Since I posted my goals yesterday, today I thought I’d share with you some of the things I do to try and keep myself motivated to meet those goals.
1. Not give up when the going gets tough. I can be such a wimp at times. Time for me to grow a backbone!
2. Get my hubby to give me a kick now and again. He’s very good at this and helps me more than I can tell you.
3. Use my friends for support. You know I love you all. 
4. Look at each day as a fresh start. It doesn’t matter what happened yesterday, today I can change things.
5. Have my kids motivate me. My kids are fantastic for this. It also helps to play with them or just sit and watch TV.
6. Revisit my goals. It’s easy to get down on yourself. I like to check in to see how I’m actually doing with my goals.
7. Exercise to regain my focus. I always feel a hundred times better when I exercise. It helps me focus and that helps my writing.
8. Get lots of sleep. I’m up early and stay up late. This does eventually catch up to me.
9. Know when to walk away. If I’m getting frustrated, I need to clue in and know when to let something sit for a while.
10. Take breaks. I don’t do this enough.
11. Adjust goals if necessary. Sometimes I set lofty goals and don’t realize just how lofty they are. I need to adjust them and not try to kill myself meeting them.
12. Accept small victories. So I didn’t write 1500 this morning. I got up and wote 500. That’s still more than I had.
13. Cut myself some slack. I’m my own worst critic. I need to just chill out sometimes.
So what are some of the things you do?
I’m all about #8. If I just got a little more sleep, I’m sure I could take on the world — but I walk around half comatose most of the time. My kids (horrible sleepers) are partly to blame, but I just can’t seem to get into bed before midnight!
Good luck with all those goals!!
I love how many of our writerly goals are similar, no matter the person–write more, be gentler on ourselves, find an hour here and there for personal stuff, maybe fit in a little exercise. Good luck with yours!
I did my goals on New Year’s Day, but Unusual Historicals has a 13 up about gay slang
This is a great list. I posted my thirteen resolutions. I think I should paste this right beside me to remind me how to stay on track.
Happy New Years!
Nice 13! Come on over and check out my delicious 13! If you are on a diet, I’m sorry, I am on the weight watchers diet, but I couldn’t resist this post!
Love your T13!
Those are very good ideas to stay motivated.
I have to write a deadline–sometimes one I made up–on the calendar then evenly divide the work over the time available before then. Breaking it down into smaller parts is the only way I avoid being paralyzed by too much to do. Endless piles of other peoples’ mess makes me anxious. As a wife and Mommy that’s something I just gotta cope with.
Good list!
Great goals, Christine. I think exercise and getting enough sleep help enormously. I’m also with you on the being too hard on myself. I try to remind myself that everyone has a slightly different journey to success. Sometimes, that helps. Okay, no that was a big, fat lie. It doesn’t help, but it is true
Throwing more support your way! And #13 is something I really have a problem with myself now that you pointed it out, so I am seriously going to work on that myself!
Happy TT.
Mine is finally up.
Yes you are your own worst critic. The things you tell me are bad, are not, proof by the email I just sent you.
#4 is my favorite tactic. No matter how badly I’ve fallen short of my goals, tomorrow is another day. Me and Scarlett O’Hara.
Happy 2008!
Great list. My TT this week is my list of goals for the year. We can cheer each other on. Yay!
way way way too much talk of goals and optimism here today. Much more fun to be in someplace where work just sucks, so much easier at least
That sleeping one is my favorite.. lol