As you may know, I am going through the month of January talking about how you can Kick Start Your New Year”s Resolutions the Write Way where I have discussed setting your S.M.A.R.T. goals and making your space more creative.

Many of you have set new goals to make 2016 the best year yet, but how are you going to take action? How are you planning on implementing the steps you need to take in order to achieve your goals?

If you go back and check out my blog and video about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals, this would be a great way to get started. But today, I am going to talk to you about implementing a strategy for your goals. I am going to discuss how you can finish the month like a champ and how to rock February!

So let”s take a look at your Specific goal. What was it? If its to lose weight, then how much? If it was to write more, then how many words? What is the measurable time frame you have given yourself?

For example, let”s say that you”re wanting to write 30,000 words by May 1, 2016. Great. Now what steps are you going to take in order to accomplish this goal? 

Now let”s break that down even further: How are you going to write 30,000 words by May 1, 2016? By writing a certain amount of time or words per month, right? Let”s keep it simple and say you”re wanting to write a certain number of words per month. That would approximately be 10,000 words in February, March and April.

We have established your monthly goals. Let”s break it down by week: since there”s 4 weeks in a month typically, that means you”re going to need to write 2,500 words per week. What does this mean to you? How are you going to accomplish this goal? What will your life need to look like in order to produce 2500 words a week?

This is where you need an action strategy; you need to have a plan in place so you can accomplish your goals in your time frame (realistically). This is where I would like to help you.

What I have done in my writing is that I write for a certain amount of time. In about 10 minutes, I can produce between 500-700 words (I”m editing along the way). So if I can produce 500-700 words in 10 minutes, then that probably means that I can produce 1,000 words in about 20 minutes.

What are my actions then? How will writing structure my week? This is an example of what I do: I say to myself, “Monica, I am going to write for 20 minutes three times a week. That is realistic and I know I can accomplish this when I make writing my first priority.”

What are my actions? I have written my plans in my planner and make sure it”s like an appointment. I could take this a step further and put a time of when I”m going to write my 20 minutes to make it even feel like an appointment. I can even place it in my phone and have a timer go off to make sure I am writing. There are apps that you can download onto your desktop that will cut any distractions so you can focus on writing.

This is what I mean by having a action strategy; you”re making this goal into your life and planning it out as if you”re having an appointment with an important person (and you are! It”s yourself!). Would you be late for an appointment with an important person? NO! You would not.

In this blog post, I want you to have the actionable monthly planner that I made just for you! It will ask what”s your three goals that you want to accomplish this month. Writing may be one of many goals you”re working on in 2016, but I know you have other events and plans that you want to have accomplished. There”s also a place for you to write down your top 3 actions of the month as well. Then you will work on breaking these goals down into weeks. What goal do you want to see get accomplished (or close to it anyways)? What action do you need to take to complete that goal?

When I write down my monthly goals, it gives me a sense of focus and what I need to be working on as the month goes on. It”s easier for me to see my end goals and then surround myself with actionable plans to accomplish these goals.

You can download the free printable when you enter your name and email address in the box below.The PDF will be sent to you via email and you”ll be able to use it every month.

I hope that this will help you finish January strong and then rock February! Next month, I”m going to be talking about how to fall in love with your writing when you”re not in love with it!