A New Approach to Goal Setting

by James M. Jackson

Over the years, I have tried many goal-setting processes. The traditional approach is to set your annual goals to start January 1. Instead of using January 1, I tried using my birthday as the start of a year’s goals. I even deliberately chose not to set annual goals. When I do set goals, I try to make them SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Rewarding, and Timely. See this blog for more details about SMART goals.[i]) From decades of experience, I have learned several important lessons about how I work with annual goals.

1. For me, setting goals works much better than not setting goals.

2. I have never managed to successfully complete all the annual goals I set (except when I didn’t set them).

3. Something always happens during the course of a 365-day year (or in this case, 366-day year) to cause my initial goals to no longer remain completely relevant.

Question: So, what is a poor boy to do?

Answer: Try something different.

This year, instead of setting annual goals, I will set quarterly goals. For my author business, I have four broad categories: Writing, Teaching, Sales and Marketing, and Business. Writing includes my creative process starting with creating the first draft and continuing through revisions and editing until the final version is complete. Teaching includes creating and delivering courses. Sales and Marketing encompasses everything relating to selling my creations. And Business includes the legal and financial aspects of my work.

For my personal side, I have two broad categories: Sharpening the saw and Miscellaneous. Sharpening the saw includes anything related to my physical or mental well-being. Miscellaneous covers anything else. For first quarter 2024, I have confined my sharpening-the-saw goals to three items: maintaining my weight at or under 162 pounds, reaching an exercise target related to running a half-marathon in May, and an education goal to become comfortable with dictation using Dragon.

What about my author goals, you ask?

The Business aspects are prosaic: send out required tax statements to others and complete my 2023 taxes, submit my nominations to various “best of” competitions.

Teaching goals also reflect known commitments. In the first quarter of 2024, I will teach one full course and begin teaching a second. I have two books I plan to reread this quarter to prepare for a third course that I teach late in 2024.

The Writing category has two major elements: complete all writing work necessary on Hijacked Legacy (Seamus McCree #8, which has a publication date of April 22, 2024), and revise a manuscript currently titled Niki Unleashed (Niki Undercover #2).

Marketing and Sales also includes two broad goals. The first relates to putting in place everything necessary for the April 22 launch of Hijacked Legacy. That includes creating blurbs, arranging guest blogs, a launch party, advanced reviews, and more. Soup to nuts, as my father was fond of saying. I have not completed work on the second goal. I know the first step, which is to create a marketing plan for the first quarter. That goal calls for me to complete that by January 15. Once complete, I’ll know what other goal(s) will make sense.

And there you have it. What approach are you taking for 2024 goals?

 * * * * *

James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree series. Full of mystery and suspense, these thrillers explore financial crimes, family relationships, and what happens when they mix. To learn more information about Jim and his books, check out his website, https://jamesmjackson.com. You can sign up for his newsletter (and get to read a free Seamus McCree short story).

 

 

---

[i] https://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/2017/01/making-your-goals-smart.html

Smart Goals, Sunk Costs, and Clean Slates

By James M. Jackson

Recently I felt like a modern-day Sisyphus.

All right, let me walk that statement back: I am not dead, not even sick. I have never been a king, let alone the founder of a kingdom—although I did create Wolf’s Echo Press, so maybe that counts. While smoke from Canadian fires is making the Upper Midwest air obnoxious, I am not in the underworld. The boulders that I pushed uphill didn’t always roll down; a few are resting safely on a plateau. Zeus isn’t punishing me for my hubris; I did too fine a job of that myself to require any gods to intervene.

Which brings me to S.M.A.R.T. goals. I’ve written blogs about them in the past (link here). I first learned about SMART goals in a corporate environment. There, the acronym stood for Specific, Measurable, Agreed (employee and management), Realistic, and Timely (with a deadline). As a self-employed individual, Agreed became Achievable and Realistic became Relevant.

At the beginning of the year, I set myself multiple SMART goals. And I made two huge mistakes.

Mistake One: Each individual goal was SMART. Combined, they were dumb because taken together they were not Achievable.

Mistake Two: I allowed Sunk Costs to drive my priorities.

