Time to belly up… how’d your writing goals fair in 2011? Did you set goals? Did you keep track? Did you succeed? Even a little bit?

I bet you did. Come on now, if you wrote one page toward your writing goal of completing a novel, you’ve succeeded a little bit. A very little bit, but you did something.

We have a tendency to stick our heads in the sand when we think we’ve failed at our goals. At attempting our dreams. Why confirm that silent but deep down fear: “I’m a failure.”

By taking stock of our goals, our success and failures, enables us to move forward with a better grasp of where we are and why. Often when reviewing a goal, we find we didn’t fail as much as we thought. We find the good in our attempts to achieve a goal. Or, we realize we failed miserably and must take stock in “why?”

Many times we set goals that are just not realistic. At all. If you’re the mom of newborn triplets, maybe you should wait until their walking… like through the halls of high school… before attempting to write that novel.

If you the dad of five, coaching two sports and serving as an elder at church in addition to working fifty hours a week… maybe that novel can wait a bit.

At the very least, give yourself a few years to write the first draft.

But goals are essential to accomplishing what the Lord has put on our hearts. We need to set goals. Yet goals intimidate us. Why write down something we can’t possibly control? In some cases, can’t possibly achieve for years or without some kind of divine intervention.

In January of 2005, my husband and I visited my in-laws for New Years. At church that Sunday, the pastor spoke of the important of setting goals and formulating a life plan using the lives of Biblical men.

At the end of the message, he asked us to write down one or two things we hoped to achieve in 2005. I wrote the impossible. “Contract with Thomas Nelson.”

My agent had asked me for a redneck chick lit to submit to Ami McConnell at Thomas Nelson. I’d attempted an idea that my agent kicked back to me and since then, I’d not written another word for this redneck chick extravaganza. I mean, what exactly IS redneck chick lit. Especially in the CBA market? Bare feet, babies and beer? How’m I gonna do that?

Nevertheless, I wrote down “contract with Thomas Nelson” on the back of a tithe envelop and stuck it in my journal.

Two years later, I found that envelop, forgotten and tucked away. I’d even forgotten my goal for that year.

My heart leapt as I realized it had happened. In August of 2005, I was offered a two book deal from Thomas Nelson.

How great is God? He remembered my forgotten goal! Paul tells us it’s not even entered the heart of man the good things God has planned for him. And those good things start now. Today. In this life and carry over to the next.

My dad used to tell me, “Rach, you can steer a standing horse.” Meaning, if you’re not moving toward something the Lord cannot direct you. If you choose to stand still, if you choose to let fear, doubt and insecurity paralyze you, then that’s where you’ll remain.

So, let’s talk about a few things as 2011 winds down and 2012 winds up.

1. Assess your life. Are your goals realistic to the time you have to achieve them. Are they realistic according to your personality? Susie Warren can have a goal to write 4 books a year. I can’t. I’m a 2 book a year person. So, I know my limitations. I don’t take on more than I can manage even though I’ve had opportunity to do so.

2. Assess you goals. Did you accomplish any of them? Some of them? One of them? Did you write? If not, why? Have a good hard talk with Jesus about His plan for your writing life.

3. Maybe you need a more realistic goal planning approach. Goals must be measurable. My goal of contract with Thomas Nelson was certainly measurable – either I would or would not achieve my goal. But I set no in between steps. Write a proposal would’ve been a good interim goal. J So, set measurable goals.

4. Set short term as well as long term goals. When I first started writing my goal was to get a contract. Money was not a consideration. I didn’t have dreams of the best seller list. I just wanted my foot in the door. That’s a short term goal. A long term goal might be to get on a best seller list, or to make a certain amount of money. But set measurable long and short term goals.

5. Show your goals to someone. Be accountable.

6. Pray over your goals. Ask the Lord to give you His heart.

7. Don’t write too many goals. That’s overwhelming. For example, don’t plan to lose weight and start a new exercise program at the same time. Doesn’t work in the long haul. Chose one. Layer the second one in three or four months later.

8. If you’re a new writer, set a goal to write so many pages this year. Set a goal to read X number of craft books. Maybe attend one conference. But be realistic and measurable. Be fluid. If you set a goal to attend a conference and can’t make it, move it to the next year, or chose a small, more local conference.

9. If you’re a published author, set professional goals for advancement both in the craft and in finances. Many times we are so thrilled to be published we forget to take the reigns of our careers. I’ve talked to dozens of authors who are five, ten, even twenty years into their career dealing with discouragement or disappointment but languish in their predicament without a plan to change. We can’t all be best sellers or make hundreds of thousands of dollars, but we don’t have to hang around on the bottom rung of the ladder either. Make choices that are smart for your career. No one in the corporate world is looked down upon for wanting to advance and make more money. Writers need to adopt more of a business attitude. Work hard. Be humble. Be courageous. Be willing to step out, take a risk. See what the Lord will do.

10. In all of this, make it your goal to lay down your burden and load to go, follow Him.