I tend to not be a very self-motivated person sometimes. It goes in phases – for a few months I will be like “DO ALL THE THINGS,” and then I will get frustrated or just lazy and slack off. So being my own boss about pretty much everything right now means I have to be the one who cracks the whip, which is not easy for me. Sometimes when the choice is weed the garden bed or watch TV then TV wins.
Over the last few months I have been following a daily schedule to make sure I work on everything I need to do at least a little. I have exercise, writing, cleaning, homesteading tasks, personal time, writing business, and even saying a mantra on there.
This month I have set goals for my writing, a well-rounded approach to move me forward an author. It is part about writing more stories and getting better at my chosen profession, as well as connecting with people and selling my work.
This month’s goals are:
Submit 10 stories to publishers– I have done 3 so far
Sell 5 copies of “Treacherous Nature” – Reached that yesterday, yay!
Write 2 short stories – I have finished one so far
Publish a free short story on Amazon – I have not done this yet
Do two blog posts a week– I have already failed at this one, but I need to try to make it work for the rest of the month.
Make some plans for my novel next month – I have a few ideas, but have not put anything down yet. I have not attempted to write a novel in years. This is a very scary thing for me. It is just this year that I have gotten the confidence to finish short stories, so the idea of writing that much, working that hard, and then maybe walking away is pretty intimidating. The most I have ever written on a novel was about 20k words before I ran away from it. So whatever idea I come up with has to be interesting to me as well as to the future reader, and I need some sort of plan so I don’t get stuck and give up.
I am going to have goals like this every month and post them here so I can get your input.
What sort of goals do you set?
How likely are you to meet them?
Are there some facets of what you do that are really easy for you to keep doing, but other parts that you get stuck on? For me writing is fun and pretty easy, but if I did not make myself, I would never edit or submit stories. I would just write and write and write.
How do you stay focused?
Making Goals
kittysarkozy.com 
I’m not much of a goal setter. I have my bare minimums – keep all the animals fed and make 3 blog posts a week – but everything else I just stumble through. Congratulations on meeting your book-selling goal!
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It can be hard for me to keep focused. Some days I just don’t want to write, and I find I can’t force myself to do it. Usually when I feel this way it’s because I’m working something out and just need time to figure it out. I also find that I write better when I have a deadline. I tend to be more motivated and get more done. 🙂
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