The One Thing that Can Keep You from Achieving Your Freelance Writing Goals in 2012
January 3, 2012
Editor Note: FYI, the price of the SEO writing ebook will be increased next Monday, the 9th.
Have You Already Broken Your New Year’s Resolutions Concerning Your Freelance Writing Goals?
If you made freelance writing goals for this year, you’re probably raring to go. And that’s normal – most of us who set goals are excited at the beginning of the journey. But, statistics have proven that setting goals and achieving them are two separate things. Proof?
Today, in an interactive poll on The Guardian, upwards of 20 percent of respondents (18% to be exact when I took the poll) said that they’d already broken their 2012 New Year’s Resolutions – and it’s only three days into the New Year!
On the same site, in the article New year’s resolutions doomed to failure, say psychologists, a study conducted by psychologists found that “Less than a quarter of those asked . . . had managed to stick to their resolutions.”
Setting and Achieving Freelance Writing Goals: Can You Relate to This Story?
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that I recently achieved a goal of publishing 50 ebooks on Amazon in one year. In the last few years, I’ve gotten much better at achieving goals. In fact, I’ve achieved almost every one I’ve set since 2007.
But I used to be not so good at it, and one of the main things that kept me from achieving goals I set was that I’d “fall off the wagon.” What I mean by this is, I’d deviate from the plan I set – and I usually never found my way back to it.
To use an example, I’m a pretty healthy eater for the most part. But around the holidays, I purposely eat whatever I want. I’m from the south, and the traditional holiday meal is not the healthiest, but it’s something I look forward to every year BECAUSE I don’t eat that way the rest of the year. What is my family’s traditional holiday meal?
Well . . . there’s macaroni and cheese, cornbread stuffing, turkey, ham, collard greens, potato salad, corn bread, red velvet cake, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potato pie and homemade cookies. This is what I have every year at Christmas and Thanksgiving – and the leftovers can last for up to a full week after.
I look so forward to this every year – but the caloric intake is huge. It’s always a struggle to leave this type of gorging behind (did I mention how much I love this menu!), and get back to my normal eating habits (salads, chicken, tuna, etc.) and on my normal workout routine.
My point in telling you this is that I have to consciously climb back on the “good eating/workout” wagon. It would be so easy to continue with the unhealthy eating habits I allow myself to indulge in during the holidays, but I know that if I did, I’d be headed down a dangerous health road – obesity, diabetes, etc.
RECOGNIZING that I fall off the good-eating wagon – even though it’s intentional – helps me to get back on track. Studies have shown that this is key. Proof?
Why 75% Who Set Goals Fail at Them
It’s explained best in the article, Why We Make New Year Resolutions and Fail: A Half-Assed Attempt at Psychology to Understand What’s Really Behind This Dumb-Ass Ritual. The psychologist writes:
. . . resolutions are a process. . . . I guess that’s why 75% fail at it is because they do not understand that. You have to decide to commit to that change, and you have to form a plan around it, just like all the other routines we do in life. . . . The moment you step out of that routine, the moment you let go of a little bit of that control, you are presented with an opportunity to do things differently. You make the choice.
So, the number one thing that can keep you from achieving your freelance writing goals this year is understanding – and accepting – that it’s a process and you’re going to falter. But, you must decide to get back on track. And you may have to decide hundreds of times.
It’s like a 12-step program that those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction participate in – you recommit to sobriety every day. That’s why those programs teach participants to take one day at a time.
Same thing with achieving your freelance writing goals – you work towards them one day at a time. That way, if you falter, you can always recommit to it the next day (or minute or hour). You don’t have to fall off the wagon and stay there. You can choose to start over again at any time. I hope you understand how critical this insight is.
6 Things You Can Do to Reach Your Freelance Writing Goals This Year
With the above being said, following is how I stay on track; how I’ve managed to reach most of the business (freelance writing) goals I’ve set since 2007.
I. Make a Public Declaration: When I made my freelance writing goals in 2010 for 2011, I didn’t keep it to myself. I declared the goal publicly (on my website, in my newsletter and via social media). This helped keep my feet the fire.
It also helped to keep me on track because when I started to get behind, I started a blog detailing my ebook writing “failure.” This got me back on track – and ultimately helped me to succeed.
II. Time-Block Days: Time-blocking your days helps you to see – in black and white – what you should be doing every minute of every work day. When I’m mindlessly surfing the net reading about the latest happenings in Kim Kardashian’s life, I’m fully aware that that’s what I’m doing.
The only way to break bad habits is to become aware of them. That’s not to say that you will automatically stop doing the things that cause you to waste time (eg, surfing the net, or putting in laundry, or checking email); it simply means that you can catch yourself, and put a time limit on your behavior so you can more readily get back to what you’re supposed to be doing.
