I’m on author, speaker, and business school professor David Burkas’ mailing list.
Burkas opened his first email of the New Year with the following sentence:
“I’m not setting any goals for 2019.”
It’s a bold statement, especially for someone like Burkas, a non-fiction author in the information sharing and teaching realm.
Burkas’ email went on to explain the gap between intention and actions, the goal-gradient hypothesis, and other theories about why humans so often fail to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. (You can read the full piece in article format here.)
Ultimately, however, Burkas concludes with an observation about the simple value of showing up:
“I’m not going to worry about hitting a certain goal or not hitting one. Because I know that showing up is the hardest part AND I know that if I show up, I’m much more likely to succeed.”
As someone who works with writers as a writing coach, the entire email – and Burkas conclusion about showing up in particular – resonated with me intensely.
Every day, I see writer’s setting incredible goals for themselves:
- They want to make enough money from book sales to be able to quit their day jobs and write full time.
- They want to write a nine book series.
- The want to see their novels turned into a Hollywood Blockbusters.
- They want to be the next J.K. Rowling.
- They want to hit number one on the New York Times best seller list.
- They want to be respected by their peers and adored by fans.
- They want to see their books translated into other languages and sold around the world.
- They want their writing to transform the lives of readers.
These are wonderful goals to pursue. If you have similar goals, I encourage you to go after them with all your heart.
Goals are important. They set our intentions and focus our energy towards achieving specific aims. But goals are also the easy part. As Burkas so clearly identified, the hard part is showing up.
You’re probably getting a slew of emails this week about your writing, business, and/or personal goals for 2019. “How much do you want to weigh?” “How much money do you want to make?” “How many books do you want to sell?” These questions are all fine and good; identifying goals is the first step to getting to where you want to go.
The more important question, however, is the one Burkas leaves his readers with, “How are you planning to show up in 2019?”
More specifically:
What systems, accountability structures, and schedules are you going to put in place to ensure you get the writing done that you want to get done?
You need to develop and implement that plan now, because anyone can dream about what it would be like to be Stephen King, but very few people have the discipline to show up and do the work like he does.
Speaking of Stephen King, one of my favourite quotes of his goes something like this:
“I once told a journalist I write every day of the year, except Christmas Day. But, of course, I was lying. I write Christmas day too.”
That’s how you build a career like King or Rowling or Burkas. You show up and you do the writing.
Would you like some help putting together your plan and then sticking to it? Book a free consultation call with me today and we can discuss how I can help make sure you don’t just set goals for 2019, but consistently show up so that you can achieve them.
—
Grab your FREE copy of Novel Advice: Motivation, Inspiration, and Creative Writing Tips for Aspiring Authors by acclaimed writing coach Kevin T. Johns. Click the image below now:
