haul.
Simply put, step five, take action immediately, speaks of self-confidence and commitment!
But so does Step six: Do something every day to take you closer to your goal. Except it doesn’t merely speak to commitment, it also has two other advantages.
First, doing something every day, a piece of your project every day, breaks your work down into manageable increments and pieces, and teaches you that any task can be handled when taken one step at a time.
Second, working on your goal every day keeps you involved in your goal. You can’t forget it. But more than that, you can’t fall behind. At least not so far behind that you feel overwhelmed. Working on your goal everyday keeps you active, involved and moving toward the prize.
And that usually clips procrastination off at the ankles. Do you know why?
Because most of us procrastinate out of a feeling of overwhelm. Consistently and consciously, do something everything that takes you toward your goal and you will never feel a sense of overwhelm, and probably won’t procrastinate again.
Step Seven: Resolve in advance never to quit. No matter how difficult things get.
This step is the best. The resolution to keep going, no matter how defeated you feel, no matter how far your faith has depreciated, will actually walk you through the hard times. It will get you through the times when you want to quit, when you feel like it’s pointless, when your back has been broken by criticism or a rejection.
Face it. You are going to have days when you don’t feel like doing your daily portion. You will have days when your plan seems insane. You will get rejections, hear of friends who sold or got agents, get poor critiques, lose contests and face every form of hurdle known to writerkind.
But… If you’ve made the vow that you will not quit, that you will stick it out for your year (or whatever time period you’ve assigned) or until your book is written or the twenty pounds lost (Susan…twenty pounds…) then you will see yourself not merely face, but also overcome (or outlast) hurdles that might have otherwise defeated you!
Sometimes it really is nothing more than a matter of making a commitment.
So today that’s what you need to do. Make your commitment. Take your first action toward the goals you’ve set. Make the initial calls, write the first few pages, start a synopsis, buy the crafting book, find the Internet sites…
Take all those first steps.
Then resolve to continue on to do something every day.
And then resolve never to quit.
But do one more thing…
Did you ever notice that we can keep all of the promises we make to our kids, most of the promises we make to our husbands, a big percentage of the promises we make to our friends and parents…But the promises we make to ourselves frequently get lost in the shuffle?
Once you resolve never to quit, I also want you to resolve to keep the promises you make to yourself. Don’t shortchange yourself. Don’t treat everybody better than you treat yourself.
Keep the promises you make to yourself.
susan meier
In the last session I told you that the seven steps to goal-setting are:
1. Decide what you really want
2. Write your goals out on paper
3. Determine the price you have to pay
4. Make a plan
5. Take action immediately
6. Do something every day that takes you to your goal
7. Resolve in advance that you will never quit.
Two lessons ago, we delved into understanding what we really want. We decided that we don’t want money or toys as much as we want emotions like happiness, security, love, respect, affection, and self-respect. Then we also realized that want of those emotions is the true bottom line reason behind why we do things like work hard at being a good parent, or pay our bills, or get married. Then I instructed you to set goals, or, more realistically put, decide how you will spent this year’s time, based upon the emotions or “states” you need to achieve.
In our last lesson, we took your goals and we refined them to be clear, specific, measurable and time bound. We also accomplished steps two through four. We wrote our goals on paper, determined the price we would have to pay to achieve them and made a plan.
We deserve a round of applause because all of that was hard work. And important work. But today we get to the good stuff.
Why are steps five through seven the good stuff?
Because anybody can know what they want, anybody can write out those goals on paper, anybody can determine the price they have to pay and anybody can make a plan. But not everybody can take action immediately, discipline themselves to do something everyday that will take them to their goal and resolve in advance that they will never quit.
These last three steps, taking action, disciplining yourself to do something every day that would get you closer to your goal and resolving never to quit are the hardest part of any goal, because they are the “heart” of the goal.
Let’s start by examining step five, take action immediately. Why is that so important? Why is that part of the “heart” of your goal setting process?
Because, quite simply, by actually taking action on your goal, you physically say you are committed. You tell yourself you believe you can do this.
If you don’t take action immediately, there’s always a question mark. Sure, you said you could write your book this year, but you haven’t even turned on the computer, so do you really think that you can write a book this year? Or were you wishful thinking again? Do you really have faith in yourself? And if you don’t…Have you chosen the right goal?
