Are you too serious or not serious enough? Goals. Goal setting!
Are you too serious or not serious enough?
So today's blog post is something I have been guided to write. It doesn't just apply to writing, it can apply to everything in your life so I have made some edits from what I originally had located in my head in order to properly express what I want to say!
There are many people out there who set goals and targets and get disappointed when they don't reach them but guess what they haven't done the work! If you are not serious enough in your craft and you don't have the passion for it, you can never succeed. You put what you get in, so for example if you set your goal and then you just forget about it, of course you are going to be disappointed. I am going to use a prime example.
There is somebody on my social media, we will name him Bob in this blog. Now Bob is an aspiring writer, however he says he is going to write and actually ends up commenting on various statuses across Facebook, commenting on their writing goals and not doing his own! Sound familiar? Then Bob misses deadlines, pulls out of creative projects and has yet to publish any work, indie or otherwise. So the question is how can we not be like Bob? No offence to Bob but that work ethic means we aren't going to get anything done.
How to not be like Bob:
1. Get off social media for a start, shut it all down including google so there is no temptation to browse the web!
2. Write down clear ideas and plans for what you will be writing about.
3. Be aware of the creative projects you are involved in and work on each one separately, if in the event you have committed to too much, cut out the ones you don't feel passionate about as the rest.
4. Take notes on what you feel about the work and how it can be improved.
5. Write, just write!
6. After writing- re-read what you have written and make edits if necessary. Check spelling, grammar and punctuation too!
So in the case of Bob, it's a case of not being serious enough! If you are really serious about wanting to achieve or do something then simply put, just do it. Don't waste time thinking about it, just do it. Outline your goals on notepaper and achieve them one by one, there is no need to have several projects going at once, although if that works for you then by all means go ahead and do it. I prefer to work on projects, ie books, one at a time. I don't like the idea of having a few things going on at once as it clutters my mind but that's just me!
Okay so now let's look at being too serious. So we are not Bob here. But we may be someone called Gary. Gary is very busy with writing projects but is a bit boastful and tears down others as he goes along. Leaving 1 star reviews, picking at everything including the cover design and if they have one word spelt out of place, oh gosh, Gary will notice it. Gary has several books out at a time and works on multiple projects. Gary may well be seen as a narcissist because of his attitude towards others who are not making the same progress as him, while we don't want to reprimand Gary for being successful, there are some things that are just not helpful so let's look at how not to be Gary.
How not to be Gary:
1. Only criticise someone's work if it can be helpful in their improvement. When making comments, think is this helpful criticism or am I just being an ass? If it's the latter, don't make the comment!
2. Do not leave a one star review unless you have read the book in order to have formed an opinion.
3. Do not pull down other people who are not at the same success level as you, it won't make you look good professionally, be quiet and keep those views to yourself unless you want to be seen as a bully or a narcissist.
4. Work on your own projects, concentrate on your own work.
5. If you really feel somebody's work needs addressing, try and do so in a kind, tactful way that gives them motivation to improve future works.
6. Continue being successful but remember where you started. Everyone starts at the bottom, remember that and be humble.
Further more, I am sure there are many Bob's and Gary's out there, I just want people to understand I am not criticising either. When it comes to setting goals, we are all different whether writers, doctors, scientists, athletes, you get the idea. You need to look at your own goals and work on them in the happy medium that suits you, I'm just giving you the perspective of the two types I have witnessed time and time again. I always feel that when working on goals, achievements that you must work alone and just get on with it, others can assist you and that's great but I strongly feel in order to achieve it, you must do the work yourself and just for you I am going to share how I personally work on goals.
How Isra works on goals:
1. Each goal must be outlined on it's own page, that's right, it's own page.
2. Research and think about how you will achieve that goal and what you may have to do to get there.
3. Any challenges or obstacles the goal may have, write those down and write down how you might be able to resolve them.
4. Think about you will feel after achieving that goal, ie happy, accomplished and write it down like you have achieved it already, so, I am so happy because... and fill in the blanks
5. Do what you need to do to achieve the goal, put the work in and get it done.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 for each goal.
