The infinite cycle of goal setting

So last week something awesome happened. I accomplished all my pre-publication goals way ahead of schedule.

While that's great news, it also means that I don't have any goals on my list for this book. And that's not a good thing.

When it comes to achieving our goals we need to take a minute to celebrate. I have a gift card to a restaurant that my husband and I received at Christmas that is sitting unused on top of my microwave. As soon as we are both in the same room, I'm planning to go out and enjoy a dinner I don't have to cook or clean up. Meeting our goals is a big deal and it's important that we reward ourselves for a job well done.

But then, it's time to get back to work. And that means new goals. Yep, goals are something a writer should never be without.

Because if we don't have goals, how will we know which tasks will get us where we want to go? Goals help provide us with direction and help clear the path when we aren't sure what we should be doing. There are so many busy action items that I could be doing. Should I hunt down guest post opportunities, run a promotion, write some press releases, target book stores? All of those are good ideas, but they won't all get you the same results. Setting a goal will help me focus on the activities that will push me toward my goal.

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure what my next goals for Rite of Rejection should be. I still have my big goals that are bigger picture career goals versus the three big book goals I set before release day. So, for me the next step is evaluating those goals and deciding how I want this book to fit into them.

Once I understand how Rite of Rejection, and my next projects, can help me achieve those goals, I'll be able to set realistic goals to do that. I've been so focused on hitting these publication goals, I've taken my eye off my other goals. Now that I have more breathing room room it's time to refocus and develop a game plan.

I get that all of this might sound like I'm strategizing a war in my living room. And in some ways I am a bit like a battle field general, directing all the moving pieces. The cavalry may not know why it's moving south when the enemy is to the west, but I can see that they need to reinforce the infantry.  The point being, we need to take a 3,000 foot view of our goals and make sure that are various efforts are working together instead of against each other.

So how are your goals for 2015 going so far? With the first quarter of the year almost over (great googly moogly, where did the time go), now is the perfect time to re-evaluate and refocus so we are putting our efforts toward the actions that get us where we want to go.

Talk to me about your goals? Did you have a special way to evaluate your progress? Are you changing or adding to your goals so far? How do you refocus when you fall short on a goal?