Goals are more complicated than you think.

This week I wanted to talk a little bit about goals. Everyone who cares about writing has goals, although the goals will be different for everyone. While one person is doggedly pursuing the publication of their first novel, another is trying to turn in copy that sell and and another is hoping to hit a thousand subscribers on their blog.

There are two broad categories of goal, however- the input goal and the outcome goal.

Outcomes are what we think of first. What are we trying to accomplish? Why are we doing what we are doing? The danger, however, is that we do not control outcomes.

The publisher still has to want to buy your book. Other people have to want to buy your product or subscribe to your blog. You can do everything in your power to convince them to follow the plan, but in the end they are not under your control.

Outcome goals are our guiding lights, which give us a reason to keep moving forward. But they’re not enough.

That’s where we need the other type of goal: the input goal. If an outcome goal is about what you get, an input goal is about what you do. Input goals are entirely under your control. You are the only one that will determine if you carry out the plan.

For this week, I encourage you to choose an input goal and track whether you meet it every day. Choose wisely: input goals must be concrete and doable. There is no element of chance or unnecessary dependency. An input goal is powered by effort, not luck.

Example goals could be:

It doesn’t have to be big, it just needs to take you one step closer to done. Track what you put in, and you’ll be surprised what comes out.

Now go get some writing done.

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The trigger this Thursday included one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite books of all time, How to Write a Lot by Paul J. Silva.