My first rule of setting goals for the New Year is obviously going to be that this is not a big deal. This is getting published in late January, so the main thing you need to know is to not put a lot a pressure on yourself. This should not be something you agonize over, because that will make you not want to do it. This leads into my first actual tip:
- Make your goals doable. If you read my last blog post, you’ll know I made about 100 short story submissions in 2022. For 2023, I set my goal to half that. Why not set it higher? Well, first, my hope is that some of those will get published and, therefore, cannot be re-subbed. Secondly, my goal for 2022 was to make 25 submissions, so 50 is actually doubling that. I know it’s achievable, and I’m still improving on the previous plan, but I am not setting myself up to fail.
- Write your goals down. Seriously. Scribble it on a sticky note. Make a detailed graph with plot points. Do a spreadsheet. You do you, but write them down. Studies have shown (but I’m not looking them up right now because I’m lazy) that people who write down their goals are considerably more likely to achieve them.
- Make your goals for you, and NO ONE ELSE. That writer over there might write 1,000 to 2,000 words a day, but maybe they have a cushy job or a rich spouse. Maybe they don’t have kids. Maybe they do have kids and they neglect them. You know what you have going on in your life–be it school/work/family obligations/a need to rewatch the entirety of Parks & Rec once a month–better than anyone else. You also know whether you’re a major procrastinator or not, so factor all those things in when setting your goals.
Much like making goals, the tips for making goals are pretty simple. Make them achievable, write them down, and make them for you and no one else. That’s all I got. I don’t want to agonize over this post anymore than you should agonize over those goals.