Writing Objectives: Tips on how to Set the Proper Objectives for 2020
If you're reading this, I'm assuming that you already have some goals: fitness goals, goals for your family, maybe even the goal of writing a book or becoming a better writer.
But how do you write goals that actually work and that actually help you achieve the things you set out to do?
In this guide, I'm going to walk through the step-by-step process of goal writing that has completed fifteen books, published over 2,000 blog posts, added the Wall Street Journal bestseller list, and reached over twenty million people with my writing over the past nine years.
No matter what your goals are, I believe this process will help you get really clear about what you want to achieve this year.
How I write my goals
Every year around New Year's Eve I block three days, take out my whiteboard markers and the note app, and report to myself. I think about how last year went and what I want to achieve in the coming year.
New Year's resolutions sometimes get a bad rap, but research backs them up. In fact, making resolutions is ten times more likely to achieve your goals than those who don't.
This time of reflection and goal setting is the best part of my year. More than Christmas candy and New Year's champagne, it helps me relax and re-focus. In just two or three days it will get my work for the following year.
But for you, you don't have to save this kind of process for the New Year. If you have a few hours or even a few minutes to think about your goals, it is well worth it.
Goal setting worksheet
To make this process even easier, I've created a downloadable and printable goal setting worksheet that you can use during this process.
You can download the goal setting worksheet here.
It's free, printable, and I believe it will help you achieve your goals for the next year.
The 4 types of goals
What kinds of goals should you set before I dive into the process that works best?
I believe there are four main types of goals, and each of these goals builds on one another. Now that I've explained each of the types, I'll ask you questions to help you ponder your goals.
1. Goal in life
What's on your bucket list? What would you like to achieve before you die or feel like you've missed something important? What will you regret if you never do?
Maybe it has a writing career and makes writing your day job. Maybe it will win a coveted award. Maybe it will fly in first class or start a family.
These goals are central to you and to you.
If you are not sure what your life goals are, here is an exercise to find them: Imagine yourself in twenty years. You are very happy. You achieved everything you wanted and more.
What is your life like What did you achieve
Whatever they are, write them down.
Lifetime goals do not have to be achievable. . . Right now
Give yourself time to dream.
Of course, it's a good idea to create SMART goals that are measurable and achievable.
But if you really want an extraordinary life, you have to allow yourself to dream something extraordinary.
Only when you have a picture of where you want to go can you work backwards from there and create smaller goals that you can actually achieve, as we'll go over below.
2. Project goals
Project-based goals are things that you can achieve in a year or two. While project goals are smaller than lifetime goals, you may have some project-based goals on your bucket list.
Here are some examples of project-based goals:
- Write the first draft of your book
- Get something you've written published
- Receive 100 rejection letters from agents or publications (hat tip to Sarah Gribble)
- Take a family vacation to a national park
- Make $ 1,000 of your side business
- Build a successful blog, podcast, or YouTube channel
- Get your first project as a freelance writer
- Write a new short story every week for a year
You can't do everything at once. Instead, break your life goals down into smaller pieces so that you can think about the steps it will take to actually achieve your dreams.
From dreaming to focusing on what you can control
As you think about your project goals, think about what you can control and avoid goals based on things that are beyond your control.
For example, what if we changed the example goal above from "Make $ 1,000 off your sideline" to "Create a new product (such as a book) and set it to 100 people on"?
You can't control whether people buy your product and how much money you make, but you can focus on how many hours you spend on it and how much hard work you put into something.
When you focus on what you can control, you not only prepare yourself to actually achieve it, but avoid feeling frustrated and angry when that goal is not achieved.
3. Weekly goal
When you have met your project goal, take it a step further and think about what you can accomplish each week to achieve that goal.
Here are a few smaller goals you could set:
- Write 5,000 words per week in your book
- Publish one blog post per day
- Submit five person pitches for guest posts or articles
- Email to twenty people who would like to report on my book
- Exercise for an hour three times a week
- Finish a new writing project like a short story
This is where you move from dreaming big to simple, measurable goals that are under your control and that can be achieved through hard work within a certain time frame.
You cannot control whether other people take the actions you want. However, you can control how much time and effort you spend achieving your weekly goals.
If you set goals like finishing a book, you can't do anything overnight. Instead, you need to break your goals down into smaller weekly milestones.
If you want to write a book but don't know the process, check out the Writing Planner, our elite planner that will walk you through the book writing process step by step. We have also used this process to help thousands of writers finish their books. Take a look at the planner and get your copy here.
4. Daily goal
Having a daily goal is especially helpful for writers, but it's good for anyone who has long-term projects that require daily effort.
When I'm working on a book, I set a daily word count goal, usually around 1,000 words, so I can better manage my larger goals.
I also take time to write every day, usually in the morning, but sometimes in the afternoon or late at night. If you don't allow time, your writing won't get done!
"
The way to realize your dreams does not lead through more inspiration, but through daily, focused action.
How to actually achieve your goals: The 5 steps
Now that we've examined the four types of goals, let's talk about how they can actually be achieved.
1. Reflect
What has worked for you in the past, when you set goals and tried to do what you wanted to achieve? Where did you fight at the same time?
They reflect for two reasons:
- Think about how you can improve your future. By reflecting on where you have succeeded and fallen short in the past, you will refine your process and improve your chances of your future endeavors working.
- Think about what you have achieved. Reflection is also an end in itself. As Roy Bennet said, “Be grateful for what you already have as you pursue your goals. If you are not grateful for what you already have, then why do you think you would be happy with more? "
Take the time to think about your goals so far. Evaluate all of the goals you set yourself the year before and write a few sentences about each event that you can think of.
2. Reconnect with your desire
I don't know about you, but I don't really believe in New Years resolutions. Why should you set goals for things you don't want to do?
