Setting and Achieving Goals

Setting and Achieving Goals

J. Boyd Long goalsSetting and Achieving Goals

Setting and achieving goals is one of those things that few people think about, fewer try, and even fewer actually do. It’s in the same category as dieting, exercise, and making good life decisions. But we all have intentions of doing things, right? So why don’t we get anything done?

Distractions

People have never been busier than we are today. Technology has helped us fill every second of the day with something. What do people do if they’re waiting in line for more than ten seconds? Pull out the phone and check Facebook, send a text, look at the headlines. There are approximately a trillion television shows that are so addicting we can’t bear the thought of missing a minute of them. New movies come out all the time. The kids have a million things going on.

Lack of Direction

A lot of times we have vague ideas about things we’d like to do, but we haven’t ever taken the time to think it out. One of the negative side effects of being busy every minute of the day is that we don’t have time to think about things. So, if we don’t stop to figure out exactly what it is we want to accomplish, then we will never achieve anything outside the whirlwind of daily life.

How Can I Change?

First and foremost, you have to want things to be different more than you want to avoid the stress of change. It sounds simple, but it isn’t easy. Change is hard, change is scary, change requires time and effort and commitment, and we just don’t like that stuff.

People will endure amazing hardships just to avoid change. I call this ‘being committed to the Known Quantity.’ Some people will stay broke, because being broke is easier and safer than committing to learn and work at something they haven’t done before. Other examples of people choosing the Known Quantity over change: staying in bad relationships, staying in a bad job, not trying something that you think you might like (sky diving, painting, bowling, writing, new career field, new food item, new friend, etc), not stopping something you don’t like anymore (drinking, drugs, smoking, watching TV, toxic friendship), and the list goes on.

Okay, I want to change: How do I start setting and achieving goals?

Start small. Be realistic about what you can achieve. Right now you are filling up 24 hours a day with stuff, so in order to start doing something new, something else is going to have to be sacrificed. For me, that was the television. I wasn’t very committed to it anyway, so it wasn’t too painful, but I realize that other people feel differently about that.

If you are trying to instill a meditation or exercise regime, getting up twenty minutes earlier in the morning might be all you need to do to create a timeslot. Routine is very helpful for establishing new things, so try to do it at the same time every day until you get established.

Become a List Maker

Making a list of things you need to achieve each day and each week is a great way to keep yourself on track. I have a variety of goals, and they change on a regular basis, so I have to write things down. For example, I am trying to build a network of authors on social media, so I have a goal of sending at least 2 Facebook friend requests each week, and following 3 authors on Twitter each week. I also have a goal for how many words I want to write each day, or how many pages I want to get edited.

Each Sunday, I go down my list from the previous week and list what I actually accomplished beside my goals. I have two accountability partners, so I email them the results as well. At the end of each month, I write out my weekly goals for the upcoming month. This way I know exactly what I want to get done, and the timeframe that I have to accomplish it in.

Tracking and Rewards

One way to keep yourself engaged is tracking your results, and rewarding yourself. Once setting and achieving goals becomes a part of your daily life, it’s good to be able to look back over your goals history and see how much you have accomplished. It’s also a good way to see if you are setting your expectations appropriately. If you see that you are consistently failing to meet your goals, then you need to figure out why. Are you trying to do too much, or are you not trying hard enough to get it done? If you are hitting every goal every time, perhaps you can challenge yourself to do more.

Rewards are also fun. While ice cream is great, it might not be appropriate if your goal is to eat healthier, or to lose weight. Make sure your reward is good for you and your new lifestyle. I’m not very good at rewarding myself, so this is something that I need to work on instituting. I don’t get to read as much as I’d like, so maybe an extra 30 minutes of reading time each week would be a good reward for me.

Accountability Partners

When it comes to setting and achieving goals consistently, nothing has helped me keep my focus more than accountability partners. I wrote an entire blog on that topic, so I’ll just give you a link to that topic here: Accountability Partners Blog

So, there you have it: you can do way more than you think you can. All you need is an overwhelming desire to do something, some direction, a list or two, and a buddy. Once you start down this road, you will be amazed at where your life can go!