Sunk costs are past investments that you cannot recover. For example, the hours of my time to write the first draft, the electricity bought to run the computer to record it, and the paper to print out the draft are all sunk costs. Without additional effort, I can’t convert the first draft into revenue. Therefore, I cannot recover those costs.

The problem with sunk costs is not that the money and time are gone. The issue is we have a psychological desire to recoup them. When examining which projects we should tackle, instead of evaluating future costs and future benefits, we allow our psyches to put a thumb on the scales of those projects with large sunk costs. When setting goals, our focus must remain on the results and what resources (time and money and others) we need to achieve it.

A hypothetical example comparing two projects may make this economic concept clear.

Project 1 is a novel: During 2022, you spent 500 hours creating a standalone novel and paid a developmental editor $1,000 to give you feedback. It will require another 500 hours and another $1,000 to bring it to publication. To make the situation uncomplicated, you have a buyer who will pay you $10,000 for total rights. One hitch: you have to turn in the manuscript by March 1.

Project 2 is work that pays you $25 per hour for 375 hours of your time. Again, you must complete your work by March 1.

You are equally excited by both projects. However, your significant other makes it clear that if you take on both contracts, they will divorce you. Lawyer fees alone will run $25,000, not to mention that after your divorce your ex- will have control over 50% of your copyrights on everything else you already published. And despite that threat, you are still in love. Doing both is not an option.

Which do you choose? Math says you pick Project 2. You earn $9,375 and work 375 hours. Project 1 nets you only $9,000 and requires 500 hours of time.

And yet, many of us will spend the extra 125 hours and give up $375 because we’ve already invested so much in Project 1.

When I structured my 2023 goals, I had a lot of sunk costs. And a lot of goals. And even though I accomplished a lot during the first six months of 2023, I felt like Sisyphus.

Realizing my mistakes led me to adopt a clean-slate approach toward setting SMART goals for the second half of the year. I noted the current state of each project solely to estimate what resources (time and money) I would need to complete it. I estimated its value to me. (That value recognized both monetary rewards and enjoyment.)

Then I prioritized, leaving ample room for underestimates and flexibility. I told my Sisyphean self to set aside all the boulders I would not work on in the next six months. I gave myself a glass of wine and an hour to grieve, and then I finished the wine as a toast to all the goals I had already met this year.

After completing that process, I’m looking forward to the rest of the year. What is your strategy when your enjoyment of work disappears?

* * * * *

James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree series. Full of mystery and suspense, these thrillers explore financial crimes, family relationships, and what happens when they mix. You can sign up for his newsletter and find more information about Jim and his books at https://jamesmjackson.com.

Making Endings for the New Year

 

In Western cultures, January 1 starts the annual calendar and with it come resolutions for the new year. We vow to lose ten pounds, exercise more, get organized, save more, quit smoking, learn Swahili, et cetera. I have nothing against goals. They can be helpful if used the right way, and five years ago I wrote a blog on Making Your Goals SMART. We can start a self-improvement project any day of the year. Today, however, I want to suggest that making good endings can be a critical step to our success.

Have you had the experience of trying to solve a problem and, seemingly out of nowhere, a solution appears, often long after you have actively been thinking about the problem? In college, I kept a notepad by my bed because I would wake up in the middle of the night knowing how to work a math problem that had stumped me the previous day or two. As an author, my recent experiences take the form of resolving a plot hole that had bothered me, or realizing I have a plot hole that I had not recognized. These sudden inspirations often occur while I am walking or listening to music.

Our minds are wired to work on open issues. Think of a computer that has programs open for Facebook, YouTube, a spreadsheet to collect receipts and expenses for your taxes, three incomplete short stories, a webpage providing information about how long it takes a body to decompose in Georgia clay, a to-do list with a few items checked off, a calendar reminding us that next week we have a colonoscopy scheduled for Tuesday at 9:20 a.m., and we need to pick up our child from soccer practice at four this afternoon, and our email program dings every time a new missive arrives. That’s a lot of stuff going on. The computer has algorithms to tell it how to allocate memory, CPU, space on the screen, and whether to access your printer remotely.