The ability to take action immediately speaks volumes about your self-confidence, your capabilities, and your belief in your talent.
Conversely, if you won’t take the steps, if you will not immediately do something that takes you in the direction of your goal, it also speaks volumes and you should be listening to what your subconscious is telling you!
But there’s another reason to take action immediately. The beginning of any project is the hardest. Once you set your goal and then take action, the difficult hurdle of “beginning” is handled. Your goal no longer seems like something off in the distance. Instead, it’s something you’ve already started.
It becomes real, manageable, and you begin to feel the sense of ownership necessary to commit for the long haul.
Simply put, step five, take action immediately, speaks of self-confidence and commitment!
But so does Step six: Do something every day to take you closer to your goal. Except it doesn’t merely speak to commitment, it also has two other advantages.
First, doing something every day, a piece of your project every day, breaks your work down into manageable increments and pieces, and teaches you that any task can be handled when taken one step at a time.
Second, working on your goal every day keeps you involved in your goal. You can’t forget it. But more than that, you can’t fall behind. At least not so far behind that you feel overwhelmed. Working on your goal everyday keeps you active, involved and moving toward the prize.
And that usually clips procrastination off at the ankles. Do you know why?
Because most of us procrastinate out of a feeling of overwhelm. Consistently and consciously, do something everything that takes you toward your goal and you will never feel a sense of overwhelm, and probably won’t procrastinate again.
Step Seven: Resolve in advance never to quit. No matter how difficult things get.
This step is the best. The resolution to keep going, no matter how defeated you feel, no matter how far your faith has depreciated, will actually walk you through the hard times. It will get you through the times when you want to quit, when you feel like it’s pointless, when your back has been broken by criticism or a rejection.
Face it. You are going to have days when you don’t feel like doing your daily portion. You will have days when your plan seems insane. You will get rejections, hear of friends who sold or got agents, get poor critiques, lose contests and face every form of hurdle known to writerkind.
But… If you’ve made the vow that you will not quit, that you will stick it out for your year (or whatever time period you’ve assigned) or until your book is written or the twenty pounds lost (Susan…twenty pounds…) then you will see yourself not merely face, but also overcome (or outlast) hurdles that might have otherwise defeated you!
Sometimes it really is nothing more than a matter of making a commitment.
So today that’s what you need to do. Make your commitment. Take your first action toward the goals you’ve set. Make the initial calls, write the first few pages, start a synopsis, buy the crafting book, find the Internet sites…
Take all those first steps.
Then resolve to continue on to do something every day.
And then resolve never to quit.
But do one more thing…
Did you ever notice that we can keep all of the promises we make to our kids, most of the promises we make to our husbands, a big percentage of the promises we make to our friends and parents…But the promises we make to ourselves frequently get lost in the shuffle?
Once you resolve never to quit, I also want you to resolve to keep the promises you make to yourself. Don’t shortchange yourself. Don’t treat everybody better than you treat yourself.
Keep the promises you make to yourself.
susan meier
Monday, December 26, 2011
Session 4 Seven Steps to Goal Setting
It's the day after Christmas. I'm sure if you've ever wanted somebody to help you escape into a world other than one filled with reindeer and eggnog...today's the day. Settle in with me to think about where you'd like to be this time next year!
Read on...
Session Four: Seven Steps to Goal Setting (Steps 2 through 4)
According to Brian Tracy and Zig Ziglar (two time management, business motivational speakers whose tapes I’ve purchased through Nightingale Conant easily found through an Internet search) there are seven steps to goal setting. They are:
1. Decide what you really want
2. Write your goals out on paper
3. Determine the price you have to pay
4. Make a plan
5. Take action immediately
6. Do something every day that takes you to your goal
7. Resolve in advance that you will never quit.
Last session we did step one. You should have decided what you want. In fact, you should have a list of things you want like play golf once a month, complete a manuscript, create a bank account that will be a cushion when you quit working.
What you have written down may actually look like goals to you, but we’re going to modify them and refine them just a tad as we do Step 2: Write them down on paper.
Why? Because knowing what you want is only part of a goal. All the goal-setting gurus agree that a goal must be 1) clear, 2) specific, 3) measurable, and 4) time bound. I’m guessing that though you might have something written down, it may not be languaged to be clear, specific, measurable and time-bound. Though “the pleasure of being a good mom” is specific, it isn’t all that clear or measurable and it isn’t bound by time. Compare it to my polished goal of “Play golf once a month with my husband” and you easily see the difference.
