We are already into another month, where is the year going!? For those of you new to my blog, what I do is set myself a list of goals for the month. These cover several aspects such as writing, blogging, personal etc.
As well as listing them here I also include them on their own page called My Goals where I update the progress. Goals help to keep me focused and boy do I need that! They also help to drive me towards long-term goals.
I actually did pretty well in August (shockingly) I gave myself 9 goals and reached 7. Let’s see if I can manage that level of success this month.
[ W R I T I N G ]
01 Write 10,000 words of my current WIP, The Blessed
I made a big change in how I organised my time last month and so did a great job at getting over 14K written in just 3 days. Since I am now heading into my busy period with work (as the Xmas rush starts now). I will just aim for another 10k.
02 Complete 2 relevant location settings profiles for The Blessed
I gave myself the same goal (but to complete all settings) last month and I failed miserably. But I need to be more careful about the depth of the goals.
As well as all these goals, I have other requirements on my time and I need to remember that. So this time, I’m just limiting it to 2 location settings profiles.
03 Design the plot for book 2 in the Dark Hart series
My first book in the Dark Hart series is on its 2nd draft and currently with my alpha reader. But I want to start making headway with the next book. This means trawling through 8 books worth of material to work out which plot needs to come next.
[ B L O G G I N G ]
04 Update at least 20 earlier blog posts
This has been a constant goal because I am really striving to update my blog. I’ve been doing 10 a month but with over 300 posts on this blog, I feel like I’m still not close enough to completion. Although I have updated so many, I just want it done now. So bumping this to 20.
05 Update 3 sections within my Tutorial List links
For those who don’t know, I split my tutorial articles into sections and am updating the links in each section. However I do this after I have updated the corresponding blog post. It just makes my life easier to do it this way.
So I am just going to update 3 sections this month. This should then tie in with the previous goal.
06 Set up guest posting schedule for 2019
We are rushing headlong towards 2019 and I need to get myself organised with next year’s guest post schedule. I already have some guest posters lined up, but I need to sort dates and get more guests! If you think you might be interested in being a guest, check out my guest post policy.
[ P E R S O N A L ]
07 Reading Challenge 50 (1 book)
I was actually tempted to pull this from my goals list. I have so little time right now for reading and am so behind. But then I managed two books last month and realised how much I had missed reading.
So I am going to plug on. I do NOT expect to manage my original reading challenge of 50 books. But I’m going to just keep on reading. You can see my progress on my Reading Challenge page where I list what I’ve been reading.
[ M A R K E T I N G ]
08 Do at least 10 online courses
With the change to my new schedule, I have managed to do many more courses. For those who don’t know I use Skillshare for my online courses. They are video courses that are broken down into sections, there are 1000s available, covering numerous topics.
If you might be interested in trying out some online courses, check out my post on learning with Skillshare and click the link at the end of the article for 2 free months of Premium Skillshare Membership.
09 Launch Newsletter
This one was on my list last month and I was SO close! So I’m really annoyed at my own failing. If the newsletter does not go live this month, then I have to scrap it! I can’t keep dragging this goal around without completing it.
10 Secret goal
Yes, I have a super secret goal! And no, it’s not publishing my novel (ha, I wish!). I am keeping this a secret and may reveal it if when my newsletter goes live.
It will be in the first official newsletter email 😀 See, even more incentive for me to actually sort my newsletter.
So what goal have you not yet completed?
~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~ ☆ ~
I have found it so helpful to create these monthly goals, and sharing them here on my blog has created a sense of accountability. I do recommend using goals, but a goal without a plan will often struggle to be completed.
So if you’re writing goals, remember to create a plan/process for how you are going to complete them. Make a list of steps that need to be done in order for the individual goal to be reached.
While I only show the goals here, the plans behind each one is a list that I follow, ticking off one by one.
Good luck with all of your goals and I will see you on Wednesday for a new guest post!
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Thanks for the link
Thanks for linking to my post 🙂 Glad you found it helpful
Best of luck reaching this months goals.
Thanks so much, Lorraine 🙂
Thanks for sharing your goals for September Ari – good luck with them all. I have been setting myself monthly goals this year but somehow never seem to complete them – your post is an inspiration
Hi Alison thanks for reading. Do you ain for completing them all? I like to aim for completing 3/4 of my goals that way if life gets in the way which it often does I am ok to let some things fall away. 😊
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I love a good plan. Sometimes planning for the plan is more fun than actually accomplishing anything on the list. But that is a close second. Good luck with your list!
Those are excellent goals! I love your layout, as it’s easy to follow. I may need to try something similar next month. Good luck with your goals this month!
Thanks so much for reading! 🙂 I did try and pull back on the goals this month as I have a habit of putting 12-15 goals to do. 😀
Best of luck with your goals!
Thank you kindly, Andrew 🙂
You’re welcome.
I wish I could get as organised as you! I can’t believe we’re in september and I’m so far behind where I wanted to be. Maybe I will set myself a goal list for the rest of the year.
Thanks Suzanne, I do feel like monthly goals have really helped, though trying to rein myself in and not “over schedule” too many goals is another good tip.
I do like using them to stay focused and I check them every week, making sure I schedule my days with tasks that connect specifically to the goals so I am always working towards them.
If you do decide to set those goals, I wish you all the best in achieving them!
Those are some great tips and I will keep them in mind, thank you!
Hi Ari,
No. No goals. Too many things I can’t control . . . and a lack of control over the ones I can control. 😉
I’m glad setting goals is helping you in both your writing and your personal life. ❤️
lol hey, whatever works best 🙂 I know some people who only make 5 year goals and others who prefer the odd New Years Resolution 🙂
I hope you are doing okay Pearl 🙂