How To Achieve Your Goals This Year
There is a key to making goals. One that most people miss, and I'd like to share this self-reflection with you.
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That sounds like such a magical sentence to me.Â
"Achieve your goals this year."
When I think about it, another sentence springs to mind…
"Don’t take the long shortcut."
Right now I’m at home, sitting in my office chair, taking a hard and sober look at myself, through my minds eye. I wish I could say that’s a good thing, but it’s not. It’s painful — and that’s the least uncomfortable aspect of this process.
Three months into this Substack process and I’ve stumbled down the same path that has crippled each and every project goal I’ve pursued for almost two decades.
I compromised.
Dammit.
I always love the New Year. It's a time when most people set goals. Usually non-practical things...or unreasonable things that are out of their reach. Sad really. I hate to see folks depressed--especially when it's self-inflicted.Â
As for me, I'm goal-obsessed. I love to work. "Deadlines" are nectar of the Gods to me. I love to achieve what I focus on and I have this insatiable desire to improve myself. That's why I wanted to start Life of Fiction off by bringing something up that you would find useful.Â
The truth.
I started this Substack and this process towards crafting ‘Chronicles of a Hero’ striving to be ‘genuine’ and ‘authentic’. Yet the more I tried to be those painful things, the faster they slipped from my fingers.Â
There is a key to making goals. One that most people miss, and I'd like to share this self-reflection with you. Maybe you need it, maybe you don’t. For all I know, you’re the perfect person and you should be teaching this to me.
Since I’m the one posting, though, I’ll tell you what I think I know, and we’ll both see if this sticks. Hopefully this can assist you in getting to that elusive end-desire you've been wishing and hoping for but didn't actually know how to achieve.Â
How To Actually Achieve Your GoalsÂ
STEP #1: Be Honest With YourselfÂ
This is harder than it sounds. I wear a t-shirt that I made for myself that says, "I LIE TO PEOPLE FOR A LIVING".
I like that shirt, even though the statement is a lie.
Whenever I wear it in public, the men laugh and the women give me the dirtiest looks. That’s when I scowl back at them and point to the smaller statement in parenthesis, under the bold print. It says, "Fiction Writer".
Women rarely read the whole statement and assume I’m a liar.
They’re half right, though, because I lie to myself.
A lot.
We all want the whole pie, to achieve the impossible, to do what we've never done before. That's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but how you go about setting goals is important. Your mind knows what you will and will not do. Notice I didn't say can and cannot. I said will and will not. This is due to habits.Â
You can't lie to yourself. You can try, of course, but it simply won't work. It doesn't even have to be a conscious effort--your habits will simply rise to the occasion. You'll find yourself experiencing the "default" settings every time.Â
Settings based on your habits.Â
Those who run every day know that setting a goal of running a mile or two to running five miles is a matter of pushing yourself a bit longer. Pacing. Warming up. Maybe getting an earlier start. But if you're a couch potato and you set a goal for running five miles a day, you're destined to disappointment. It's not practical, nor is it realistic and your mind will know you're just talking smack. It ain't gonna happen.Â
I wanted to entertain you and everyone else on the planet, and to do that, made sure I’d release variable materials multiple times a week. Worse still, I’d do that on multiple Substacks.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.Â
Could I do it at first? Sure I could. There was an article like this one, and I gave myself the freedom to craft whatever I wanted. The main thing was that it had to be of quality, and it had to be ‘FREE’. That way I could have materials to attract subscribers.
Once I attracted subscribers, I could use emails to bring them step by step towards a paid membership. That’s where all the goodies and consistency is, so I wasn’t worried at that point.
Then I needed a way to market, but I’m not willing to pay for ads, and I refused to give a penny to Google, Amazon, YouTube, or Facebook. In fact, scratch any big tech company from the list. That’s why I thought podcasting would be the best fit.
Turns out, when you commit to schedule multiple projects with limited time, you kinda screw yourself.
STEP #2: Set Your Sites CorrectlyÂ
Now, this doesn't mean you shouldn't set some tough goals for yourself. I love pushing myself and reaching for the stars...but you have to do it in the right way. We, as humans, tend to focus our sites on the future instead of the here and now. We dream of what it will be like to achieve a goal, rather than moving our butts and taking action to actually GET what we want.Â
Here's the key: WHAT'S THE NEXT STEP?Â
Step by step, bite by bite, keep your head down and focus on the next step of the process. Its that simple. Not only are you more likely to succeed taking a smaller step, you'll be closer to the bigger goal AND you're creating positive habits with positive reinforcement along the way!Â
So stay focused on the here and now and always be asking yourself: What's the next step??Â
The problem with where I am now, is I’m so busy with ‘busy work’ I don’t know what the next step is. I’m spending all my time trying to play catch up. But catch up to what? What I DO know, is that the things I’m spending all my time on won’t honestly take me forward.
…which is the completion of the novel series.
That’s the desire of my soul. All of this was originally to WRITE THE %$@$#!!! MAIN BOOKS! Then I start wanting to give people ‘value’, so I make projects to add to the book writing, because I believe everyone and their gerbil NEED more.