So, here’s the test. Hold each item on your list up against the four criteria as follows.
Clear means that it is easily understood. (If you told your cat, she would nod in agreement.)
Specific means just that. That it is specific.
Measurable means that you know when it is achieved. You can measure it.
And time bound gives you a deadline … because a goal without a deadline is only a wish. And we’re done with wishes. We’re serious. We’re getting something done this year. For those writers among us our new motto is writing is my passion.
So, if one of the things on your list from yesterday is to sell a novel this year, is that clear? Yes.
Is it specific? Well, sort of, but not really. What kind of novel do you intend to sell? To whom are you going to sell it? And, really, do you have enough control of the situation to say that you will actually “sell” it this year? Probably not. You have no control over how long your book could potentially sit on an editor’s desk. There are too many variables to that goal.
So we have to amend it. How about this:
I will write a romance novel this year and submit it.
That’s pretty good. It’s clear, it’s specific … Well, sort of ... The truth is, the “romance” genre is now so big that “romance novel” isn’t really all that specific. So you might want to amend this goal again to include a line or publisher or subgenre.
All right. One more time. I will write an Intrigue this year and submit it to …
Whom? To which editor would I send an Intrigue?
Hum. Maybe we have some investigative work to do…or maybe we should leave this open?
How about this:
I will write an Intrigue this year. I will participate on a few Internet loops, visit eHarlequin and submit it to the editor who seems to be requesting the most manuscripts.
Better. Much better.
It is clear. It is specific. It is time-bound (Albeit that it’s a broad time limit because you could spend until December 31 writing and researching and mail the sucker at 11:30 that night…) and it is measurable. You know you are done when the book is in the mail.
It’s also flexible. And that’s something that a lot of goal-setting guys don’t mention specifically, but lots allude to. Because circumstances change in all of our lives, we need to be flexible. If you were to state that you were going to send your manuscript to a specific editor and she quit, or got pregnant, you would probably panic. You might even be stopped dead in your tracks.
However, because you wrote your goal in a realistically flexible way, you now won’t flinch or blink at any editor changes. You will simply keep up with the editor changes at publishers (via the Internet – as we stated in the actual goal) and make your decision of where to send the book right before it was ready to be sent. No problem. No panic. No work stoppage!
So, we now have an example goal set.
I will write an Intrigue this year. I will participate on a few Internet loops, visit eHarlequin and submit it to the editor who seems to be requesting the most manuscripts.
Good goal. At this point I would tell our imaginary goal-setter she could set a few other goals, if she wanted, but, frankly, this is a fairly hefty one for writing. I don’t think I would set another writing goal. Unless our imaginary goal-setter believed she could realistically write more than one book in a year. Or unless the additional goal was something to do with crafting.
For instance, last year I had 3 books to write. (I ended up writing four…but I digress). Anyway, I didn’t see room in my schedule to attempt any other writing project, but I could attend lots of Internet workshops and I did. I also went to three conferences. I also had three books to promote.
So my writing goals for 2002 were:
1. Fulfill my contract obligations (that was the 3 books)
2. Go to one online workshop a month (I did eight.)
3. Go to three conferences (done)
4. Read an hour a day (I was fairly good with this but not perfect.)
5. Update my web page regularly (blew that one big time)
6. Do some RT ads for the books out this year (easy because RT people remind you of what you need to do)
You will note that all of the writing goals I set enhanced or complimented the big goal of fulfilling my contract.
Yours should too. Online workshops are a godsend. You don’t even have to leave your home to attend. They are cheap. And you can print them out to refer to again and again. You not only get good crafting information that should update your skills, but also completing this goal enhances – it doesn’t interfere with – the major goal of writing that book and submitting it before the end of the year.
So basically, when it comes to creating writing goals you could have the big ones (the “I will accomplish this much work” writing goals), crafting (that’s going to workshops), industry (that’s where reading comes in) and PR. People tell me it’s never too soon to start promoting yourself, so – hey – get your publicity pix taken and start studying how you will promote your books when the time comes. There’s nothing like being prepared.
