It's Time To Set Goals and Prepare Behaviors
Goals are good, but regular habits will get you to your goals
I am sitting in my living room this morning, drinking my coffee (cream and monk fruit sweetener) while the fire crackles and the snow falls outside. It is a magical, almost a Hallmark Christmas movie kind of magical.
As I sit here and write, I think more about 2024.
Yes, I will start preparing for 2024 in December. Sure, I finish strong for 2023 too. But I am always forward-thinking for this time of the year. I have also established a writing system for next year.
This morning, though, I was thinking about what my goals are and what habits will help me make those goals happen. As I think about it, I thought it would be helpful to share it with you this morning.
Goals for 2024
For 2024, I am getting pretty ambitious. However, I believe I can do as much as I want. Yet, all of these things are possible by being consistent in the habits that follow the goals.
Grow Self-Publishing Daily to 5,000 subscribers by the end of the year.
Grow Coffee with Jesus to 5,000 subscribers by the end of the year.
Self-publish, at minimum, 6 books this year.
Some smaller goals are attached to Medium, and my other Substack publications, but the three goals above are part of my overall mission to create content to help people write their books and grow in their faith.
Habits to Accomplish Goals
It is good to have goals, but we need habits that help us attain them. As I look forward to 2024, I have found a few habits that will help me reach these goals and potentially achieve more than what I have set out to do.
Showing up daily on X. This means engaging and posting, which points people to my newsletters and books.
Showing up daily on Medium. This has always been one of the places I gain a lot of subscribers, so publishing daily there is essential.
Writing content that contributes to writing books. I can’t simply post content. I need to post content I can use for my books to accomplish my goal.
Showing up daily on Substack. This means notes or publishing with my publications.
Breaking into new ground. I mainly look at Instagram or YouTube. However, this is still up in the air and may not be fully realized until other things fall into place.
It won’t be easy. But I know it will be worth it. I’m finally in a place where I have the creative margin to go after some of these goals, but I have already set up the systems to make it easier.
Final Thoughts on Goals and Habits
I realize this might seem overwhelming to some. And it is to me in some way, too. However, I know that it isn’t impossible as a lot of the habits I have been doing already.
Yet, I hadn’t brought them together over the last two years toward specific goals or under one mission.
Now, I have the insight to create a plan and system to make the habits more fruitful and help to grow my writing side hustle. On top of that, I want to see growth in this side business and help people with it, which is a good kind of hunger.
As we advance into 2024…
As you look forward to 2024, I think it’s important to set two to three goals and one to two habits to go with each goal to help you accomplish the things you want with your writing.
I want to encourage you to take the time over the next couple of weeks to do a few things:
Consider your goals and write them down.
Figure out what habits could help you grow those goals.
Create a system to help you establish the habits.
Share your plans for 2024.
Set everything in motion to hit the ground running in the new year.
If you can do these things, I believe you have the opportunity to see your goals achieved and set a course for you to grow into who you are as a writer and an author.
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J.R. Heimbigner is a #1 Bestselling Author on Amazon who writes about faith and writing books. He has self-published 9 books and has some great resources. Check his book on using Substack to write books:
P.S. There may be sales or affiliate links in this post. So, I might get a little kickback if you purchase anything. Thank you in advance!
It's great to see your ambitious goals for 2024, focusing on growing your subscriber base and self-publishing multiple books. Your strategy of consistent engagement and content creation, along with exploring new platforms, is commendable.
Wishing you success in your endeavors,
Robert
You are creating self-imposed to-do’s and not goals. Just saying.