Goal Setting?

As we start a new year, most people have decided upon New Year’s resolutions, or made new goals. Most of my writing friends have already decided on specific writing goals for this year. I have a few aspirations myself for 2021.

• Relaunching my monthly newsletter with specific content.
• Building and launching a new website for my nonfiction writing, screenwriting, and speaking opportunities (I am an avid brain injury awareness advocate and I am a volunteer with Promise Keepers men’s ministry.
• Getting more involved with both the disability community and men’s ministry.
• Getting my latest screenplay professionally evaluated and then hosting it online.
• Adding more content to my YouTube channel.
• Possibly starting a new podcast.
• Seeking professional representation.

These are more of the milestones I am working towards this year; I learned a harsh lesson after my accident about goal setting: Sometimes we don’t reach all of our goals.

Since the accident, I am unable play a guitar and I no longer play video games. And worst of all, I can no longer type 60 words a minute, much less type at all. My brain injury has affected my fine-tuned motor skills in my left hand. With that said, I understand that goal setting can be both good and bad in life.

Goal Setting!

We writers tend to be results-driven. We think if we pound out enough words or pages per day, in the end, we will achieve our writing dreams. And some do, but for the most part, few writers make a full time living only writing.

Still, I’m conflicted when I see my writing friends posting their word or page totals on any given day to their social media. Those kinds of results goals work for some, but for others of us, it only adds to the pressures of the writing life.

Let me be clear I understand the benefits of setting goals. I am not debating the need for them, just the tendency to over-focus on them. The following are clear benefits of goal setting.

1. Helps to meet deadlines.

2. This helps us to be more professional.

3. Goals help us to focus our attention in our writing.

4. They can help us to be more productive.

To be completely honest, I am not a fan of setting goals in my writing projects. When I try to focus on a word count or page number, I tend to get stressed out and place too much pressure on myself.

With my brain injury, stress overload can cause me to seize or stroke out. So I don’t overemphasize my goals. However, I do shoot for milestones or structure points in my writing to give me a place to work towards in each writing session.

For me, it is less stressful and doesn’t stifle my creativity. It can also stifle my writing voice when I try to force myself to write. I am more of a quality than a quantitative person; not just in my writing but in every aspect of life.

The disabled life can amplify the negatives of a writing life. If you think you have bad days, try adding a life-changing disability to it. Being disabled has taught me to appreciate the little things in life and not to stress over achieving big things.

Small victories are the goals I hope for, such as days when I can think clearly, write purposefully, and communicate effectively. I want my writing to have a clear message and purpose, and I hop the same for each day I live.

Be fervent about the little victories.

Fervent?

The best writers write with a purpose—they want to communicate. Their goal isn’t to turn out the most words or pages possible, their goal is to be a clear communicator.

One of the first rules I learned in my training as a writer was to learn how to “say more by writing less.” We must be intentional with each letter, word, and punctuation point. That is how our writing becomes concise.

With a brain injury, I have to consciously think about every move I make. I must consciously think to move my left leg and let my left arm swing as I walk. Disabled persons sometimes struggle to do the simplest things. We try our hardest to get better, even when it hurts. This is why we as writers must be intentional and realistic in our goal setting!

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.