I love making goals. Yet making good goals is just the first part of accomplishment. The second is achieving the goals. These two aspects work together. Set bad goals and it doesn't matter if they're accomplished. Set good goals, but don't finish them then nothing changes. So today I'm going to talk about different ways that help me set about achieving goals.

Scheduled Classes - Some people, who have more money than I do, will schedule one on one time with a coach at the gym. This isn't because they need the coach, this so that they can feel like they can't skip the class because someone is waiting there for them.

Write-Ins - For those of us with less stellar incomes the same social contract can be implemented by scheduling time with a friend or acquaintance who has a similar goal. Then the two of you can work towards the goal at the same time. Knowing that someone else is watching can really help limit side trips to youtube or FB.

Google Hangouts - The cheapest and most time efficient option for those working on computer based goals. Go to Google hang outs and call the friend or acquaintance with a similar goal. Once you're in voice chat there is an option in the top right hand corner to share your screen. With both people sharing screens they can keep tabs on each other and their progress. (All while staying in their PJs!)

There are probably some readers that don't want to rely on social contracts for their achieving their goals, and there is another fairly reliable motivation technique: Loss-aversion.

It's a simple premise. Promise money to a group that you really don't like if you don't achieve your goal. The idea of having to give $10 to a charity one doesn't like (or your high school rivals) for every gym class missed can be surprisingly motivational. Now a days there's websites that help plan this kind of accountability too, the first I could find was stickK, though I'm sure there are others.

What other techniques do you use?

I present to you Eight Sentence Sunday, a blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. I've been trying my hand at free writing lately, and this is my favorite piece from this week!

Check out more at http://www.wewriwa.com/.

1)      Finish MM – Still behind. This is my MAJOR focus this month! I’ve planned some write-ins and accountability times with friends and it’s already helped make slow, yet steady, progress. (I think that might be my mantra for the year. “Slow and steady progress is perfectly fine.”)


2)      NNWM Plotting – I’ve been doing online research. I have a couple more books that I should read soon. Ideally I’ll be doubling down on this once the first draft of MM is done.

3)      Short Stories – Been a bit distracted. I’ll be back at it this month!


4)      Critique Group – I’m caught up, though people haven’t been submitting often. I think we’ll need a discussion about everyone’s vested interest levels again soon. Until then I have a friends novel that’s ready for a full beta read, so I’m working on that currently. (In turn she said that she would be happy to beta read MM when it’s ready. A worthwhile trade.)


5)      Author Visibility – Totally dropped the ball on this. Gotta post more cat photos!

How are your goals going?