Learn more about the effectiveness of time blocking and how to do it.
III. Have a Life Plan: You have a much better chance of staying on course if you know exactly where you want to be a year from now, three years from now, five years from now, etc. Your freelance writing goals list is just a year at a time, time-blocked schedule of getting where you want to be in life. This is why it’s extremely important to know where “that” is.
Learn more about why having a life plan is important to achieving goals – and when to turn down/take advantage of opportunities that come your way.
IV. Refocus: When you get off track – and it happens to everyone – refocus. Just because you lose focus for a minute is no reason to stay unfocused for weeks or months or . . . years. You’re human, it happens – but you can choose to refocus at any moment.
V. Visualize: I ran across a quote that I tweeted a few months ago that went something like, “I don’t focus on the work to be done; I focus on the end result.” That sooooo reasonated with me.
I have a picture in my head (and a feeling in my heart) of what it’s going look and feel like when I start earning 5 figures a month from just my ebooks. I think about how much more free time I’ll have; the things I won’t have to do anymore; the things I can do more of; what it will mean for my day-to-day existence; how/when/why I wake up and go to bed; etc.
In short, I keep a visual of what I’m working towards front and center.
VI. Work Hard: For me, this is the easiest part of achieving any goal.
There were so many times that I wanted to give up last year when I was trying to publish those 50 ebooks on Amazon. But I thought about my enslaved ancestors and how hard they had to work – for no pay; in deplorable conditions, for their entire lives.
And, I got back to work.
How do you stay focused on your freelance writing goals? What are some of the challenges you face? Please share in the comments section below.
Yuwanda
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8 Responses to “The One Thing that Can Keep You from Achieving Your Freelance Writing Goals in 2012”
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Great tips, Yuwanda! I am doing pretty good so far…in fact, I am exceeding some goals. I uploaded 8 ebooks to Amazon yesterday, which only got me to 11, but I am still raring to go.
I hired a VA to dissect my business and marketing plan and create a daily projects list. Because I know what I want to do, having this very solid document really gets me fired up to get things done.
Jessie:
Referring back to your goal list is very imporant to keeping them. That’s an excellent point — one I should have added to this list. All the experts say keep your goals where you can see them — and your document is exactly what this does.
Stay the course — and congrats on your success so far. You’ve really hit the ground running. Good for you!
I’m happy to report that I’m also doing quite well so far after 3 days-and I didn’t even get my goals down on paper till about 3 hours before the New Year.
I have to say-I don’t buy into this entire “doomed to failure” premise when it comes to New Year’s resolutions. I never really have called them resolutions, maybe because of all the negative associations to that term. I’ve always called them annual goals. I’ve been making them for several years-some spiritual/personal development, some physical, and some career/financial. Of course, I don’t always achieve every one within the time frame I set, but to me that’s not really the point. These goals are more a road map that keeps me focused and going in the right direction. If I fall off the bike a few times, it’s no cause to totally scrap your goals. You just get back up and get on it again.
That is a great point about keeping your goals in front of you-especially in our profession. With the amount of distractions I am tempted with on a daily basis, I find myself very often referring back to my main goals and asking “okay, does this fit in with what I’m trying to accomplish?” If it doesn’t, then I let go of it.
Happy New Year Yuwanda! Another great article of yours that will certainly help me to keep on track with my goals this year! And – thanks for your reply to my comments about your achieved goals last year, too.
Keep up the Great work! Best Wishes for 2012. Andy.
Time-blocking days is a fabulous idea. I am often torn between doing work for my own projects and client work that pays the bills right now. Dedicating specific blocks of time will allow me to manage with less juggling. Thanks
I have not made writing any set amounts of e-books my 2012 resolution but I did resolve to actually write some e-books for the kindle platform. I have been an online writer for 12 years and I fell in love with the kindle idea, especially when I read up on kindle singles.(Too cool). Anyway, I got my first e-book on the kindle site today and have 2 more almost ready for the next two weeks. The first is a self-help kind of e-book on bipolar disorder but the next two are fiction for the kindle single.
Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and information,
Tiffany
@Evelyn: I love, love, love time blocking. It helps you to see in black and white where you’re spending your time, which is huge when it comes to achieving specific goals. I definitely would not have reached my goal of writing 50 ebooks in a year if I hadn’t done this. Good luck juggling!
@Tiffany: Congrats of uploading your first title. I remember that feeling — so exciting. One suggestion, instead of resolving to wrie “some e-books,” get specific. Resolve to write X number this year. Trust me, if you’re specific about a goal, you exponentially increase your chances of achieving it.
Again, congrats — and good luck on your writing journey this year.
[...] As I talk about in this post on how to keep your freelance writing goals, I fully realize that I’m off track. This is a big part of getting back on track, by the way. So [...]