Goal Setting for the New Year Part 3

Goal Setting for the New Year (Part 3)

This is the third and last part of this series of posts.

In Part 1 and Part 2, I set the foundation for setting my goals. I like to think of them as building blocks on which I’ll anchor myself when the need arises — those times of self-doubt, indecision, fear, procrastination, writer’s block, and all other things that would make me lose sight of my goals.

I needed the foundation to make me more focused and determined to outline what I want to accomplish in another year of writing.

And you know what? It worked! At least, for me.

You can see it in the images I am sharing below, by the way I planned the things I will do every week of every month.

And how I should track myself to make sure I will achieve my goals.

Which brings me to additional tools for planning.

Goal Setting using Year in a Glance and the Kanban Board

In my The Essential Author Planner, I included two Years-in-a-Glance: one in the first pages for the current year, and in the last page, for the next year to come.

Year-in-a Glance to me is a most helpful and visual way to keep oneself focused. In one look, you’d see what’s to be done in a stretch of one year.

For myself, I made a special version of Year-in-a-Glance which divided the year into three months instead of four. I also divided each month into five weeks by using lines, because, my myopic eyes need them

Aside from the Year-in-a-Glance, I also made my own Kanban Board. Kanban, which originated in Japan, literally means sign (Kan) board (Ban), and was a system utilized by Toyota for many years. The KanBan Board is simple, concise and, again, clearly gives a visual summary in just one look.

My version of KanBan Board is for a week’s track of what to do, what’s still in progress, and what has been done.

Goal Setting: Last Words

In determining my goals, I am lucky to be guided by fellow indie writers who are now successful best-selling authors.

I’d like to quote the words of an esteemed indie author, Shawn Inmon, which he shared in our writers’ group: It’s best to set goals that you can control.

He explains that a writer cannot control how much sales he or she will make in a year.

But, Shawn Inmon wisely says, “I can control how many words I write, how many books I publish, and how good the covers and blurbs are for those books.”

He believes that “if I meet those goals, those other things, like sales and income, will follow.”

I’m a believer now, too.