At the beginning of a New Year, it is easy to get caught up in the tradition of planning resolutions and goals. I look forward to it. It’s like staring at the first clean page of an empty notebook. Nothing but possibilities.
It’s also important to look back, though. What were your goals for last year? Did you meet them? Exceed them? If so, then maybe this is the time to set more challenging goals for yourself. If you didn’t achieve your goals, was it because they were too difficult, or because you weren’t as committed as you could have been?
I usually fall into the second part of that. It’s easy to get distracted, and off-track. I also have the tendency to think I can accomplish a lot more than I reasonably can. And that can be discouraging, especially when I am looking at my to-do list, with almost nothing crossed off.
By looking back, I can see where I have succeeded (great job, decent income, learned a lot) and where I need to improve (less distractions, better time-management, more realistic expectations.) I need to learn how to set better goals, but I also need to get better about pushing myself to reach them.
What is a realistic daily writing goal? Should I be counting articles, or counting overall productivity? I know where I want to be a year from now, but I need to set concrete steps along the way. It is important to not only have annual goals, but also quarterly, monthly, and even weekly goals written down. Make them goals that you can reach, but not too easily. Goals should be a little bit challenging, to help you stretch and grow as a writer and business woman (or man.)
This is especially important when you work for yourself. There is no one standing over your shoulder, telling you where you need to improve, or letting you know that you are doing a great job. As write-at-home moms, we need to figure these things out for ourselves. How? By comparing our goals with the progress we’re making. If it feels like we’re spinning our wheels, stuck in the same place we were a few months, or even a year, ago, it’s time to make some changes. And that’s the amazing thing about our careers. If a change needs to be made, we get to decide where that change will take us. Branching out into other formats of writing? Concentrating more on our niche? It’s up to us, but we need to set goals to get us there.
I know that I need to get a bit more serious about writing. I have a lot of goals for this year. I want to increase the amount of writing I can produce in a day, and I want to improve my writing skills. I want to set up my website, find a few private clients, and build a decent residual income. I have a long way to go, and I still need to figure out all the details, but as the first of the year starts to fade behind us, it’s nice to know that I have a lot to look forward to.
