Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Setting New Goals--Skipping Resolutions...

...Or should it be, Skipping Resolutions--Setting New Goals?

I seem to have a problem with remembering this blog. I write hit and miss here and would like to 'hit' more than 'miss' this year. However I will resist making a resolution about writing a new blog X number of times per month. For me, making a resolution is the best way to fail.

What is it about resolutions that create an automatic failure for me? I'm not sure, but years of failing to make it through January without bombing out on each resolution has taught me to look at making one goal for the year.

This year my goal is to write 1000 words per day. I set the goal on December 6th--okay, so that was still in the year of 2011, however, why quibble? I set the goal and so far, 33,369 words later, in less than a month, I am have reached a halfway mark on completing another manuscript.
So my goal for this year is to write 1K a day and try a blog a month.

Wish me luck!

5 comments:

  1. I read an article recently about what Vietnam taught us about addiction and habits. A study traced Vietnam vets who identified as being addicted to heroine during the war. those who were detained in Vietnam until they were dry before coming home had a 95% rate of staying clean, whereas those who did their rehab after coming home were much more likely to backslide.

    Basically, we associate certain places with certain actions. When I sit down at my computer and open facebook, what is the first thing I do? after a cursory check of the stalker-feed, I go to CastleVille. Why? Do I love the game? No. Is it be best game ever and a completely worthy use of my time? No. Do I gain valuable life skills from it? No. The fact that I have opened my laptop is enough to trigger the urge to go to a silly game. I don't do it work, though, even though I have my laptop there, because the work place is a different trigger from the home space.

    In other words, the best way to stick to a resolution is to make a complete change of the environment, remove all the triggers of the old behavior, and completely replace it with the new. If I ever wanted to completely stop twirling my hair, I'd have to shave my head (and end my underlying anxiety about God-only-knows-what). To stop playing facebook games, I'd have to have my computer solely in my work space (it's only at home spaces that I procrastinate!) To practice my bagpipes more, I have to set an environmental trigger. It's really hard, but just think of real estate -- Location, Location, Location :-)

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  2. oh, btw, Good Luck, Mom! I'm Proud of you!! :-)

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  3. Keep going Nancy! I have a loathing for resolutions too but I think that's because I'm stubborn. May 2012 be your year xxx

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  4. Nancy - right there with you. I think writing 1000 words a day is manageable. That's what I've been doing for the last year and have managed without too many hiccups. Just think by the end of 2012 we'll have written 365,000 words! Wow!

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  5. All too often I make either unreasonable resolutions or set unmanageable goals. Keeping things manageable is the key. Another 4 days and my total word count is at: 40,169. Yes, that is more than 1k/day. I'm placing no upward limit on words and I'm not beating myself up if I don't quite reach 1K/d--but that is all about keeping things manageable.

    And Susan, wow--I never really looked that far ahead, at how many words we would reach, but of course, you are right!

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