Goal-Setting
by Lee Masterson

There is no passion to be found playing small - in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living - Nelson Mandela.

Isn't that a truly inspiring saying?

I don't usually use Fiction Factor as a personal forum - after all, there's nothing more boring than reading a personal aggrandizement-session in a newsletter when all you want to do is learn. So we try to keep our personal information to a bare minimum. But this issue is so close to New Year that goals become a major focus of many people. Have you even thought about your New Year's resolution and your goals for 2008 yet?

With that in mind, I thought I'd give you a little insight into how I use goal-setting to reach out and grab those things that are important to me.

My whole life I've always gone out on a limb and really reached out for what I want. I aim big and I work hard to achieve my goals. Not just with my writing, but with everything I do.

So what happens if I don't reach a particular goal? Does that make me a failure? Does it mean I should quit and do something else? Or should I look back and say "Gee, I didn't quite make that really big goal, but I came close! And look how much I learned and achieved in the process of reaching all of the other ones on the way!"?

I know which option I usually choose. I'd prefer to look back and be proud of what I did achieve and how far I've come. I weigh up the mistakes I made and the successes I experienced and use these lessons to help me shape and develop my plans for the coming year.

My mom always said "If you grab every opportunity that comes your way, you can never look back and say "I wish I had..." with regret because you'll always be able to say "When I did..." with fondness instead." Sometimes I think mom was pretty wise.

At the beginning of each new year I create a new list of goals I want to achieve during the coming year. Some of these goals involve expanding and growing my own personal writing portfolio. Some include Fiction Factor's growth and continuity. Other major goals for me include my 'other' business and its growth and expansion and success in my personal investments.

More goals include relationships, friends & family, travel, and personal aims. That also means making sure I'm surrounding myself with people who are good for me - happy, positive, generous, inspired, like-minded people with whom I can relate. Positivity goes hand in hand with happiness. Life's simply too short to be upset or side-tracked by the negative, small-minded, nasty types. So I added this requirement to my 2007 goals and stuck firm to my choices. I'm truly glad I did. It worked a treat!

I write down all my preferred aims and hang the list on the pin-board above my desk. I read it often, then make sure I'm always taking small but positive steps towards making those goals into a reality.

One of my favorite goals for every year is to see just how much I can give back to 'the community'. I thought about the communities I'm a part of and considered what I could do to give something back to each of them as a form of thanks. I try to make sure Fiction Factor subscribers are geting relevant, pertinent writing information and as many resources as we can find that will help their writing careers. My company raises money and donates blankets and food to the animal shelter (RSPCA) here in Adelaide. This Christmas, Fiction Factor donated 420 books to the Woodcroft library and a further 370 books to the Flinders Hospital patient's library. My 'other' business donated 1,000 budgeting and mortgage reduction tips CDs to valued clients to help them break the debt cycle.

December is the month where I review the past 12 months of my life and my career and see just how close I came to meeting the goals I set. Looking back on this past 12 months, I'm extremely pleased with just how much I managed to squeeze into such a short space! My writing career has never been stronger. Fiction Factor is moving from strength to strength, with much-welcomed support coming from the most unexpected places. We've needed to hire new staff to keep up with my 'other' business and my friends and family are a constant blessing. I wouldn't be without any of them for a moment - that is, now I've got all the 'right' ones around me. ;)

We're drawing close to the end of the year now. This means it's time to create a brand new list of goals to work towards for the coming New Year. For 2008 I plan to push my boundaries even further out of my 'comfort-zone' than ever before - and let me tell you, 2007 saw me breaking boundaries harder than I've ever dared to push before! The results are amazing! I'll be doing that again - not just because I achieved things, but because it was actually kind of fun.

Have you created a list of goals for your own writing over the next 12 months? What about a list of goals for you personally? What goal do you really want to reach? You'll be surprised at just how much you really can achieve when you set your mind to a task and then aim at it with everything you've got. Give it a try!