Instead, I like to start the goal setting process by reconnecting with my desire. What do I really want to do in the next year? What do I really want to achieve? How do I want to grow and who do I want to become?
There is no time in life for half-hearted dreams. Instead, focus on your deepest desires.
Take into account ALL areas of your life
When we brainstorm like this, we often only focus on one area of our life, especially our goals for our professional life.
However, you are a whole person. If you succeed in one area of life but fail in all other areas, you will be unhappy. That is why it is so important to spend time dreaming about what you want in all areas of your life.
- Job. What would you like to experience, achieve and finish in your work?
- Write. What would you like to experience, achieve and end in your writing?
- Relationships / family. What would you like to experience, achieve, and end in your relationship with your spouse? with your kids with your friends?
- Even. What would you like to experience, achieve and end in your personal life? This includes fitness, hobbies, and personal goals.
3. What are you going to finish?
There are always things that keep us from having our best lives, whether it's a job, a bad habit, or a task. What if you could stop? How would that change your life?
If you could stop what would it be? You can't add more to your life without getting rid of something. What are you going to finish in the next year?
Here are some examples of things you might either want to quit or spend less time doing:
- Check your phone's screen time history and delete your most used, most distracting app (here's how to check screen time history on iOS and Android).
- Social media. You may find, like me, that social media can easily distract you when it comes to writing your book or working on your goals. If you want to achieve your goal, you may need to take a break from social media, or at least delete the apps from your phone to make the pointless shift from your goals to social media difficult.
- Video games
- watch TV
- Late night hangouts with friends. You can always spend time with them once you've achieved your goals.
You may not be able to end these today or tomorrow (responsibly anyway), but figure out what to end and then make a plan.
You may not achieve everything you want, but I find that I can achieve my goals much more successfully if I combine my desire and think about what I want to end.
Stop focusing on what you should be doing this year.
Instead, think about what you want to do. You can learn something new about yourself and you will definitely have a fuller, more meaningful year.
4. Choose four goals (NO MORE)
After you've worked out all of the things you want to achieve in the next year, you will likely have many things in one or two areas of your life and few in others.
Brainstorm until you have at least three things in each area of work, writing, relationships, and self. Then do it:
Pick your four best goals, the four things you want the most this year.
You only choose four because you don't have time for mediocre goals and aspirations. A year really isn't that long, especially when it comes to fulfilling your deepest desires. The more you focus on the few things you want most, the greater your chance of getting them.
When I first tried this exercise in 2012, I carefully monitored some of these four things for a few months. Then I got busy with other things and made it a habit. However, a year later I found my list and was shocked to discover that I had reached all of them. They didn't look exactly what I planned, but everyone was an important part of my life.
So choose carefully! Whichever you choose will change your life!
"
Pick your four best goals, the four things you want the most this year.
5. Set a deadline and create a consequence
Now that you know what you want to do, here's how to actually do it.
First, set a deadline. When do you want to achieve this?
Tip: Always set your deadline a little shorter than you think possible.
As Leonard Bernstein said, "In order to achieve great things, you need two things: a plan and not enough time."
For example, if you want to write a book, I recommend setting the deadline no longer than four months. If it's longer, hesitate. A good amount of time to write a book makes you a little nervous, but not downright scared.
However, it is not enough to just set a deadline. You also need to create a consequence.
What is a consequence?
A consequence is a bad thing that will happen if you don't achieve your goal within your deadline.
For example, in 2016, I wrote a check for $ 1,000 to the U.S. presidential candidate I disliked the least, gave it to a friend, and told them to send it if I didn't finish my book by my deadline. I was more focused than ever and finished my book on time!
Big deadlines = big consequences, small deadlines = small consequences.
As you set, keep in mind the four types of goals we talked about earlier. I want to create one major consequence for your project goal and a few minor consequences for weekly goals.
For example, if my goal is to write a book in 100 days, my big consequence is the $ 100 check, but my smaller deadlines could be erasing my favorite game on my phone or buying ice cream for everyone with whom I work.
This is especially important when you start with a new goal. Getting started is the hardest part, after all. However, knowing that you have to erase your favorite game on your phone by the time you finish your writing project may be enough to get you into focus.
Achieving your goals is difficult. You have to make it harder not to get your goals than to get the job done.
Do not forget! Here you can get the free worksheet for goal setting.
How to actually make your dreams come true
In summary, here are some final questions that should fuel your dreams:
- What do you really want in the next year?
- What do you want to achieve this year?
- Who do you want to be
- When you look back around this time next year, what stories would you like to be able to tell?
- And how will it feel when you reach these goals?
You can get started with the process outlined above. It worked for me!
One aspect of this that most people neglect is a team, a group of other people who can encourage and hold you accountable in order to achieve your goals.
One of the main reasons I see people fail to improve their writing skills and complete their books is because they don't have a team.
This is the exact reason I built 100 days book, the only writing program that will earn you $ 100 if you finish your book in 100 days.
Whether you want to write a novel, non-fiction book, or a memoir, I know the 100 Day Book would help you finish it, just as it has helped thousands of other writers.
If you want to write a book but don't have a team, we'd love to put you together with a mentor, surround you with a group of encouraging writers who all go through the same process, and help you finally get done.
You can find out more about the 100-day book here.
Hope you achieve all of your goals and dreams. Most of all, I hope you enjoy the trip.
Good luck and have fun writing!
What are your four goals for the next year? Leave a comment and let me know!
WORK OUT
Let's practice setting your goals for the next year.
First, if you haven't already, download our free goal setting worksheet here. Then set a timer for fifteen minutes to start the process.
When your time is up, take a break and let us know your four goals by leaving a comment below.
Then, if you want to continue, you can do so or continue at a different time.
Good luck and let this be the beginning of a great year!
Joe Bunting
