Keep it simple
Try it with your daily goals
Some people try to write 1,000 words each day or exercise 30 minutes three times a week. These are helpful, but sometimes they seem like too much.
So keep it simpler.
How simple? Try this:
write one sentence every day for your book.
Do you feel the stress leave? One sentence. I can do that late at night, on the bus, between classes, even on the toilet! After writing my sentence, I have achieved my goal. I feel inspired.
Instead of beating myself up because I only wrote 500 words, I feel encouraged because I accomplished what I set out to do. I’m also more likely to do this every day instead of writing only when I feel motivated to do 1000 words.
Best of all, after writing one sentence, I figure that I might as well continue because the computer is on and I am in my chair and I wonder what will happen next.
***************************
Break it into steps
Let’s say that you want to get an agent for your book. Instead of being a daily habit, this is a one-time goal with steps.
-Option A: You give up after finding out how many steps there are.
-Option B: You decide to do one step at a time.
Step 1—Search online for agents in your genre
i.e. “historical fiction literary agent”
Copy one page of agents and paste into a document
Total time = 1 minute
Step 2—Get agent’s guidelines
Go to first agent’s website, click on “submission” or “FAQ” and copy the submission guidelines
Total time = 2 minutes
Step 3—Read the guidelines
Total time = 2 minutes
Step 4—If the guidelines do not fit what you wrote, try the next agent
If the guidelines fit what you wrote, begin query by putting agent’s contact info at the top of a new document
Total time = 1 minute
Step 5—Get a model query letter
Total time = 2 minutes
Step 6—Plagiarize the letter, substituting necessary changes such as your name
Total time = 5 minutes
You get the idea. If you are worn out, just do one step for that day. Is it slow? Yes. But one slow day is better than waiting for inspiration to strike.
If you feel motivated, keep going. The goal is only to get you started.
***************************
What do you think?
Are goals like this too easy, making them unmotivating?
Or are they so simple that you don’t give up?
Daniel F. Bowman 
