New Year Planning Part II - Prepare Your Time, Your Space, and Your Mind for Success
Did you work on your overall writing goals for 2022 last week? Hopefully you’ve given it some thought, because this week we’re going to tackle what it will take to ensure sure you succeed. To do this, we’ll think about five areas:
Your schedule
Your physical space
Your mental space
Your support system
Your rewards
Area #1: Your Schedule
If you did the timeline, you have a rough idea of how long it will take you to accomplish your goals. Now it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty: write down when you will write each week in your calendar.
Putting it in your calendar like a regular appointment makes it much more likely you will honor your commitment. So be realistic. The best thing is to give a regular slot in your schedule. Every day from 6:00 am to 7:00 am. Saturdays from 8:00 am to noon. Monday through Thursday, 9:00-11:00 pm. Monday-Friday 12:00-1:00.
Whatever you can do, but make a commitment and keep it. When you don’t honor your commitment to yourself, you set yourself up to expect failure. It becomes easier and easier to let yourself down, and then beat yourself up about it. If you have to change the schedule after trying it out for a month, you can do that.
Area #2: Your Space
Do you have a dedicated writing space? Preferably there is a room you can go to and close the door, at least. Is the space neat, or cluttered? Is it spare, or does it have inspirational objects or artwork? Is the chair or seat comfortable? Think now about what you need to do your best work, and how you can optimize your space, even if it’s not your ideal. Make it as inviting as possible, so you actually want to spend time there every day.
Area #3: Your Mental Space
This is a huge one. How do you feel about your writing in general, right now? How do you feel about the project(s) you have planned for 2022? You might want to take a few minutes and write down your thoughts, your fears, your hopes, and even some affirmations.
I write with intention and I improve every day
I am capable of writing the book I have in my heart
I am committed to my writing practice, and I love that I get to write
I will not let fear rule my creative spirit
Find ones that work for you. In any case, commit to not letting fears and doubts grab a hold of your mind. You need your energy for the work!
Area #4: Your Support System
Who is going to support you in your writing in 2022? In what ways will they support you? Name everybody you can think of. Remember, although writing is a solitary activity, that doesn’t mean you have to do it in complete isolation. In fact, a strong support system will make it much more likely that you achieve your goals. You don't necessarily have to even tell them what your goals are.
A be careful to choose only those who really will support you. If your spouse doesn’t understand why you’re always off writing, or certain friends don’t get it (and ask helpful questions like, “James Patterson publishes 10 books year, why can’t you? It can’t be that hard.”) than don’t include them!
Or if they are fellow writers but they only love to wallow in misery over how hard writing is, or how hard to publish, waaaahhh… then maybe leave them off too. Fellow writers can be excellent supporters, but not if all they do is bring you down.
My boyfriend Hal is going to be my cheerleader, telling me how great I am no matter how much I think my work stinks.
My writing group will meet monthly and give lots of support for my efforts, and be a community of like-minded souls I can feel at home in.
My best friend Rita will be my accountability partner. Every day, we’ll text each other when we’ve finished our writing for the day.
I have a coach/teacher/editor who provides insightful, thoughtful critique designed to push my writing further.
I have a design team in place for my next indie-published book and they rock!
My agent is going to support me throughout the rewrite of my novel before we start shopping it around to editors.
My cat Millie will sit on my lap and purr, no matter how badly my writing is going that day.
Area #5: Your Rewards
We don’t often think of how we will reward ourselves for meeting our goals. We’re usually really good at beating ourselves up mentally when we don’t meet them, but not so good about treating ourselves when we do!
Think of some rewards, big and small, commensurate with your goals. It might be as small as having a square of really good chocolate when you’ve finished your day’s writing!
Or it might be:
Buying yourself a book if you meet your goals for the month (or heck, the week).
Taking yourself out to a really nice dinner when you finish the draft of your novel
Going on a trip when you sell or publish your book
What would motivate you? Only you can say, but make it something juicy, that you will enjoy working for. Also, of course, something attainable. If you’d like to go to Tahiti upon publication but your budget says San Francisco, maybe you have to go with that.
Don’t skip these steps! They will help keep you motivated by giving you a clear place to work, at a particular time, with a positive mental focus backed by the support of others (and the support of ourselves – what are rewards but ways to say, “I deserve to celebrate my wins!”).
As I often say, our energy flows where our attention and intention do. By taking the time to do the preparations suggested last week and this week, you will get that energy flowing and set yourself up for success in the new year.