(Bangs head against desk…)
DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH ANXIETY I GET OVER MAKING PEOPLE HAPPY!?!!Â
(…bangs head against desk…)
EVERY
(…bang…)
$#!@!!-ING
(…bang…)
DAY!!
(…bang…)
Well crap,….I’m not gonna see much clearly after THAT bout…
STEP #3: Always Do SomethingÂ
This is a life-saver to keep you on track and in a constant forward motion.Â
Do something.Â
Not just anything, but specifically something that will get you closer to your goals.Â
Let's go back to the running example. You are a couch potato, but you want to run five miles a day. Fine. Start by getting up in the morning. Get into the habit of getting the rest you need and getting up at an early hour.Â
Doesn't sound like much, but you'll be surprised by what your body and mind will do when you're up and alert in the morning. I started getting up at 4am to develop the habit of writing during some tense life-issues. I couldn't find time to write, so I started getting up early. Before I knew it, I was writing more on my book in the hours before breakfast than I was previously writing the entire day at the office!Â
(pause….*writes this stuff down on TO-DO list*)
Think about it. The steps can be so simple.Â
Just get up.Â
Next--just go for a walk in the mornings. Don't worry about distance or speed, just get into the habit of getting up and moving early in the morning.Â
Then fine tune your actions. Use what you have, right now, and develop simple, small goals and build them into habits. Then form the habits into vehicles to get you closer to the goals.Â
So what’s my SOMEthing look like with Life of Fiction and writing the main series?
It’s focusing on the MOST important things first…and everything else after. Yes, I’m frustrated. Yes, I’m angry at myself for falling back to old habits, BUT…I can see it. Never saw it before, and I can DO something about it now. Right now.
The projects I’ve been building, are on pause, to clear my plate.
Every thing I have been creating is good. Everything I’ve been working on has value. However, the MOST important project has taken a back seat for too long, and the comical parts about all this compromising, is that the success of ALL these projects, rests on the main series being completed.
So why am I not making it my #1 priority?
Exactly.
STEP #4: Create Value For Someone ElseÂ
This might sound odd, but if you've read any of my books, you'll notice I have a deep belief in God / Universe and its power to provide for us. That could mean money, resources, relationships, whatever it is that you need, the Universe can provide it. But here's the key--if you want money, influence, a job, you name it...you need to create value first.Â
I remember when I was 20 and I was depressed because I wanted to get married so badly. To find the love of my life.Â
I went to my father, a great man, and shared my heartache. He smiled and said boldly, "You know son, if you want to find this girl, you need to stop looking. Instead, be the kind of man a girl would look for and the girl you're looking for will find you."Â
Pretty simple, right?Â
Well, I started putting my own life in order and you know what happened? I met my wife three weeks later. We’ve created a magical family together, and I have never been more blessed.Â
I'll share another example.Â
I want to make a living as a fiction writer. To get that money, I need to create value for others first. So I write my books. I talk to others about them and though it has been slow, I don't give up.
I keep writing.Â
Creating more and more value as time goes on, I can be confident that it's not a matter of IF I will make a living at this, it's a matter of WHEN.Â
That may seem crazy to some, but if you think about it, the plan is smart:Â
If I wrote just one book, I’ll only make so much profit on that one book. It will, in reality, take an extraordinary number of readers to provide a living for me. HOWEVER, as I continue to write and add books to the series and to that fantasy Universe, there are more products to sell.Â
Any reader, IF they are well fed and entertained, is likely to buy the next books in the series.Â
That means two things:
I can make more profit from fewer people, and;
As I satisfy the ‘fiction-addiction’ of my readers, they're likely to share info with those they know. Hence, word-of-mouth grows also.
Do you see how creating value for others first is actually a wise move?Â
STEP #5: Don't StopÂ
The last, but most crucial step of all is to keep going, regardless of what happens.Â
Its not about speed, but endurance when it comes to many goals, especially writing. Times are changing. The government is determined to take a bigger bite out of your income and regulate your life to the point of suffocation.Â
You're going to experience setbacks. You'll have struggles.Â
That's OK! Use those moments and experiences to make you stronger, to adjust and learn from it all.Â
The only way you'll fail in obtaining your goals is if you stop working towards them!Â
Discovering that I have been drifting back to old habits of compromise has been an emotionally crushing blow this week. But if I’m being honest with myself, at least it didn’t take me 18 YEARS this time to notice!
It took three months.
I’ve slapped myself multiple times, had a stern talking to the face looking back in the mirror…and adjusted to get back on track. Writing books is the priority.
That means some things will change here to make that priority happen.
I hope you have a wonderful remaining 2023 and achieve each and every one of your own goals...Â
P.S. If you have any tips or tricks, principles or perspectives that you'd be willing to share when it comes to goals, I’d love to hear them! THANKS.Â
Paid subscribers can comment, access the archive of this site, along with other stories, art, and any article I’ve ever written. If you aren’t a paid subscriber, you can access the archive for free with a 7-day trial OR earn a paid membership by joining the referral program!
I just want to say that this ties in really well with an article I've been working on that won't see the light of print for a couple of months. We push ourselves too hard and we create these moments of overwhelm. You're doing great. You've fought - and won - a great battle against the Amazonians. One step at a time!