Set small goals and achieve them.

Maybe that’s not quite right. Have reasonable and meaningful goals but make sure that you have short term measurable achievable milestones.

For example, I’ve never been fond of goals such as “I have to lose 20 pounds by Christmas.” I don’t mind goals such as “I have to lose 20 pounds” and short milestones such as “I’ll walk at least 30 minutes a day for the next week.”

My current goal is to write a book during the month of November. The book is ending up much shorter than I planned – but that is a topic for a different day.

My measurable goals were to sit down and write for at least an hour a day last week. Most days I wrote for much more than that. Today I have thirty pages towards my larger goal. I have thirty pages that would not have been written if my only goal was to write a book during the month of November.

If you focus on the total stack of paper you need to produce then you’ll never achieve your goal. Instead, focus on today’s activity. What do I need to do today.

I’m thinking the answer is: write for at least an hour.