Subscribe to Justin B. Long

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Justin B. Long is an author, blogger, website developer, and the CFO of Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic. In his spare time (ha!) he likes to paint, read, canoe, and hike in the wilderness. You can subscribe to this blog in the blue block, and future blogs will be delivered to your email. Warning: Subscribing may increase your awesomeness quotient. Please feel free to comment, and share this blog on your favorite social media page! To learn more, please visit JBoydLong.com.

What in the world is DimWorld?

What in the world is DimWorld?

What is the DimWorld series all about?

DimWorld is the series of books I’m writing, in case you’re not familiar with the title. I’ve made a few vague references to it in blogs here and there, as well as some posts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (I’m easy to find: @JBoydLong on every platform), but I haven’t given a breakdown on the concept of the series, and today I’m going to fix that.

In the DimWorld universe

DimWorld is short for Dimension World. The concept here is that every time there is a major event in history, a new dimension is formed. For example, in our dimension Columbus landed in the Bahamas and was welcomed/accepted by the natives. This was a major event because it led to the colonization of the Americas by Europeans. So, at that point a new dimension was formed in which he and his entire crew were killed upon arrival. That, of course, had a massive impact on the future of Europe, as well as North and South America.

There are lots events throughout history that spawned new dimensions, and events within each of those dimensions that created new dimensions. All dimensions share a history up to the point that they split, but they all have a different present, and a different future. There are dimensions where major wars had different outcomes, or empires survived rather than falling (or vice versa), assassinations and rebellions that either took place or didn’t take place, and so on and so forth. The possibilities are unlimited.

DimCorp

DimCorp (Dimension Corporation) is a company that deals in raw materials and natural resources. They developed the technology to move between dimensions using DimGates, which they use to take resources from under-developed dimensions and sell them in advanced dimensions.

They use the indigenous populations in the less-developed dimensions as a workforce, and usually as slave labor. This allows them to mine resources like copper, tin, and iron at a very low cost, and transport it directly to where it needs to go in another dimension. DimCorp has expanded both their production and their sales across a variety of dimensions, making them the richest and most powerful entity in existence.

Introducing Quentin and Eissa

Quentin is our main character in the series, and Eissa is his best friend. Quentin is a 40-year-old IT computer geek who has spent most of his life philosophizing with Eissa about the problems with people and society, but never actually doing much of anything about it. He’s a good guy, and well-intentioned, but it never crossed his mind that he might be able to do something to make the world a better place.

On the day that a DimGate appears in front of them, their world is turned upside down. They cross into another dimension, and find themselves trapped in a world where the United States only goes as far as the Mississippi River. Everything on the other side is controlled by the Native Tribal Alliance, and the war between colonists and natives is still going strong. Eissa, a Native American, suddenly finds herself far behind enemy lines.

Our unlikely heroes eventually find some help in the form of Bob and Tocho, a pair of aging rebels who spent their lives fighting DimCorp. The more they learn about the victims of greed, the more incensed they become, and when they finally get a chance to go home, they are also offered the chance to stay and fight.

The series follows their adventures and exploits as they try to stick up for those without a voice, as well as confront their own inner problems along the way. Eissa’s brash tongue and quick wit create laugh out loud moments as she tries to help Quentin as he struggles on his quest to find his purpose in life, and the confidence to fulfill it.

Where do things stand?

Foundation and The Cacao Insurrection are the first two books in the DimWorld series. They have both been written as first drafts, and the goal is to have them rewritten, professionally edited, polished and published by fall of 2018. If you subscribe to this blog (and please do!) you will stay updated as we get closer to the release date.

Author Justin Boyd LongJ. Boyd Long is an author, blogger, website developer, and the CFO of Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic. In his spare time (ha!) he likes to paint, read, canoe, and hike in the wilderness. You can subscribe to this blog in the sidebar, and future blogs will be delivered to your email. Subscribing may increase your awesomeness quotient. Please feel free to comment, and share this blog on your favorite social media page! To learn more, please visit JBoydLong.com 

Subscribe to Justin B. Long

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Prepping for Nanowrimo

Prepping for Nanowrimo

Prepping for Nanowrimo

In case you don’t know, November is National Novel Writing Month, or Nanowrimo for short, and Nano for even shorter. The idea is that you write a certain number of words (1,700 is a base number; I’m shooting for 2,500) every day for a month, and at the end of the month you have a book.

