Happy New Year, blog readers…both of you. 🙂

Yes, I realize I’m a few days late, but that seems to be the story of my life lately. My tree and holiday decorations are usually boxed and stored back in the attic by January 2, but alas, my tree lights are still shining in the corner of my living room. It’ll come down this weekend.

What are your goals for 2007? I don’t like to use the word resolutions because those have a way of falling to the wayside before the month is over. Need help setting and achieving realistic goals? Keep reading for an article I wrote for my writing zone’s newsletter. Sandra, newsletter editor extraordinaire, gave me permission to repost the letter on my blog. Enjoy!

Ready, Set, GOAL

Setting and Achieving Realistic Writing Goals

The New Year represents a time of out with the old and in with the new. Celebrations and resolutions. For many, those newly-proclaimed resolutions will be broken before January slips into February. Resolutions are often broken because they’re not realistic or attainable.
The steps outlined below can help you set realistic writing goals:

**Pray—ask God to reveal what realistic goals you should set for your writing and ask Him to help you to become disciplined in maintaining those goals.

**Determine your ultimate goal—what do you want? Decide what goal you would like to achieve. By narrowing it down to a single goal, you’re allowing yourself to be realistic. As you achieve your goal, you can set a new one.

**Determine your priority—what is your biggest issue? Overcoming many issues at one time leads to setting yourself up for failure or making you feel overwhelmed. Decide what the determining factor in achieving your goal is. Map out steps to help you achieve this.

**Determine why you want this goal—make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. If you’re doing it for someone else, you may be bringing on unnecessary guilt if you don’t live up to that person’s expectations.

**Determine the possible results—what do you wish to achieve? How can you strive to obtain this accomplishment?

**Determine which writing organizations and services can help you obtain your goal—writer’s organizations like ACFW are valuable resources for writers. Other assets include crafting books, attending conferences, writing classes, networking, and fellowshipping with other writers.

**Determine whose help you can enlist to help you achieve your goal—accountability is a great motivator for writers. Enlist a fellow writer to help you break through those writer’s blocks, think out those plot points, bounce off ideas, and exchange chapters for feedback.

Establishing goals over resolutions enables you to set a reasonable course of action without setting yourself up for failure. Establish mini goals that you can use as stepping stones to your larger goal. The key is to choose goals that are realistic and attainable to ensure long-term success.