Our brains operate in a similar fashion with the positive result that our brainpower keeps working on problems we couldn’t solve. Often when we least expect it, an answer appears. They are not always great answers, but often they are spot on. Unfortunately, our brains aren’t good at prioritizing which problems to work on. Consider those times when you catch yourself thinking about the job you didn’t take seven years ago, the day Sally laughed because your clothes didn’t match, how embarrassed you felt in fourth grade when you snorted milk out your nose. We can’t change these past events. Although it may be useful to learn from past mistakes, dwelling on them at the expense of moving forward isn’t productive – and yet, if we allow them to remain open issues, our subconscious keeps offering opportunities for review. Example: two days after Sam crushed us with a negative one-liner, we think of the perfect response. Too late to use that response, but if we accept it as a fine solution to the problem, we can close that mental tab.

Sometimes we can catch ourselves wallowing in the mud hole of a past situation and issue a personal cease and desist order. This is the advice not to cry over spilt milk.

We can control a vast number of mind-tabs that opened with the best of intentions that we should put to bed. As part of preparing for 2021, I decided to end five writing projects that once excited me so they no longer suck up precious resources from more desirable projects.

Five writing projects I will end

1. Audio Books & Screen Plays: I will not create audio books for the Seamus McCree series. Closing that path means I don’t have to spend time or effort to compare (yet again) alternative financing methods and royalty splits, or find a narrator, or worry about whether Amazon is treating its vendors well. Nor will I follow several suggestions I have received to convert some of the Seamus McCree novels into screenplays.

2. Analysis Paralysis: For 2021, I will not reconsider whether I should maintain wide distribution for the Seamus McCree series or return to the Amazon-only universe with its access to Kindle Unlimited readers. Nor will I make comparisons to what happened in 2020 or 2019.

3. Dystopian Novels: I will put my idea for a dystopian YA series on hold and spend no more time world-building and sketching character arcs.

4. Class for Writers Using Microsoft Word: I know many writers could use a class to help them efficiently use Microsoft Word to prepare their drafts, manuscripts, and format their material for printed books. I enjoy teaching and could do a good job. But the time it will take me to collect material, prepare lessons, market, and deliver the course far exceeds the financial or psychological benefits I might obtain. I will turn down current requests.

5. Dealing with Psychic Bleeders: I call people who sap our positive energy with their negative energy “Psychic Bleeders.” Their techniques include “Woe is me” posts and emails, constant complaints about others, and refusal to do the most basic work themselves while looking for others to spoon-feed information. I’m giving up trying to help (some might say to save) psychic bleeders. I’ll politely refuse to engage with their antics.

The above list is not all-inclusive, nor (except for #5, I hope) am I precluded from resurrecting a project in the future.

Ending projects also holds for the non-writing parts of my life. I plan to give special emphasis to ignoring political Psychic Bleeders on whom I have spent inordinate energy this past year!

Does this idea resonate with you? What endings should you make to free up time and energy for the important things in your life? I look forward to your comments.

* * *

James M. Jackson authors the Seamus McCree series. Full of mystery and suspense, these thrillers explore financial crimes, family relationships, and what happens when they mix. Furthermore, a novella is the most recent addition to the series. You can sign up for his newsletter and find more information about Jim and his books at https://jamesmjackson.com.

Making Your Goals SMART

The beginning of a new year means for many the beginning of new goals. Gyms will be filled with people intent on getting into shape; weight-loss reduction programs will experience a spike in memberships; budgets will be crafted to curb “unneeded” spending and allow more savings for retirement or college or whatever. Flash forward three months and most of the goals are distant memories over which we feel guilty. Gym equipment languishes unused, some of the weight lost in January has returned by April; who knows how we’re doing against budget, but we don’t seem to be saving more.

Why Set Goals Anyway?

Each of us has our own reasons for setting goals, but in general goals provide structure to help modify behavior and improve chances of success. SMART goals make it more likely you can succeed in attaining your goal.

What are SMART goals?

