A Slave to THE Goal

In a previous post I explained how I’ve used setting a weekly word goal to motivate myself and provide structure to THE BIG GOAL of completing the first draft of my second novel this year.  I’ve been humming right along and have found that most weeks I exceed my goal which gives me a wonderful warm, fuzzy feeling.  Most important it’s proven to be a fantastic tool to subdue Editor Man, that pesky super hero that insists on editing as I write.  I’ve found his kryptonite.

When I set my weekly goal I forget one very important fact.  Some weeks I have other activities that render writing next to impossible.  For example, later this month we’re driving to Omaha to spend a week with our son, his wife and our 18 month old granddaughter.  I intend to devote myself that week exclusively to family and will give writing a rest.  The result will be that week I miss my writing goal by a country mile.

This past week having that realization sent me into a panic.  I didn’t sleep for two nights trying to figure out how to squeeze in more writing time before the Omaha trip.  Then I realized I’ve made other commitments and I’ll lose another three days in writing.  For the month, I won’t be able to write for eight days (that’s a quarter of the month!).

So much for my astute planning; this week I bore down for serious writing.  As my Dad used to say, I was in a tizzy.  This week I cranked out over 6700 words, three times my goal and 65% of my goal for the entire month.  At the close of Saturday’s writing session I realized I would attain my word goal for the month – I could relax.

I found myself a slave to the goal I had created.  That isn’t healthy.  The loss of sleep and emotional trauma was too heavy of a price.  I did learn that with enough effort I can be very productive.  In fact, I may have given myself to small of a weekly word goal.

Goals are great but you can’t let them own you.  I’ve learned my lesson.