Keep it Moving!

Reading and writing are both great loves of mine.  With each, my desire to embark ebbs and flows depending on the roller coaster that is the rest of my life.  Regardless, I believe it's important to keep it moving.  In terms of reading and writing, that simply means do a little each day or week.  I established a goal at the start of the year to read a book each month.  It's October and although I have read at least 10 books, I'm honestly not sure about the monthly rate of my reading and that's ok.  Did you set a reading or writing goal?  If so, how is it going?

Don't wait until the New Year to regroup or reset a goal!  Keep it moving.  Now.  It is perfectly fine regroup monthly, weekly or even daily.  Realistically, we must consider that life happens and to that end we must be flexible and make necessary adjustments.  Here are some tips that have worked for me to keep it moving:

1.  Be intentional.  If your goal is to read or write a certain amount each day or week, do it with intentionality.  It's great if your reading or writing is woven into your work day but if that is not truly your goal, acknowledge that and don't count it. This is hard for me and I am not always successful - which leads to Number 2.

2.  Be firm but flexible.  Know what you want or need to accomplish but take life into consideration.  For example, if you know that twice a week your work day is more than 12 hours, then do not schedule those days for writing or reading at the level that you would other days.  Could it be that you need a weekly goal rather than daily?  Decide what will work, set it and be firm in your resolve to be intentional.

3.  Reward success.  To do this, you must first decide what success looks like.  Once you determine that, be sure your reward matches the completed task.  Finishing reading or writing a chapter may not quite earn you a trip to Hawaii!  Decide what will and work your plan.

Keeping it moving is not easy but it is necessary.  The tips given can be applied to any goal that you seek to accomplish.  So what is your goal?  Keep it moving and Happy Reading!