And that's it my lovelies, until next time. Isra xxx
So today's blog post is something I have been guided to write. It doesn't just apply to writing, it can apply to everything in your life so I have made some edits from what I originally had located in my head in order to properly express what I want to say!
There are many people out there who set goals and targets and get disappointed when they don't reach them but guess what they haven't done the work! If you are not serious enough in your craft and you don't have the passion for it, you can never succeed. You put what you get in, so for example if you set your goal and then you just forget about it, of course you are going to be disappointed. I am going to use a prime example.
There is somebody on my social media, we will name him Bob in this blog. Now Bob is an aspiring writer, however he says he is going to write and actually ends up commenting on various statuses across Facebook, commenting on their writing goals and not doing his own! Sound familiar? Then Bob misses deadlines, pulls out of creative projects and has yet to publish any work, indie or otherwise. So the question is how can we not be like Bob? No offence to Bob but that work ethic means we aren't going to get anything done.
How to not be like Bob:
1. Get off social media for a start, shut it all down including google so there is no temptation to browse the web!
2. Write down clear ideas and plans for what you will be writing about.
3. Be aware of the creative projects you are involved in and work on each one separately, if in the event you have committed to too much, cut out the ones you don't feel passionate about as the rest.
4. Take notes on what you feel about the work and how it can be improved.
5. Write, just write!
6. After writing- re-read what you have written and make edits if necessary. Check spelling, grammar and punctuation too!
So in the case of Bob, it's a case of not being serious enough! If you are really serious about wanting to achieve or do something then simply put, just do it. Don't waste time thinking about it, just do it. Outline your goals on notepaper and achieve them one by one, there is no need to have several projects going at once, although if that works for you then by all means go ahead and do it. I prefer to work on projects, ie books, one at a time. I don't like the idea of having a few things going on at once as it clutters my mind but that's just me!
Okay so now let's look at being too serious. So we are not Bob here. But we may be someone called Gary. Gary is very busy with writing projects but is a bit boastful and tears down others as he goes along. Leaving 1 star reviews, picking at everything including the cover design and if they have one word spelt out of place, oh gosh, Gary will notice it. Gary has several books out at a time and works on multiple projects. Gary may well be seen as a narcissist because of his attitude towards others who are not making the same progress as him, while we don't want to reprimand Gary for being successful, there are some things that are just not helpful so let's look at how not to be Gary.
How not to be Gary:
1. Only criticise someone's work if it can be helpful in their improvement. When making comments, think is this helpful criticism or am I just being an ass? If it's the latter, don't make the comment!
2. Do not leave a one star review unless you have read the book in order to have formed an opinion.
3. Do not pull down other people who are not at the same success level as you, it won't make you look good professionally, be quiet and keep those views to yourself unless you want to be seen as a bully or a narcissist.
4. Work on your own projects, concentrate on your own work.
5. If you really feel somebody's work needs addressing, try and do so in a kind, tactful way that gives them motivation to improve future works.
6. Continue being successful but remember where you started. Everyone starts at the bottom, remember that and be humble.
Further more, I am sure there are many Bob's and Gary's out there, I just want people to understand I am not criticising either. When it comes to setting goals, we are all different whether writers, doctors, scientists, athletes, you get the idea. You need to look at your own goals and work on them in the happy medium that suits you, I'm just giving you the perspective of the two types I have witnessed time and time again. I always feel that when working on goals, achievements that you must work alone and just get on with it, others can assist you and that's great but I strongly feel in order to achieve it, you must do the work yourself and just for you I am going to share how I personally work on goals.
How Isra works on goals:
1. Each goal must be outlined on it's own page, that's right, it's own page.
2. Research and think about how you will achieve that goal and what you may have to do to get there.
3. Any challenges or obstacles the goal may have, write those down and write down how you might be able to resolve them.
4. Think about you will feel after achieving that goal, ie happy, accomplished and write it down like you have achieved it already, so, I am so happy because... and fill in the blanks
5. Do what you need to do to achieve the goal, put the work in and get it done.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 for each goal.
And that's it my lovelies, until next time. Isra xxx
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