At the start of the year, I posted about creating goals that were realistic and within your control. Now it's nearly two weeks into the year - have you given up on any yet? How will you keep yourself working towards them in February, or August? What are you doing to make your goals something you do, rather than something you think about?

I broke my goals down into weekly mini-goals that would meet my target with some room to spare. For example, if I write 5000 words a week, I'll have my draft finished before the end of the year, even if I don't quite make it some weeks. If I write 10,000 a week every week, I'll have it finished before the start of semester. So, 10,000 is my goal, but 5,000 is what I expect of myself, sort of like a 'minimum-goal'. It's not a huge ask - less than 1000 words a day. In my first week, I'm at 4,000. I've decided to give myself Sundays off, so that means 1000 words are waiting for me at the end of this blog post. I won't have reached my 'main' weekly goal, but I'll still be on track for my yearly goal.

I was disappointed, though. I hadn't proven to myself that I could write 10,000 words a week. It sounded so easy - just 1500 words a day, and a little extra on one or two days. 1500 is hardly anything - and on one occasion this week, I managed it. But it was a struggle not to get up from the keyboard when I'd hit around 600 words, and again at the 1000 mark. The next night, I didn't even manage 500. I looked at my goals, and thought "there's no way I'm going to manage this. Maybe I should lower that goal."

And then I realised - this was only the first week. I was trying to put aside a fair whack of time every day for this, and I didn't have force of habit on my side. I didn't have the momentum up, yet. Lowering the goals now would just start a cycle of excuses and leave me novel-less.

Building momentum

It takes six weeks to form a habit for a daily activity. (So they say. I've always found my chocolate habit can reform in half a day.) The period before then is the most difficult time, the time when you're most likely to pack it in. It's the time you're having to remember to do it, the time when you're not used to the effort, lots of other things are far more attractive, and you keep asking "is this really worth it? Do I really care that much?"

The thing to keep in mind, when you're struggling to stay at the keyboard, or get up and go to the gym, is: yes, it's hard now. But if you keep doing it, it will get easier. Once you've done it a few weeks, it becomes natural, just part of your routine. It builds momentum, and the excuses and complaints that used to pull you away lessen. Depending on the goal, they're unlikely to go away completely, but they're not as all-consuming as they were at the start. 

Tips for building momentum

• Make weekly and daily goals a little higher than you need, so if you miss a day or week, you don't have to increase the goal next time (otherwise the increasing weekly or daily goals become insurmountable, and you give up)
• Accept there will be good days and there will be bad days
• Don't make it all-or-nothing: 75% of your daily goal is still some forward progress. It's okay to miss a day, or not-quite-make a goal
• Keep each week a goal unto itself: last week doesn't matter once it's over
• Remember: It won't be this hard next week, or the week after that, provided you keep trying.