But that’s only what you want to do as a writer. I’m sure that after yesterday’s lesson you also wrote down a few personal goals (like lose twenty pounds before June 1…yes, Susan, I’m talking to you), family and community goals. Maybe even financial goals. So take those things you listed yesterday and language them in the same way you did your writing goals. Make them clear, specific, measurable and time-bound “things” you intend to do.
Once you’ve brought those things in line, that completes step two. Write down all of your goals.
But I’m going to take step two (write down your goals) a little further and talk for a second about what you do with your goals once they are written down.
I have a small notebook that I can carry in my purse and I write my goals in this notebook. Why? So I can carry it with me and review my goals regularly.
The pundits say you should review your goals once a month. Any more than once a month, and it becomes meaningless because your progress is frequently too small to measure so there’s really nothing to analyze. Any less and it becomes worthless because you aren’t analyzing enough.
Writing down your goals and reviewing them regularly reminds you of what you want to accomplish and gives you the chance to record progress, which motivates you.
And we all now know how important motivation is! So don’t just write them down and forget them. Write them down in something you can carry with you and look at them about once a month!
Step Three is Determine the price you will have to pay to achieve your goals.
This is another one of those toughies. If your goal is to get a book to an editor before the end of the year and you know it will take a lot of your time to write the book, then the price you will have to pay isn’t merely the expenditure of time. It is also the “loss” of whatever else you would have been doing in that time.
My big deal is TV. I think all of us could find enough time to write something the size of the Bible, if we stepped away from the tube. But I watched almost nothing in the late eighties and early nineties when I was working fulltime and also writing one book a year for Silhouette. Did I miss Dif’Rent Strokes? Did I lose something because I rarely saw the Facts of Life? Am I fashion-impaired because I never watched Dynasty and Dallas? Lord, I hope not.
Rather than think you have to give up going to your son’s little league games, why not go in the direction of cutting out TV? Rather than miss time with your family, why not get up an hour earlier than they do to get your jump on things?
But, wait, I’m tripping over into time management and we don’t want to do that yet. For now, write your list of things you can realistically give up to get the time you need to write. Some people give up bowling leagues, then get back to them once their book is finished or when they are writing full-time.
Some people, believe it or not, have to give up critique groups or writing groups. I’m one of those people who is always called upon to do work for my writer’s group so when I have a deadline or special project, I just disappear for awhile.
And that’s what you need to do. Figure out what things you can most realistically give up.
Then make a plan. Step four. Sit down with your list of goals and your list of things that you’re giving up (so you know where you’re getting the time to accomplish your goal) and make a plan for how you will achieve your goals.
Before you actually pick up your pen and start writing your plan, however, remember that writing a book is more than writing! Hitting your goal of writing a book this year might realistically require you to research first. In the same way, a goal of attending a certain number of workshops might require that you spend time on the Internet looking for online workshops.
Either of the above might require that you set your alarm for an hour earlier than you normally would. And writing a book this year might require that your plan include a per-day page count. It might require that you assign chores to your kids so you don’t have to do all the housecleaning! (Ah-ha! Now we’re getting somewhere!)
Again, think it through. Think through your life. Think through your goals. Think through your work habits, your work style, and your goals and make them click.
That’s your assignment for the day. If you haven’t done it already, take the goals you made in our last session, make sure they are clear, specific, measurable and time-bound and write them down.
Then figure out what you have to give up (mourn the loss, kiss stuff goodbye, promise to return, but give it up at least temporarily).
Then make a plan.
And meet me here for the next session when we talk about goal setting steps five, six and seven.
5. Take action immediately
6. Do something every day that takes you to your goal
7. Resolve in advance that you will never quit.
susan meier (Happy Christmas!)
Read on...
Session Four: Seven Steps to Goal Setting (Steps 2 through 4)
According to Brian Tracy and Zig Ziglar (two time management, business motivational speakers whose tapes I’ve purchased through Nightingale Conant easily found through an Internet search) there are seven steps to goal setting. They are:
1. Decide what you really want
2. Write your goals out on paper
3. Determine the price you have to pay
4. Make a plan
5. Take action immediately
6. Do something every day that takes you to your goal
7. Resolve in advance that you will never quit.
Last session we did step one. You should have decided what you want. In fact, you should have a list of things you want like play golf once a month, complete a manuscript, create a bank account that will be a cushion when you quit working.
What you have written down may actually look like goals to you, but we’re going to modify them and refine them just a tad as we do Step 2: Write them down on paper.
