In Ask Coach Tony, you can put my Operation Melt coaching to the test by asking me questions about how to achieve your goals.
Because a question asked by one is often a question had by many, I am regularly sharing these answers via the Operation Melt blog.
Are you ready for a dad joke? I offer you this "dad joke" as a light "amuse-bouche" to entertain your mind before we get serious. My dad joke may be groan-worthy, but it's worth every penny you paid for it, right? Have you notice that there are Pop-Tarts but no Mom-tarts? Do you think this is because of the pastryarchy?
4 Proven Strategies for Achieving Your Writing Goals
Coach Tony: I have a major goal in 2024 – I’m going to write my first book. I know my topic and have a general structure in mind, and I am trying to follow Gretchen Rubin’s “Write 24 in 24” challenge to write at least 24 minutes per day. Unfortunately, I am not doing so great with it. Sometimes, my day gets away from me, and I realize that I haven’t written anything yet, so I rush through it at bedtime, resulting in poor-quality work and lousy sleep. Other times, I sit down at my desk to write, and my creative energy disappears. Do you have any ideas for how I could get back on track?
Let me start by saying congratulations on taking such a big plunge and committing to writing a book. If your experience is anything like mine, letting a story that is inside you out onto paper is tremendously rewarding. When you see your book available for sale and find out that people are reading it, you’ll feel very proud of your efforts.
I am so excited for you to finish your first book!
I’ll also tell you that I also struggled with getting into an effective writing routine and cadence. I either let my days slip away or spent too much time writing and let other responsibilities slip. Many people struggle to maintain the ideal balance with their various life responsibilities and goals.
I will share a few strategies that have worked well for me and others when pursuing their goals, including writing a book.
Start on the right foot
Before getting into specific strategies and tactics for balancing your time, I want to address how to start your journey on the right foot. When you start strong, it becomes harder to deprioritize your goal in favor of other activities. You keep focus on your priorities.
Starting on the right foot means having a well-crafted SMART goal with a strong, emotional why.
Download my free Goal Success Quick Start Guide eBook and follow my ABCD goal-setting process to create a SMART goal to help you start on the right foot.
Do it in prime time
Another strategy to help you get on track with writing your masterpiece involves choosing the best time to do the work. You have to find your “prime time” to do your writing.
As I explained in Prime Time, “Each one of us has a ‘prime time’ for our brains. Prime time is when our brains are at their best. This usually means the time when we are most focused and can produce our highest quality work. Both the ‘work’ and the particular time vary for each one of us. It is also possible that you may have multiple prime times for different types of work, but this is less frequent.”
If writing your book is your highest priority goal, you should try to reserve your “prime time” for working on your book. You’ll find it will require less effort, and the results will be better than trying to force writing into another time where it doesn’t fit as well.
Prime time is a precious resource, so we must use it wisely.
Make an appointment
How do you ensure you can reserve your “prime time” for writing and not have something else commandeer it? Just follow the same approach you use for any other meeting or activity… schedule an appointment.
Once you determine what “prime time” is for your writing, schedule that time on your calendar. Do this on your personal calendar for sure. But also schedule the time on your work calendar so people see you are busy. It is probably best to set this activity to “private” so as not to prompt unwanted questions.
Your goal is just as important (or more) than all your other responsibilities, so schedule an appointment with yourself to do the work. Try to always keep your appointment instead of putting yourself last… remember your why.
Move your butt
The final strategy I’ll share that’s helped me when writing is one of my favorites. It has to do with what chair you put your butt in.
I spend all day working a heavily left-brained job while sitting at my desk. I have video meetings, work on spreadsheets, adjust project plans and focus on many other logical tasks with my butt in my chair. This often means it is more difficult to tap into my creative energy in that chair.
To make the best use of my creative energy for writing, I need to move my butt to a different seat.
Moving from my desk chair to my comfy recliner usually helps unlock my creativity. But the best unlock for my creativity comes when I grab my laptop and earbuds and walk to a nearby coffee shop. While immersed in the hustle and bustle of a busy shop, the words flow from my brain onto the page. I have written four books and more than five hundred blog posts; almost none of this writing was done at my desk, and a significant portion was at the coffee shop (and sometimes at a bar).
Try moving your butt to a variety of new seats and find the ones that best help you tap into your creativity.
Committing to writing a book is a big deal, and I commend you for doing so. While it’s not always easy, seeing your creation come to life is very rewarding. If you want to make the process a little easier, try these four strategies:
- Start on the right foot
- Do it in prime time
- Make an appointment
- Move your butt
If you’d like a little more personalized support or an accountability partner, you may want to consider coaching. I am a certified Master Life Coach and a multi-published author, and I would be happy to help you stay on track with your masterpiece. You don’t even have to include my name on your acknowledgments page.
I believe in you; let me help YOU believe in you!
Meet Coach Tony
My name is Coach Tony, and I am a coach, author and project manager on a mission. I am working to build a world where no goal ever dies of loneliness.
I almost allowed one of my biggest life goals to die without ever being attempted for forty years. My goal almost died, not of failure but of loneliness. But, I took a risk and leveraged a simple, logical process that helped me wildly exceed my goal.
I transformed my life, and you can do the same with the help of Operation Melt.
Operation Melt provides engaging, practical content and hands-on coaching to inspire, motivate and equip project managers and other left-brained high-achievers to pursue and accomplish their biggest goals.
Breathe new life into your goals
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