On Monday I mentioned I’d finished the first draft of my book. This was significant for me because it took a year of regular (almost daily) work, something I’d never done before. It took me several years of trying to write anything consistently until I came across a way of working (with a little help from GTD) that allowed me to focus on this long term goal and stick with it. Having gained this experience and knowledge, I thought I’d share it here and see what you thought. Have you tried any of the following tips? Let me know what you think!.
- Be realistic
It’s so easy to get carried away with long term goals and let your emotions take over, rather than thinking rationally. After all, these sorts of goals are usually the ones that will change your life. It’s one thing to have dreams but you have to take practicalities into account. Every year we see people on shows like X Factor with dreams of becoming the next big music sensation. Slight problem though… nobody told them they couldn’t sing. - Focus on what you can control
An aspiring actor can only do so much if the director wants a particular look. A Musician might want to break into the charts but the buying public looks the other way. A writer could write a book, hoping it will become a bestseller, only to see it dismissed by publishers because they want a safe bet. Focus on what you can influence, don’t base the success of your goal on other people or outside factors. - Make sure you really want it
This isn’t about doing something you’d like to do, you better really want to do it. Just don’t waste your time if that’s not the case. Really. Seriously. You can cut out so much crap from your life by distinguishing between stuff you’d merely like to do and stuff you really want to achieve. Remember, you’ll be doing these goals for the long term so you will hit hurdles along the way and you’ll need lots of personal motivation. - Break it down
Break your work down, break it right down. Break your goal into sub-goals and then break them into next actions. It might seem ridiculous but when I was writing the rough draft of my book, I’d do just one page at a time, or I’d do thirty minute blocks of work on it. It might not seem like a lot and some of you probably think that you’ll never get much done but bear the following in mind… - Work on it consistently
It’s important – critical, in fact – that you work on your goal regularly and often. Find a routine that works for you and your lifestyle. Make it flexible and if your lifestyle changes, change your routine. Working on your goal a little at a time and on a regular basis is much more effective than trying to squeeze in the odd couple of hours every so often. When I was doing my book I’d work on it a little every day from Monday to Friday and have the weekend off so I didn’t get too jaded. - Accept it will take hard work
Not only will it take hard work, it will be for a long time so take a reality check now. Have a clear picture of what you’ve got to achieve. You can make it a lot easier for yourself by having the right mindset, the right tool and good support behind you. The challenge isn’t just in the amount of work or how hard it might be, it’s the fact you’ve got to keep with it and work on it regularly for a long time.
By applying these points I was able to work on my book regularly. Because I broke down my goal (my sub-goal was to do a first draft, then second draft, etc.) it made it easier to do regularly. It also meant I could always find time for it, so it was easy to do it daily. Finally, by cutting out other interests and hobbies that I wasn’t really interested in it also freed up a lot of time and meant I had less distractions.
December 10, 2008 at 05:26PM
Thanks so much for the link, James. I read you regularly and appreciate your insight!
December 12, 2008 at 11:05AM
You’re welcome Kris, I really like your blog.