Why? Because knowing what you want is only part of a goal. All the goal-setting gurus agree that a goal must be 1) clear, 2) specific, 3) measurable, and 4) time bound. I’m guessing that though you might have something written down, it may not be languaged to be clear, specific, measurable and time-bound. Though “the pleasure of being a good mom” is specific, it isn’t all that clear or measurable and it isn’t bound by time. Compare it to my polished goal of “Play golf once a month with my husband” and you easily see the difference.
So, here’s the test. Hold each item on your list up against the four criteria as follows.
Clear means that it is easily understood. (If you told your cat, she would nod in agreement.)
Specific means just that. That it is specific.
Measurable means that you know when it is achieved. You can measure it.
And time bound gives you a deadline … because a goal without a deadline is only a wish. And we’re done with wishes. We’re serious. We’re getting something done this year. For those writers among us our new motto is writing is my passion.
So, if one of the things on your list from yesterday is to sell a novel this year, is that clear? Yes.
Is it specific? Well, sort of, but not really. What kind of novel do you intend to sell? To whom are you going to sell it? And, really, do you have enough control of the situation to say that you will actually “sell” it this year? Probably not. You have no control over how long your book could potentially sit on an editor’s desk. There are too many variables to that goal.
So we have to amend it. How about this:
I will write a romance novel this year and submit it.
That’s pretty good. It’s clear, it’s specific … Well, sort of ... The truth is, the “romance” genre is now so big that “romance novel” isn’t really all that specific. So you might want to amend this goal again to include a line or publisher or subgenre.
All right. One more time. I will write an Intrigue this year and submit it to …
Whom? To which editor would I send an Intrigue?
Hum. Maybe we have some investigative work to do…or maybe we should leave this open?
How about this:
I will write an Intrigue this year. I will participate on a few Internet loops, visit eHarlequin and submit it to the editor who seems to be requesting the most manuscripts.
Better. Much better.
It is clear. It is specific. It is time-bound (Albeit that it’s a broad time limit because you could spend until December 31 writing and researching and mail the sucker at 11:30 that night…) and it is measurable. You know you are done when the book is in the mail.
It’s also flexible. And that’s something that a lot of goal-setting guys don’t mention specifically, but lots allude to. Because circumstances change in all of our lives, we need to be flexible. If you were to state that you were going to send your manuscript to a specific editor and she quit, or got pregnant, you would probably panic. You might even be stopped dead in your tracks.
However, because you wrote your goal in a realistically flexible way, you now won’t flinch or blink at any editor changes. You will simply keep up with the editor changes at publishers (via the Internet – as we stated in the actual goal) and make your decision of where to send the book right before it was ready to be sent. No problem. No panic. No work stoppage!
So, we now have an example goal set.
I will write an Intrigue this year. I will participate on a few Internet loops, visit eHarlequin and submit it to the editor who seems to be requesting the most manuscripts.
Good goal. At this point I would tell our imaginary goal-setter she could set a few other goals, if she wanted, but, frankly, this is a fairly hefty one for writing. I don’t think I would set another writing goal. Unless our imaginary goal-setter believed she could realistically write more than one book in a year. Or unless the additional goal was something to do with crafting.
For instance, last year I had 3 books to write. (I ended up writing four…but I digress). Anyway, I didn’t see room in my schedule to attempt any other writing project, but I could attend lots of Internet workshops and I did. I also went to three conferences. I also had three books to promote.
So my writing goals for 2002 were:
1. Fulfill my contract obligations (that was the 3 books)
2. Go to one online workshop a month (I did eight.)
3. Go to three conferences (done)
4. Read an hour a day (I was fairly good with this but not perfect.)
5. Update my web page regularly (blew that one big time)
6. Do some RT ads for the books out this year (easy because RT people remind you of what you need to do)
You will note that all of the writing goals I set enhanced or complimented the big goal of fulfilling my contract.
Yours should too. Online workshops are a godsend. You don’t even have to leave your home to attend. They are cheap. And you can print them out to refer to again and again. You not only get good crafting information that should update your skills, but also completing this goal enhances – it doesn’t interfere with – the major goal of writing that book and submitting it before the end of the year.