SMART is an acronym to remind us how to construct goals:

S stands for Specific. The best goals are those formed with a specific outcome in mind. Let’s use weight loss for our example. Setting a goal to “lose weight” is less likely to encourage you to meet your objective, than is a goal to “lose 10 pounds,” which has specificity.

M stands for Measurable. Not only should a goal have specificity, it should be quantifiably measurable. A goal such as “lose enough weight until I look good in a bathing suit” may be what you want, but it is subjective. Further, it may have several components to it. Yes, losing weight may be necessary, but so too might be increasing muscle tone. We can measure pounds lost on a scale. We can measure muscles by number of pushups or how long we can hold the plank position.

A and R can have two different meanings depending on whether you are setting your own personal goal or whether a boss/parent/significant other is “helping” you set a goal. If the goal is personal, then A stands for Attainable and R stands for Rewarding. If your goal has a top-down element to it (as in someone else is top and you are down), A stands for Agreed and R stands for Realistic.

The combined meaning of these two letters assures the goal is something you agree is realistic, attainable, and provides some measure of reward. The reward can be anything from personal satisfaction to a corporate bonus, but it must be sufficient to make the challenge of attaining the goal worthwhile.

Your spouse telling you that you will lose 25 pounds in the next six months when you think 15 is more realistic means you have not agreed. Even if your spouse is correct that twenty-five pounds is realistic; this goal is not SMART. Similarly, if you set a goal of 25 pounds, which you would find rewarding, it might not be realistic if you haven’t weighed that since you were in high school—and that was thirty years ago!

T stands for Timely. The goal must have a timeframe attached to it. “I will lose 10 pounds” can meet the SMAR components, but when should this happen? Without a specific date, it is too easy to defer changes in your behavior until mañana—which never comes. Our SMART goal could be “I will lose 10 pounds by June 30, 2017.”

Helpful Tips on Succeeding with Your SMART Goals

We’ve developed our SMART goal of losing 10 pounds by June 30, 2017. Can we set any intermediate goals to help us stay on track and provide positive feedback along the way to achieving our main goal?

Well, of course we can! We don’t want to be in a position where we haven’t lost any weight for five and a half months and then we need to lose all the weight in two weeks. Even if we starved ourselves and dumped a bunch of water weight, we wouldn’t keep the weight off. That was not the original intention of what we meant by losing the weight.

Many goals require multiple steps to complete them. Each of those steps can be a separate goal. For example, anyone who has dieted knows losing the first pounds are the easiest. Our motivation is often high and simple changes can bring initial success. How about we set an interim goal to lose four pounds in January 2017? Specific—yes; Measurable—yes; Attainable—yes, we believe a pound a week is doable; Rewarding—you bet 40% of the way there; Time-specific—yep.

Nothing succeeds like success. You should reward yourself for attaining your interim goals. However, your reward shouldn’t be something that diminishes the likelihood of attaining your goal. So, treating yourself to a massage after losing the weight could work well. Splurging on a hot fudge sundae with all the trimmings—not so much.

Another reason to set intermediate goals is that they allow you to adjust your plan over time. You succeed with your January goal and lose the four pounds, but you felt hungry the whole month. Perhaps February’s goal is to lose one additional pound. Accomplishing this makes sure you don’t go backward, gets you closer to your goal, etc.

Visualize Success

Sports psychologists have studied the powerful effects of visualizing future success. In our weight loss example, what will change once you have lost the 10 pounds? Close your eyes and imagine how good it feels when that pair of pants you struggle to button no longer crimps your waist. Visualize each step of the process. Think of what it will feel like to slip them on—first one leg and then the other—pull the pants together to button them and the button slips into its hole without the necessity of you sucking in your gut. The zipper pulls up without any strain. The waistband has a little flex and doesn’t pinch.

Perhaps now you can wear a favorite blouse that has been a bit too tight. Mentally watch yourself in a mirror pulling on the blouse, buttoning each button, maybe decorating the outfit with a favorite necklace or lapel pin. Isn’t it great to be wearing that outfit again?

The more specific you can be about visualizing what your success looks like, the more power the effect on you.

What do you think, should SMART goals be in your future?

~ Jim