Every year, I do an annual review for my creative work and my paying work, diving deep into what worked, what didn’t, and where I want to go in the year ahead.
Every year since the process began, I set the same big hairy creative goal: getting an agent.
Or as past me wrote, pretending I was completing the next year’s review and taking stock of what happened:
1. Wow, 2020 was an incredible year. I got an agent who sold my book and it’s moving into publication
2. I signed with an agent who secured me a 2 book deal. I am so excited to have meaningful work coming out. I grew my email list to 250+ subscribers, received $50K advance and continue to grow my platform so that readers who need my work will find me.
3. I had pitches accepted in my dream pubs, I continued querying, and my hard work paid off with a book deal.
Congrats to past me, we did it!
Now as I get ready to do my annual review and take a well-deserved rest, I get the chance to set a new big hairy goal for myself.
Setting my sights on getting an agent fueled my persistence, and it also taught me that some outcomes are beyond our control.
“Getting an agent” is a goal that depend on others’ decisions.
I could never control how an agent felt about my work. All I could control is how many queries I sent out, or the quality of my submission package.
I can’t control the *mysterious* submissions process. All I can control is what I do while I wait for that yes.
Knowing how much numbers matter to the industry, I focused hard on growing my platform numbers in terms of newsletter subscribers and page views and breezed past the Q3 goals I set for myself a month early.
When we shift our focus to what we can control, we are set free from the frustration that comes alongside chasing a goal we cannot fully control.
So as I turn my attention toward this year’s annual review, I’m thinking about what feels big, juicy exciting – and within my power.
For me, that looks like reframing things I want but can’t control into things fully within my power. It means taking an outcome that I want and working backwards to identify specific and measurable efforts.
Here are a few examples:
1. Want to get published by a major literary magazine? Your goal might be “Submit polished work to at least 3 literary magazines per month”
2. Instead of “Have a successful book launch,” your goal might be “build relationships with 10 booktubers in my genre per month”
3. Instead of “become TikTok famous” your goal might be to post daily to TikTok and interact with 5 other posts in your niche, which would, over time, help you become known to more people
4. Instead of “host a writing retreat/workshop” your goal might be to develop workshop proposals for conferences you admire and would love to speak at – or even just research the process and time frame for proposals, so you are prepared!
Reframed goals put the emphasis on actions you can take, rather than outcomes that depend on external factors. They provide clear, measurable targets that contribute to your larger aspirations while keeping you in control of your progress.
As we look ahead to the new year, I encourage you to examine your own goals. Are they within your control? If not, how can you reframe them?
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