February 13, 2024-I get a lot of emails that ask the same question, “How long will it take for…” fill in the blank with *to become a best seller *to make money from my book *to get interviews on the news or on podcasts *for influencers/collaborators/joint ventures/organizations to want to partner with me, etc. The list of questions may go on and on, but my answer is always the same, “It depends on you.” I’m not saying that things don’t take time or that you don’t need to be patient, but I AM saying the harder you work, the “luckier” you get. With clarity, focus, and persistence, you can achieve anything. And I know what you’re going to say, *There are only so many hours in a day, *I’ve already tried that, * Life keeps getting in the way of my writing goals. *Finding time to focus on my writing is a constant struggle. *The publishing industry is so competitive, and it feels like my chances of success are slim. *It’s hard to stand out and get noticed among all the other aspiring authors. etc.
All of the above responses are true, but guess what? There are people that reach their goals (whatever they may be) and overcome obstacles every minute of the day to achieve their dreams. And you can too! At the beginning of the year, I sat down and examined my own goals and what I will achieve over the course of the next 12 months. Then I looked at how much time I have each day and with those hours, I focused on one goal at a time until I achieved it (you can do this too or you can set a time limit of two weeks, 1 month, 6 months, a year etc.) and then I move onto the next thing. I don’t move onto the next item on my list until I’ve exhausted every option and have taken massive action to make the goal a reality. For example, I wanted to learn a very specific skill, so I signed up for classes, courses, practiced at the range for at least a couple of hours each day, read books, watched videos, worked on my stance, learned safety, learned how to use specific components, and I talked to experts in the field and asked for advice and recommendations. I’m not an expert by any means, but I reached that goal that I set for myself so far. My goals are both personal and professional and I’ve used this specific method for both:
- Be clear. The old saying is, “You can’t hit a target that you can’t see” and it’s true. If you don’t know what you want, how are you ever going to get it? Write down the goals you will achieve today, this week, this month, and this year. Time is like a vacuum and however long you give yourself is what you’ll use. E.g., if you give yourself 1 week to get organized, you’ll take one week to do it. If you give yourself 3 hours, that’s how long it will take. You get the point. Be realistic-don’t give yourself too much, or too little time!
- Figure out how much time you have each day. Write down how many hours you work, how many hours you sleep, all of the activities that take up your time and how much time they take! E.g., Work is 8 hours, sleep is 8 hours that’s 16 hours out of 24 leaving you with 8 hours left. Even if you can only devote 15 minutes to your writing/marketing goals, do it! It will be worth it and the point is to keep moving forward each day. A little consistent progress adds up to a lot!
- Focus on one thing at a time. Too many things at once can be really overwhelming, so by focusing on one goal at a time, you’ll fare much better. We all know that multi-tasking is extremely inefficient and just prolongs the process. Picture this, you answer an email, then you do some edits, then you work on another project, then you work on marketing and then you go back to emails…not very productive as now you have a whole bunch of loose ends to deal with. E.g., if you have 15 minutes to spare during your day choose one goal to chip away at, for example, you want to finish writing the first chapter of your novel.
- Remember this. I struggle with this part a lot—when things don’t go to plan, stay calm and begin again. Sometimes there are so many delays, demands on your time, and unexpected things and people that can derail your day. Often, there’s nothing we can do about it except go with the flow, and I know that’s hard to do, especially when you have so much that you want to accomplish. Each day, each hour, each minute is a new opportunity to readjust yourself and get back on track to achieving your goals. But no matter what, promise yourself that you won’t give up. Keep going! You owe it to yourself to reach your dreams.
Write down your goals, find out how much time per day you have to achieve them, focus on one goal at a time and chip away at it, and most importantly, don’t give up. Do this each day for a year and watch your life transform in to what you want it to be! Here’s a template you can use to help you organize your goals:
