You’ve all heard the expression, right? They’re like armpits (or a different part of the anatomy) and they all stink.
Excuses!
We’ve all got ’em. I didn’t have time to write today because I have a full time job and then the dishes needed to be done and we had friends over, and and and… Can’t write, I have kids, I’ll do it tomorrow. The presentation’s tomorrow, I have to make sure the power point is perfect and then I’m tired from that so I’m going to watch TV.
Any of this sound familiar?
My brother’s visiting this week (goes home today 😦 and I’ve been mostly paying attention to him. Doesn’t leave a lot of time for writing. And I only get to see him maybe 4 weeks out of the whole year when one of us visits the other (usually me going home since I can see everyone then) so I don’t regret giving him that time. I regret not having more for him.
BUT, I’m behind on my writing. Not in general or in that wishy washy, I wanted to get this much done way, because that’s not a solid goal. I’m behind in my Nano.
Yeahhhhhhh, it’s all of day 4 and I’m behind. It’s kind of sad 🙂 I love Nano so much because it takes out the wishy washy. Instead of a general I’m going to make writing a priority mindset, it’s a specific goal. The best way to accomplish something is to set a specific goal because then you actually have something to shoot for.
This is the point of my little ramble. Nano helps you get around your excuses. It’s no longer allowed to say I’m busy today, I’ll write tomorrow, because you have even more words to get out tomorrow! You aren’t allowed to fall behind because you’ll never catch up.
Wait, that’s not encouraging to some people? Gets me off my ass 🙂 But you see my point. You no longer get to say you’ll do it tomorrow, because you have a specific goal for today. 1667 words, every day. Some days you get ahead, some days you get behind, but you always have that number in the back of your mind.
So if you do fall behind, you know you’ll do twice as much tomorrow.
There have been so many studies on setting goals, and how specific ones help you actually stick to them. Don’t say you’re going to work out more, say you’re going to walk 30 minutes a day and do 100 crunches and 20 pushups. Don’t say you’re going to learn how to cook, say you’re going to get a cookbook, try this recepie tonight and that one tomorrow night and so on.
With writing, don’t say you’re going to write more, say you’re going to write 1667 words a day. Once it’s set in stone, your excuses either go away or at least they get a lot stronger. And since you’re accountable to other people on Nano, it helps you stick to that goal any more.
Turns out peer pressure can be a good thing 🙂
So, please join me in getting off your ass and meeting your writing goal today. Doesn’t have to be in Nano, can be the goal you have for yourself everyday.
Just do it 🙂 Happy writing.
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