Word counts. Chapters. Scenes. We all have our way of measuring our progress, don’t we?

And then, when we miserably fail to reach our goal on a particular day… and we will… we label ourselves losers, failing yet again, and never wanting to chicken-peck that terrible old keyboard again.

Go ahead and feel sorry for yourself if you must, giving yourself one hundred percent of the blame for your day’s lack of goal attainment. But can you also, for one moment, give yourself credit for the other things that you DID get done, you know, those things that may have prevented you from attaining your word counts and writing goals?

Things that life or family or friends or work threw your way in the waning moments of your day that just couldn’t be pushed off? Emergencies that had to be dealt with? Helping others that are at the farther end of their rope than you are?

You get my drift?

Non-writing goals, man. Non-writing goals. Don’t discount them. In fact, you should celebrate them. Reaching a goal, no matter what part of your life they pertain to should be cause for celebration, but you never see a decorated cake for that, now do you?

No, you don’t, and it’s too bad because whenever you reach a goal, you make yourself a better person in one way or another. Achievements give us confidence, yet we tend to dwell on the negative, because, let’s face it, us writer folk can be a sorry bunch at times, so consumed with our personal writing success that we fail to recognize all the good that we’re doing otherwise. It’s a thing, I’m sure, and if anyone wants to get into the psychological aspects, have at it.

But we know that reaching goals makes us all the warm and fuzzy inside, which generally leads to a more pleasant disposition on the outside.

A more pleasant disposition will lead to better relationships, more satisfaction in your current situation, and less moping around thinking “Why me” and “What if”. It’s the whole power of positive thinking angle with a conscious choice to be happy.

Didn’t get your word count in today? So what.

A chapter short? Big Deal.

But DO tell me more about what you DID get done today. I bet it was awesome!

 

#HappyWriting