Updated May 13, 2020.
The word “goal” just doesn’t mean what it used to.
For one thing, it’s practically synonymous with New Year’s Resolutions, which, statistically, 54 percent of people quit by June (source).
The word’s definition has gotten so wishy-washy that an acronym in a business paper from 1981 is now used to bolster mere and paltry “goals.” There, on the lips of every life coach and marketing team out there, as they seek to clarify what they do for their clients, is the term: SMART goals (source).
This may sound like a term straight out of an HR training video, but there’s a reason for its popularity. The ideal goal is, in fact:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable*
Results-Based
Time-Bound
* = The original acronym defined A as Assignable, but for personal goals, not ones being enacted by a team, Achievable makes more sense.
A SMART goal is the difference between saying, “I’d really love to write a novel” and saying, “By June 30 of this year, I’ll have the first draft of my 70,000-word novel written.”
But how will you achieve your goal? You still need a plan to get those 70,000 words onto paper, right? And what if your initial plan for achieving that goal doesn’t work?
This is where treating your goal like a science experiment comes in.
In a science experiment, researchers study controls (things that remain the same), as well as independent variables and dependent variables (causes and effects). By manipulating one independent variable in an otherwise controlled environment, a scientist can determine the impact it’s having on the overall study.
Similarly, you only want to make one big change at a time when it comes to meeting your personal writing goals. If you change too many aspects of your process to reach your goal, the best-case scenario is that you won’t know what worked for you and what didn’t.
The worst case? You’ll be overwhelmed by change and not accomplish the goal after all your hard work.
How does this apply to your writing?
There’s a lot of writing advice out there, including on this blog. You should certainly try those pieces of advice that appeal to you, but you should also know by now that there’s no wrong way to put words on the page and that not all advice fits all advice-seekers.
With that in mind, if an attempted strategy doesn’t lead to good results for you, try adapting it gradually before you discount it completely.
For instance, you may have heard that morning pages are a good way to cultivate a daily writing practice. The idea is that you get to write 750 words about anything first thing in the morning before launching into more goal-oriented writing.
I struggled with this for a long time. I wanted to journal and get my fleeting thoughts on paper first thing in the morning, but because I told myself I wasn’t a “morning person,” I wasn’t able to get up early enough to complete my morning pages and work on more pressing projects.
Finally, I reorganized my thoughts enough to wonder if I couldn’t push forward the time that I woke up. I did, setting my alarm clock earlier and earlier in fifteen-minute increments, until I finally did find the sweet spot between waking up at the crack of dawn and being a productive writer.
Dear reader, it’s called 6:45 a.m., and I’ve actually come to cherish the two hours I have alone with my coffee and my words each day.
If something still isn’t working for you, though, there’s no shame in it. Scrap it, shake it off, and try something else.
Remember, a good scientist always repeats their experiment and measures their outcome.
One way to track your methods toward achieving your goal is to use my 30 Days of Writing Challenge Planner. The planner has 30 customizable daily scheduling pages, with tracking at the top for both word count and writing time goals, as well as a prompt or motivational quote toward the bottom.
Writing is most definitely a process of trial and error. Don’t get discouraged if you’re in a time of “error.” Stick it out and see what you learn. This is how we all grow as writers (and people!), and I wish you the best when it comes to implementing these lessons and results in your writing life.