The first check mark

Last week, right before it was time for the goal post to go up, I added two small bullets to the list. I thought about not adding them, because I knew that in a handful of days I’d scratch them off, but then I figured, why not?

For me, a big motivator to keep going with projects is that sense of accomplishment I get when I strike through another thing on my lists.

I feel strongly about goals, regardless of what you’re doing. Knitting, writing, housework, school stuff, work, etc — I think goals provide a tangible target to shoot for as both a marker for your personal progress and giving a sense of success. After all, how can we improve if we don’t know what to work on? If we don’t have motivation.

So I decided to add these two bullets to the end of my list:

• Revise short story #2.
• Submit short story #2.

Last week I revised my short story after receiving some feedback, some very good points were made and I’m always grateful to Team Awesome for their help. I’ve submitted the story so it’s out of my control now, but I’m very happy with the results, and you know what? I feel motivated. I have a huge project on my plate for the next few days and I need this extra boost striking these two lines off my list gives me.

Yes, even those of us who have published need some added motivation. I think it’s something that probably doesn’t ever go away. I wish it did! It would be nice to always have the confidence in a project or myself, but for now I’ll use my goals list and power on!

How’s your week going? Is there anything that gives you motivation?