“No, I don’t consciously set goals for each year,” my friend said. “I wouldn’t meet them and just end up feeling dejected and a failure.”

“But, how can you know you’ve reached a goal, if you don’t set one?”

Goals for weight loss/gain.

Goals for learning a new skill.

Goals for travel/education.

Goals for writing.

Here are my writing goals for last year, which may not seem quite so lofty. However, remembering that I needed to set aside time to be with my father in Memory Care, do my volunteering with Hospice, spend time in Bible Study, help my husband with renovation of a condo, and spend time with grandchildren, these are pretty realistic goals:

1. Write and publish one more book.
2. Attend one writing conference.
3. Attend monthly Christian Writers of the West meetings.
4. Take part in monthly critique groups (2).

Did I meet my goals? Absolutely.

And the only thing better than that is when one surpasses the goals they set.

In my case, I found that during the year, there was also time to take advantage of opportunities to write and publish a novella and five short stories, as well as take one online course.

These goals worked for me. 

No, I’m no Stephen King or Isaac Asimov. And certainly not a Mary Faulkner, who is known as the most prolific novelist at having written 904 books under six pen names.

But I am doing the best I can, meeting goals one-at-a-time. And learning to love life outside of writing, too!

I’m trying not to compare myself to my author-friend who wrote seven fiction books and battled Covid, herself, in 2020. She also helped home-school her grandchildren!

For sure, making goals helps one be productive and feel accomplished.

And that, after all, is the goal.