by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
Around this time of the year, I like to take a look at my goals that I’ve made and evaluate how much progress I’ve made on them. I’m actually usually right on target because I try to make my goals really easy to meet. I figure it’s better for me to have the “slow and steady wins the race” mentality than try to set a really lofty goal and struggle to meet it (and lose confidence in the process).
Here are some tips for figuring out your progress and possibly tweaking the goals you’ve made.
A Few Questions to Ask:
Are you on track with your goals? And…are you tracking your progress toward your goals? Take some time to assess where you are and make sure to count everything you’ve done so far toward your project.
If you’re not meeting your goals, are they too big? Can you make them S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time-sensitive) goals instead? Try breaking big projects into small tasks.
If you’re not meeting your goals, what’s the chief impediment? Sometimes it’s us, sometimes it might be an outside factor that’s contributing to the problem.
What seems to be working and what isn’t? What can easily be changed? (Ideas for changes could be altering the time of day you work on your goal, changing where you’re working, trying mini-outlines of a sentence or two so you know exactly what you want to write during the next session, etc.)
Is there someone in your life who can help keep you accountable if you need it? Another writer, a family member, a friend?
If you are meeting your goals, are you also making time for work/life balance? What can you do to correct the imbalance, if there is one?
If you are meeting your goals, are there any production-minded tasks you need to do? (Reach out to an editor or cover designer and get on their schedule?)
My main tip here would be: don’t try to catch up. There’s just nothing more discouraging than trying to make up for lost time. Just jump in right where you are and treat every day as a blank slate.
How are you doing on your 2021 goals?
A Mid-Year Check-in on Goals: Share on XPhoto on VisualHunt
You can catch up a little, but overall you’ll only make yourself frantic if you try more. And like you said, each resets.
Catching up is definitely not fun!
I like the slow and steady approach too. I’m doing good in my goals, which was to write most days. Sometimes life gets in the way of that goal, but most of the time I’m achieving it and accomplishing more.
Sounds like you’re doing great with your goals!
This is such a good idea, Elizabeth! Checking in on goals periodically gives us the chance to move forward, even if it’s not exactly in the way we’d planned at first. I think, too, that it’s good mentally, because then one doesn’t get depressed thinking about the goals that haven’t been met, if that makes sense.
So true…there’s nothing like unmet goals to derail a day.