By Terez Howard
During a recent night of Netflix searching, my husband and I watched the movie Julie and Julia. This film, from 2009, intertwined the story of cooking sensation Julia Child with Julie Powell, a blogger who challenged herself to cook every recipe in Julia’s first book and record her experiences in a blog. This true life adventure helped me realize a key to reaching goals.
One pivotal scene is the movie is when Julie decisively commits to this cooking/blogging challenge. She announces her decision to her husband, Eric, and says that if she does not give herself a deadline, she will not complete that immense task. One year for 524 recipes.
Give yourself a deadline
When I worked for the newspaper, deadline was a word I heard daily. “Will it be ready by deadline?” “We have to meet deadline.” “Maybe we can extend the deadline a little for this breaking news.” “It’s too late; it’s after deadline.” The deadline dictated what would make the daily news.
With a blog, it’s hardly a necessity to make your content stick to a strict 10:30 a.m. deadline. However, there are benefits to establishing a blogging schedule.
A deadline means more than just the time your posts appear for public viewing. A deadline gives your goal or goals a point of fruition.
Let me illustrate it this way. Let’s say that I want to start integrating video into my blog. I would give myself a week to research and purchase a video recording device and another week to shoot two to four videos. I would allot myself two to three hours per day per video to make my own edits. Then I would spend a day posting the videos and another week to fiercely promote them.
Know this, I’ve not yet put video on my blog. But this rough sketch gives me the idea that it would take me a good month to get a few decent video posts published. My time allocations fit my schedule. They might seem drastically long to you or perhaps not long enough. However, only I know what I can handle.
The same goes for you. You know what you are capable of achieving and how long it will take you.
Light a fire
Do you need to light a fire under yourself? Make your deadlines tighter and stick to them.Give yourself one week to get high quality video on your blog.
At the same time, be realistic.If you work a full-time 40-hour week, such a task might be insurmountable in such a short period.Give yourself necessary leeway, not excuses.
And please, don’t decide to do something by the end of 2011. That’s too general. If you’re going to be that general, make several short-term goals and deadlines along the way.
A new year, a new deadline
Most people look at the start of the new year as a fresh start. Challenge yourself by setting a deadline to just one goal. It could be for your blog, for your weight, for your family, or something else. Whatever it is, treat it like you were a reporter at a newspaper. It is urgent. With no deadline, there will be no news.
Tell me, what is your goal? What is your deadline, and how will you achieve it?
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Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas . You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger.
Thanks, Terez!
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
