Play it Again, SAM: Setting Goals instead of Resolutions

The new year is upon us. Have you set your resolutions yet? I hate resolutions. Declaring your purpose for the new year doesn't make it happen. I resolve to lose weight, exercise more, and get more done, but without a plan my enthusiasm waivers and I find myself drowning in my own resolve.

About a decade ago affirmations and intentions were the latest thing at the new year. Both are more positive forms of new year's resolutions. You state that you will do something. I will trim down. I will incorporate diet and exercise into a healthier lifestyle. I will organize to achieve more. While positive and presented with the mood that we all have the power to make these intentions happen, again, if enthusiasm waivers the positive crumbles into negative inaction. Before long I’m beating myself up for blatant laziness. Not exactly positive and affirming. So, I like to focus on goals. Some creative people freeze up at the thought of setting goals. It’s so . . . business oriented. If you fall into this category, think of goals as stepping stones toward achieving your dream.

Like task management, goals take the bigger picture and break it into manageable pieces. Each smaller task or goal leads to accomplishing the bigger task. Many of us do this without realizing it—during the holidays, for instance. In order to get those holiday cards in the mail, there are steps involved. You need to create the list of people you’ll send them to, make labels (or address the envelopes), write notes and/or sign each card, stuff the envelopes, stamp, and drop at the post office. Each step might be done in 5- to 15-minute segments as your schedule allows. In the end, the cards are in the mail and on their way.

Goal-setting is the same. Set a goal, a time frame for achieving it, and then create action steps (or small goals that lead to the larger goal). Use S-A-M as a guideline. The goal should be specific. Select a target and set a deadline such as trimming 2 inches off your waist by summer, losing 15 pounds, or sending out 20 manuscripts by December. It should be achievable. This means you need to make it happen; you cannot rely on what someone else does as a step in the process (such as an editor accepting just 1 manuscript to launch your career). You need to find an exercise you enjoy doing if you are going to trim 2 inches off your waist. You will need to write a manuscript in order to reach that goal of submitting 20.  Finally, your goal needs to be measurable. Notice that these three goals include a specific number. This helps you track your progress as the year progresses.

I had a writing friend who decided to set of goal of receiving 10 rejections in a year. She was working to fit writing into a busy life as a mother, wife, and office manager. She had heard me speak and a comment I made about taking the plunge and getting over the fear of submitting really struck her. She knew that manuscripts left in a drawer would never become books. Setting a goal to get rejected took away her fear of rejection. It is part of a writer’s life after all. Her goal was specific and measurable. She knew she had to send out a MS a month to reach that goal. That was achievable given her busy life.

When the first MS was returned, the sting of rejection wasn't so bad. She sent it out again. And again. She had nearly reached her goal of 10 rejections by summer when she received an acceptance. Then a second. Now she was forced to write new material in order to reach her goal. She did. But she also had credits to list when sending out those new MSS. By the next year, she was ready to “play it again, SAM” in setting new goals. No floundering in good intentions or vague resolutions. Just specific, achievable, and measurable goals with action steps toward reaching them.

Here’s wishing you all a happy and productive 2013. Happy Writing!