This year will be my second time participating. Last year I wrote my very first book during Nano, which was The Adventures of the Horse Doctor’s Husband. It’s a collection of stories based on actual things that I’ve been involved in over the last few years. I’ve learned a LOT about writing in the last year, so I have some serious revisions to do before that one is ready to be published.

Sci-fi author J. Boyd LongOver the spring and summer of this year, I wrote my second book, DimWorld: Foundation. This one is a science fiction novel, and the first book in a series that I have planned. It also needs some revisions, but I learned a lot during the process of writing it. I’ve been doing a lot of homework on the process of writing and planning for a book, which has helped me become a better author.

The book that I’m writing this November (DimWorld: The Cacao Insurrection) is going to be the second book in the DimWorld series. I’m going in far more knowledgeable and prepared than I was for either of my previous books. I’ve got a complete outline that I’ve revised and improved several times, I’ve got a full physical and psychological profile on each one of my important characters, I’ve got a map and diagram of the place where most of the action is taking place, and I have an accountability partner to keep me on track.

I’m really excited about this! By this time next year, I plan to have all 3 books available on Amazon, and the next book in the series outlined and ready to write. It’s going to be a busy month, and a busy year next year. Never a dull moment, right?

What about you? Are you writing a book during Nano? If you’ve been thinking about it, this is the time to take action! Don’t worry about doing it badly; that’s what editing is for. Jump in the pool and start swimming. There’s never going to be a better time.

Author Justin Boyd LongJ. Boyd Long is an author, blogger, website developer, and the CFO of Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic. In his spare time (ha!) he likes to paint, read, canoe, and hike in the wilderness. You can subscribe to this blog in the sidebar, and future blogs will be delivered to your email. Subscribing may increase your awesomeness quotient. Please feel free to comment, and share this blog on your favorite social media page! To learn more, please visit JBoydLong.com 

Subscribe to Justin B. Long

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Accountability Partners are Invaluable

Accountability Partners are Invaluable

Accountability Partners

I’ve had an accountability partner for almost a year now, and I wonder how I lived so long without one. I also wonder how much more I would have accomplished if I had found her ten years ago.

We met online during the 2016 Nanowrimo event. She was one of about ten people active in the Gainesville forum on Nanowrimo.org. We were writing at about the same pace, which was a lot faster than most of the others, and that prompted an email conversation about halfway through the month.

It started out as a friendly competition. We were both trying to get to 80,000 words in 30 days, so we made a friendly bet on who would have the highest word count. I was very motivated to write, but I found that there were several days when I was tired and didn’t feel like writing anymore, but I knew that she might take a big lead if I stopped, so I wrote another 1,500 words. Through email exchanges, I found out that the same thing was happening on her side.

At the end of Nano, we both acknowledged that we had accomplished a lot more due to our race than we would have without it, and the value of that was not lost on either of us. We decided to continue checking in with each other on our progress with editing what we had written.

That was probably the most important decision I have made in my writing career.

At some point in the evolution of things, we decided that we were official accountability partners. We exchanged goals and plans, and then we worked out a timeline in which we wanted to achieve these things. Through this process, we determined that we had a lot of the same goals, and that we could help each other out by combining efforts and resources, such as research on various topics, helpful books, network of contacts, etc. Did I mention that we had never met in person?

We set up a system to keep ourselves on track. For each month, we have a goals list of what we want to accomplish. We email progress reports throughout the week, and every Sunday we do a weekly goals check-in and list what we have done, and what we have not. We have expanded this system to include all of the things we have going on in our lives, not just writing and editing. We both have careers that we are committed to outside of writing, we have side businesses that we operate to fund the process of getting our writing careers off the ground, and we have families. Team-working everything helps us both maintain the tricky balance of prioritizing and focusing our attention appropriately.

This system works because we are both 100% committed to accomplishing our goals. We are both highly motivated self-starters, and neither of us are willing to settle for anything less than the best that we are capable of. The fact that our goals and our challenges are very similar is also important, as we can relate to each other without a lot of explanation. We did eventually meet in person to attend a workshop, and we’ve had some in-person strategy sessions since then, as we are forming our own independent publishing company. By combining our efforts, skills, and resources, we are both accomplishing more than we could have alone, and a lot faster. She has skills that I don’t have, and vice versa.

