Setting Achievable Writing Goals How a Goal Setting System Can Help You

Most of us would clearly agree that one of the best ways to grow and make progress in almost any field of endeavor, whether professional or personal, is to set and achieve a series of goals. By setting goals we can give ourselves a pathway to success, a set of directions that lead us step by step towards where we want to be or what we want to achieve.

But simply setting goals is not enough. Our goals need something else. They need to be achievable. If we set goals that are inherently out of range, it only serves to set us up for failure or disappointment. So therein lies a dilemma. Set goals that are too low and we don't push or force ourselves to change or move ahead. Set goals that are too high and we risk almost certain disappointment and failure. Our goals need to be set far enough out to ultimately cause a change, yet seemingly be just within our grasp.

This likewise applies to setting goals for our writing. Here's a series of steps I set up for myself that helped me to continually forge ahead ? writing and producing not only more and more articles, but also continually improving content and quality. My pieces contained more high-traffic keywords and depth of information to lure and hold readers.

The first month my goal was simply to write a publishable article of less than 1000 words and post (publish) it in an article bank. After reviewing several I choose EzineArticles.com. The screening process of this initial piece would encourage me to continue if the article was accepted and published. It was and it did.

The second month my goal became to write at least one article per week to send in for review and publication in the article bank. When the second, third and fourth articles sailed through the approval process and were published without a hitch, I had no trouble getting article number five out fairly quickly.

When I learned that an upgrade in status was forthcoming if I reached the goal of submitting a tenth article, that became my new goal ? get to ten. I got to ten ahead of schedule. Remember, with each goal you set it's important to set a deadline or time frame in which to reach that goal. Otherwise you could languish forever in one never-ending step.

According to expert marketing article writer Jeff Herring, article saturation occurs at about 25 articles or so. At that point, more or less, you start to receive a backflow of traffic from your article submissions. So, 25 articles became my new mark, and I wanted to reach it before the next month's end. I made it with time to spare, especially with the head start I had due to reaching my tenth article ahead of my targeted schedule. My status was upgraded and I couldn't have been happier. I was hooked all right.

Posting my 25th article was another proud day for me. Next stop, 50 articles. With 50 posted articles online I'd hoped to get some respect as an expert author along with some recognition for the effort I was continually putting forth. Reaching 50 published articles online a full two weeks ahead of my goal sparked not a small bit of a commotion. You've written and published HOW MANY articles in WHAT period of time? Their disbelief was fuel to spur me to even greater heights. My colleagues were absolutely stunned. None had accomplished anything like this previously. I sniggled at their discomfort. I'd broken out of the pack. Like Timothy Robbins says, I'd taken ?massive action?. Could 60 articles be far behind? I thought not.

Next stop on the article train, 100 published articles before year's end. That would far outstrip anything I'd done before. But then, that's the idea, isn't it? I'll reach the 60th article mark by next week. Will I be able to write another 40 articles in less than one month to reach my goal of 100 articles by New Year's Day? Meanwhile new benchmarks loom ahead enticingly, after 100, 250 then 500 followed by a 1000 posted articles goal for next year. Are these achievable? Yes, they are. Using article templates, multiple writing topic specializations and keeping my pieces down to around 500 words or so each, these future steps are more than achievable. Will I make them? Time will tell as I publish both on and offline for a number of sources. Setting goals though, keeps me honest and focused.

You should set some writing goals for yourself. Small ones at first, achievable ones. Then set progressively larger ones as you begin to pick up speed and momentum in your research and writing. Try setting a new writing goal today. Think about it and just do it. Even you may be surprised and well pleased with the results.

To be continued by YOU and I ...