Goals Are Great

So, I tend to work harder when I'm reaching toward a goal. I went back to college - a second time - to get my teaching degree. That took about 6 years. When I took up running about 10 years ago, I signed up to run a marathon (26.2 miles). It was a life-changing event. I tend to set goals all the time. I'm not so strict that I can't change them, though. We can only do so much. My goal was to finish the race before the 8.5 hour time limit. And I did, barely. Needless to say, I didn't really run very much. My average speed was actually about 3.1 mph, a slow walk. But I did it! Two years later, my second marathon was 2 hours faster at about 6.5 hours! Last year, I ran a 10K (6.2 miles) about 2 minutes faster than my goal time.

With writing, my goal is to be published before I turn 40. So I have about 6 years. I think my life works in 6's. My daily goal is to work on SOMETHING related to writing every day. I don't get torn up if I don't actually write something new each day. I do research for topics and book ideas. I study picture books for craft and enjoyment. I write my occasional blog posts. I read other writing blogs. I critique others' writing. I revise my own wips (works-in-progress).

My goal for this week of Spring Break is to get a book proposal typed up. I've written most of it in my notebook, but it really needs to be typed. I've been procrastinating. Instead, I'll revise my rhyming book, or write a blog post, or read, or work on a new story. Oh, yeah, and I'm preparing my lesson plan for my upcoming author's visit. But I WILL get this proposal typed up. And now that I've broadcasted it to the world, it better be soon, right?

What writing goal do you keep procrastinating?