More on Resolutions

So I have given some more thought to resolutions this week and the ones that apply to writing, and I've come up with some guidelines that have always helped me to make them stick.

Beyond last week's "only resolve to do what you can control" thoughts, there are a few other constraints to put on your resolution-making self.

• Don't make too many.  OK, so this does fall in the "make realistic goals" category, but pick the items that you really want to accomplish and make those your goal.  If you finish them all in March, make some Spring Break resolutions to replace your New Year's Resolutions.
• Make them quantifiable.  This is something I picked up from NaNoWriMo - instead of saying "I'll write a novel," the goal is "write 50,000 words of a novel."  So maybe your resolution is "one blog post a week" or "four hours a week writing."  Point being, make it something you can count.  Numbers let you show progress towards the goal and give yourself realistic assessments.
• Give yourself a deadline.  OK, so the implicit deadline of all New Year's Resolutions is December 31.  But while I have some more open-ended goals (double the number of poems I have in "submission space" by year end), I also have mid- and short-term goals that require periodic updates.  For example, posting on this blog at a minimum every other week, and attempting to do it weekly.
• Tell other people about your goals.  This helps the "shame" factor kick in if you start to fall behind.
• Only resolve what you can control.  OK, I talked about this before - but don't make a resolution to "get a raise" or "get the novel published" or "win the lottery."  You can't make that happen.  But you can buy a lottery ticket.

 So, that said, here are a few things I want to do this year:  Put out at least 26 posts on this blog (one every two weeks or better).  Post 52 (or more) poems on my Poems site (one a week).  Double my poetry submissions that are "out in space" by year end (I have 33 out right now, so that means by December 31, I need to have at least 66 out floating around).  On that last one, if I receive a few submission acceptances/rejections right around/before Christmas, I don't necessarily need to cram those back out into space in 4 days, but just to have 65-70 in the submission tracking process somewhere would be great.

I know that most probably want to "write more consistently."  For me, that means miniature deadlines like I mentioned above (one a week, one every two weeks, etc. etc.).  Any other thoughts on how to accomplish it?