Becoming accountability partners has made all the difference for both of us.

Are you trying to achieve something? It doesn’t matter what it is; an accountability partner can help! If you can find someone else who is trying to do something similar, you will likely find the motivation of becoming accountability partners helps you achieve more. Accountability partners bring out the best in each other, and set new standards of achievement. Here are some things to look for in a potential AP, and what they should be looking for in you:

  • Motivation level
  • Commitment to the project
  • Dependability
  • Similarity of goals and timelines
  • Similarity of challenges (if you’re working 3 jobs and raising 2 kids, you have different challenges than someone living in their parent’s basement with nothing but time on their hands)

The internet makes finding accountability partners much easier than ever before in history. You don’t need to be in the same geographic region to make it work. Use Facebook groups, or MeetUp, or Craigslist, or any number of other online resources to find people who do what you do. If you want to accomplish more in life, this is a tool that will help. Find out your true potential, and start living up to it!

Author Justin Boyd Long J. Boyd Long is an author, blogger, website developer, and the CFO of Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic. In his spare time (ha!) he likes to paint, read, canoe, and hike in the wilderness. You can subscribe to this blog in the sidebar, and future blogs will be delivered to your email. Subscribing may increase your awesomeness quotient. Please feel free to comment, and share this blog on your favorite social media page! To learn more, please visit JBoydLong.com 

Subscribe to Justin B. Long

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

3, 2, 1, Launch!

3, 2, 1, Launch!

Hello, and welcome to my blog!

This is a pretty exciting point in my writing career. My first book, Adventures of the Horse Doctor’s Husband, is off to the editor. My second book, DimWorld: Foundation, is almost completed, and I’m working on the outline for the second book in the DimWorld series. I got my Facebook page going, I got my website built, and I’m making my first blog post. It’s been a busy day! I’m kidding, of course! It’s been a journey of about 9 months to get to this point. I have learned so much since it all started that it’s hard to comprehend it all at once.

Let’s back it up a year, and try to recreate some of this process. Let’s see, it’s August of 2017 right now. In August 2016, none of this had started. I have been writing short stories since I was in high school back in the early 90’s, but my longest work was about 10K words, and most of them were around 5K words. I had been toying with the idea of writing something longer, but I couldn’t really focus my ideas into a story. I wanted to find a way to share my philosophy about society, and personal responsibility, and self-awareness, but the ideas were really broad, and no one wants to read a treatise on my problems with the world!

Nanowrimo, or National Novel Writing Month (November) came up last year, as it always does, and I decided I was going to participate, just to see how hard it is to write 50,000 words in a month. Instead of philosophy, I decided to write about my life today. People tend to be interested in my oral stories about some of the exciting things I get to do as a veterinarian’s husband, and the emergency situations that I get involved in, so I decided to use that as the topic of my experimental book.

It turns out that it was a lot easier to write than I expected! I exceeded my word count goal significantly, and prior to editing, it was just over 80K words (my editor might change that, but it’s a starting point!). I was overjoyed to find out that I am capable of writing more than I thought I was. Riding on that success, I decided to write a fantasy novel and see how that goes. So, while working on getting my first book into the pre-publishing process, I started writing the second one. I realized early on that the fantasy book has more potential to be a series than a single book, so I adjusted course on that. I’m wrapping it up this week, and moving right on to book 2. I want to keep the momentum going, so that people don’t get invested in the story and then find themselves waiting a year to find out what happens next!

In my next post, I’ll detail some of the steps I’ve taken to get to here, for those of you who are trying to go the same direction that I’m going. Make sure you subscribe to my blog so you are plugged in to the action! Speaking of action, here’s Pesca, who always has to be in the middle of the action. Half of the first book was written, quite literally, on this cat! What’s that? Am I typing from a recliner on a wireless, ergonomic keyboard in comfort and style? You better believe it!

J. Boyd Long is an author, blogger, website developer, and the CFO of Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic. In his spare time (ha!) he likes to paint, read, canoe, and hike in the wilderness. You can subscribe to this blog in the big blue block, and future blogs will be delivered to your email. Warning: Subscribing may increase your awesomeness quotient. Please feel free to comment, and share this blog on your favorite social media page! To learn more, please visit JBoydLong.com 

Subscribe to Justin B. Long

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Pin It on Pinterest