Planning For Success

Last week I said that I ask myself a lot of questions when I’m making new goals. Am I feeling confident or nervous or discouraged – right now? Do I need a carrot or a threat or a reward – right now? The point to adding “right now” is that you may find your goals need to be adjusted as life moves and changes around you.

Day by day, I may choose to lower my daily writing goal if my husband is home sick. (I can tell you, my goal is definitely lowered if I am home sick!) I increase my daily goals when on a writing retreat. And I try to meet the long-term totals monthly, quarterly and annually by catching up on good days.

I’m a planner, so when I make my goals for the new year, I am looking at all the times I know I’ll be out of town, all the holidays and other occasions I know I’m going to want to spend with family and friends, and anything else I know is coming. In 2009, I am moving to the other side of the world! My husband will be working on Happy Feet 2 in Sydney, Australia, so not only do I have to plan around moving, I have to plan around feeling like I’m on permanent vacation!

What is on your schedule next year? What “normal” things and what one-time events (a wedding?) do you have to plan your writing around? If you make goals that are specific and have a time limit, you can find a sense of accomplishment and success. And if you look at it as a long-term flexible process, you can continually adjust your goals up or down as you need to in order to continue in a mindset of success and not failure. (This is easier said than done, but keep trying!)

I also try to evaluate which goals I want to have a ceiling and/or a floor. For instance, starting in January I’m going to try a new way to get more writing done, writing all day three days a week. (I find it difficult to stop what I’m doing and move on to something else, so I’m going to try this new system. If it doesn’t work, I’ll go back to my half day, five days a week schedule and look for other ways to make it work for me.) So I’ll have a floor of three days of writing a week, and a ceiling of six days a week.

I promised last week that I would commit to my 2009 goals here today. Eeek! Asking myself the questions above, I decided I’m confident and a little nervous, and I want the reward of finishing a couple of books as well as the carrot of taking time off to enjoy the move. So -

Finish 1 category romance and send it out by April 30, 2009
Finish a second category romance and send it out by December 15, 2009
Finish the rewrite on my single title and send it out by December 15, 2009

I’ll be moving in July, so this schedule gives me enough time to write and get all my “life” stuff done. I’ll reevaluate my goals on those dates and/or when I finish those books. If I finish early, I may want to add another writing goal. If I find myself pressed for time because of the move, I may want to extend the dates. Either way, the more I plan for success and set myself up for success, the more likely I will be successful!

What about you? What are your goals for the new year?