{"id":10709,"date":"2012-06-23T00:00:58","date_gmt":"2012-06-23T08:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=10709"},"modified":"2013-09-19T07:53:40","modified_gmt":"2013-09-19T15:53:40","slug":"unleash-the-power-of-weekly-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/unleash-the-power-of-weekly-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Unleash the Power of Weekly Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/a><\/p>\n

How Not to Write a Novel<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Anthony Trollope, a Victorian novelist– and one of the most prolific writers of all time– had a special way of structuring his week. \u00a0He wrote approximately 50 novels in his life, yet he spent only a fraction of the time writing that most of us spend working every week. \u00a0In addition to writing three times as many novels as Charles Dickens, he held down a full-time job and still managed to get out fox hunting every few days.<\/p>\n

And yes<\/em>, Trollope was married with kids.<\/p>\n

I’m not going to tell you how he did all of this quite yet. \u00a0Instead, let’s pretend that you’re writing a novel– we’ll come back to Trollope in a minute. \u00a0So obviously, you want to break down your goal into smaller parts than “write a 50,000-word story”. \u00a0How would you do this?
\nLet’s say you decide to go with a daily goal of writing 10 pages. \u00a0That’s pretty tough! \u00a0But let’s say you stick with it for now. \u00a0So you mark “Write 10 pages” at the top of today’s to-do list.
\nMonday you write 10 pages. \u00a0Tuesday you write 10 pages. \u00a0Wednesday, something came up with your family, so you didn’t write any<\/em>. \u00a0Now what do you do? \u00a0Writing 20 pages on Thursday would be pretty dang tough, so 10 pages it is again.
\n“Write 10 pages” is your goal for every day, day in and day out. \u00a0Doesn’t matter if you have other obligations. \u00a0Doesn’t matter if you accomplished 10 pages yesterday or the day before– the to-do list says you’re doing them today.<\/p>\n

Well this<\/em> will be fun…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now how motivating does that sound? \u00a0Approximately zero, right? \u00a0It’s drudgery, and writing a novel shouldn’t be (all) drudgery– we’re talking about creating an unrivaled amount of artistic expression! \u00a0So how can you fix your schedule?
\nOne trick is to view your output in pages per week, not pages per day. \u00a0Let’s say you shoot for 40 pages, which is pretty manageable. \u00a0You want 10 pages per day, 4 days per week. \u00a0The other days are for relaxing, recharging, and taking care of other commitments. \u00a0Let’s see how that goes.
\nSunday, 10 pages. \u00a0Good. \u00a0Monday, 10 pages. \u00a0You’re halfway to your goal, and the week’s just begun! \u00a0Tuesday and Wednesday, nothing. \u00a0You did other things. \u00a0But see, you go into Thursday and Friday knowing you need those pages– you want your weekend after all. \u00a0And you nail it. \u00a0The week’s over and you’ve written 40 pages on the great American novel of the 21st century. \u00a0Take Saturday off!
\nBy the way, that’s how Anthony Trollope wrote 49 novels in 35 years. \u00a0Ten pages a day; 4 days a week.<\/p>\n

Bozo buckets = way better than flowchart of drudgery<\/strong><\/p>\n

Introducing: Weekly Goals<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Every day compiling a to-do list, only to see half of it slide over to the next day and again to the next\u2026 that strikes me as a poor way to live. \u00a0Your day’s structure is about the things you failed to do yesterday. \u00a0Same sheet of paper, same dreary responsibilities.
\nDon’t let daily to-do lists be the upper bound of your planning. \u00a0Instead, try creating weekly goals.<\/p>\n

A weekly to-do list works a little bit like a daily one. \u00a0There are some tasks on it, and you cross them out when you complete them. \u00a0So what’s the difference here?<\/p>\n

It all boils down to what you can get done in a week versus a day. \u00a0A week is for bigger thinking. \u00a0Broader goals and plans. \u00a0And you find those by looking at two things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Your biggest goals in life<\/em><\/li>\n
  2. Your relationships<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Now I’m not going to cover making your life goals too much here (see this article<\/span> for ideas– full disclosure, I wrote it). \u00a0But here are a few questions you can ask yourself to make sure you have a good idea of your goals and some sample answers.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    What do you want to create? <\/strong>\u00a0A poem. \u00a0A painting. \u00a0House. \u00a0Family. \u00a0Business. \u00a0Family business. \u00a0Bar. \u00a0Restaurant. \u00a0Non-profit. \u00a0Novel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Where do you want to go? \u00a0<\/strong>India. \u00a0Mexico. \u00a0A Rolling Stones concert. \u00a0The running of the bulls. \u00a0New York City. \u00a0Abroad, alone. \u00a0Every MLB stadium.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Who do you want to be? \u00a0<\/strong>A mother. \u00a0A father. \u00a0A grandparent. \u00a0Loved. \u00a0A good friend. \u00a0Tattooed. \u00a0A saint. \u00a0A Saint. \u00a0Amateur genealogist. \u00a0CEO. \u00a0Oenophile. \u00a0Someone\u2019s hero. \u00a0Mayor. \u00a0Your own boss.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    What do you want to accomplish? \u00a0<\/strong>A marathon. \u00a0NaNoWriMo. \u00a0Grad school. \u00a0Mt. Kilimanjaro. \u00a0The Great American Roadtrip. \u00a0Swim in the Mediterranean. \u00a0Run up the Eiffel Tower. \u00a0Be a film extra. \u00a0Shake Obama\u2019s hand.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    What do you want to learn? \u00a0<\/strong>Arabic. \u00a0The constellations. \u00a0Countries of the world. \u00a0Something new every day. \u00a0Muay Thai. \u00a0Thai. \u00a0Thai cooking. \u00a0Ruby on rails. \u00a0Patience.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    What do you want to quit? \u00a0<\/strong>Smoking. \u00a0Drugs. \u00a0Drinking. \u00a0An eating disorder. \u00a0Processed sugar. \u00a0Your boring home state. \u00a0Nail-biting. \u00a0Shyness. \u00a0Self-doubt. \u00a0Soda. \u00a0Procrastination.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The important part now is scaling those down to chunks that can be completed in a week’s time. \u00a0People could do this all sorts of ways, but here’s what’s worked for me:<\/p>\n