So basically, when it comes to creating writing goals you could have the big ones (the “I will accomplish this much work” writing goals), crafting (that’s going to workshops), industry (that’s where reading comes in) and PR. People tell me it’s never too soon to start promoting yourself, so – hey – get your publicity pix taken and start studying how you will promote your books when the time comes. There’s nothing like being prepared.
But that’s only what you want to do as a writer. I’m sure that after yesterday’s lesson you also wrote down a few personal goals (like lose twenty pounds before June 1…yes, Susan, I’m talking to you), family and community goals. Maybe even financial goals. So take those things you listed yesterday and language them in the same way you did your writing goals. Make them clear, specific, measurable and time-bound “things” you intend to do.
Once you’ve brought those things in line, that completes step two. Write down all of your goals.
But I’m going to take step two (write down your goals) a little further and talk for a second about what you do with your goals once they are written down.
I have a small notebook that I can carry in my purse and I write my goals in this notebook. Why? So I can carry it with me and review my goals regularly.
The pundits say you should review your goals once a month. Any more than once a month, and it becomes meaningless because your progress is frequently too small to measure so there’s really nothing to analyze. Any less and it becomes worthless because you aren’t analyzing enough.
Writing down your goals and reviewing them regularly reminds you of what you want to accomplish and gives you the chance to record progress, which motivates you.
And we all now know how important motivation is! So don’t just write them down and forget them. Write them down in something you can carry with you and look at them about once a month!
Step Three is Determine the price you will have to pay to achieve your goals.
This is another one of those toughies. If your goal is to get a book to an editor before the end of the year and you know it will take a lot of your time to write the book, then the price you will have to pay isn’t merely the expenditure of time. It is also the “loss” of whatever else you would have been doing in that time.
My big deal is TV. I think all of us could find enough time to write something the size of the Bible, if we stepped away from the tube. But I watched almost nothing in the late eighties and early nineties when I was working fulltime and also writing one book a year for Silhouette. Did I miss Dif’Rent Strokes? Did I lose something because I rarely saw the Facts of Life? Am I fashion-impaired because I never watched Dynasty and Dallas? Lord, I hope not.
Rather than think you have to give up going to your son’s little league games, why not go in the direction of cutting out TV? Rather than miss time with your family, why not get up an hour earlier than they do to get your jump on things?
But, wait, I’m tripping over into time management and we don’t want to do that yet. For now, write your list of things you can realistically give up to get the time you need to write. Some people give up bowling leagues, then get back to them once their book is finished or when they are writing full-time.
Some people, believe it or not, have to give up critique groups or writing groups. I’m one of those people who is always called upon to do work for my writer’s group so when I have a deadline or special project, I just disappear for awhile.
And that’s what you need to do. Figure out what things you can most realistically give up.
Then make a plan. Step four. Sit down with your list of goals and your list of things that you’re giving up (so you know where you’re getting the time to accomplish your goal) and make a plan for how you will achieve your goals.
Before you actually pick up your pen and start writing your plan, however, remember that writing a book is more than writing! Hitting your goal of writing a book this year might realistically require you to research first. In the same way, a goal of attending a certain number of workshops might require that you spend time on the Internet looking for online workshops.
Either of the above might require that you set your alarm for an hour earlier than you normally would. And writing a book this year might require that your plan include a per-day page count. It might require that you assign chores to your kids so you don’t have to do all the housecleaning! (Ah-ha! Now we’re getting somewhere!)
Again, think it through. Think through your life. Think through your goals. Think through your work habits, your work style, and your goals and make them click.
That’s your assignment for the day. If you haven’t done it already, take the goals you made in our last session, make sure they are clear, specific, measurable and time-bound and write them down.
Then figure out what you have to give up (mourn the loss, kiss stuff goodbye, promise to return, but give it up at least temporarily).
Then make a plan.
And meet me here for the next session when we talk about goal setting steps five, six and seven.
5. Take action immediately
6. Do something every day that takes you to your goal
7. Resolve in advance that you will never quit.
susan meier (Happy Christmas!)
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Thank you all!
I've been having the most fantastic Christmas Eve watching my book's ranking drop on Amazon!
It's so fun to watch the number drop, but even more fun to realize it's dropping because so many books are being sold.
Thank you all!
And Merry Christmas
susan
It's so fun to watch the number drop, but even more fun to realize it's dropping because so many books are being sold.
Thank you all!
And Merry Christmas
susan
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