If you’re familiar at all with the 7 Habits, then this will be a refresh for you. I don’t think that there are any better planning tips than the ones he wrote, but he couched them around Weekly Planning. For me, the same rules apply to yearly planning and goal setting for building your business as an author entrepreneur or, as we like to say, Authorpreneur.

Review Your Mission/Purpose.

It’s almost impossible to say “no” to the urgent and less-pressing-yet-equally-as-loud when you don’t have a deeper “yes” burning inside. As it applies to becoming an #authorpreneur, have you defined, IN DETAIL, your mission and purpose? If you have, now is the time to review it.  Ask yourself, does this mission/purpose still apply? Does it need to be modified? What kind of progress did I make on achieving my life’s mission and purpose last year? 

If you haven’t defined, IN DETAIL, your book business mission and purpose, do it now. Nothing else matters until you do this.  Any goal setting without a mission is merely a pipe dream.

Define Your Key Roles.

With your mission in mind, what are your key roles in the book business this year? Maybe last year you focused on getting the book written, if so, one of your key roles was most likely Writer.  Let’s assume it was, and you’re ready to launch the next phase: building a successful and lucrative book business.

What specific roles are best going to help you move the needle this year? Carefully and clearly define the two or three key roles that will help you achieve your mission and purpose this year. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Feel free to make up your own—you are, after all, good with words. 

• Author
• Researcher
• Networker
• Thought leader
• Marketer
• Salesperson
• Promoter
• Podcaster
• Coach
• Speaker
• Entrepreneur
• Editor

Identify monthly and weekly goals in writing.

Based on the 2-3 key roles you defined above and your mission, establish monthly goals for each role. Let’s use Speaker as an example. Let’s say you want to set a monthly goal of securing one speaking engagement each month. By the end of the year, you will have 12 speaking opportunities on the calendar!

Or, if one of your roles is a marketer, what goal do you want to achieve as a marketer? Do you want to grow your social media following by 100%? TIP:  Remember to always set goals with the formula of X to Y by When. 

Put these goals in writing. Put them where you can see them every single day. Set goals for each month of the year—don’t do just a few, do the whole year. As you sit down at your desk, review these goals, make decisions about where to allocate your time based upon these goals. Now you’re ready for the next step. 

Organize your time weekly.

Now break it down into bitesize goals. Ask yourself: What can I do this week to make progress (insert key role here)? 

Using a planner, paper, or electronic, allocate the time in your week to write your speech. And then maybe the following week is to allocate the time to practice your speech in front of the mirror. And then practice in front of an honest but caring audience. And so on. 

Maybe your key role is Author, and your goal is to get your book published. Set the time in your planner for when you’ll download the Juxtabook Perfect Book Proposal. Then schedule the time to fill it in. Next week schedule time to refine it and send it in.

Or, if your key role is  Marketer, allocate maybe 20 minutes per day building your LinkedIn network and then 20 minutes building your IG account. 

A week at a time is more flexible and proximate. Adjust as you need but only if you truly need to. BE true to your mission and goals.

Exercise integrity in the moment of choice.

Most people will tell you that they lack discipline. I disagree. What they really lack is a true commitment to their mission and purpose. 

Go back to my statement under the header Review Your Mission/Purpose, and rephrase it: 

It’s easy to say NO when I have a deeper YES burning inside. 

The more you practice saying NO, the stronger that muscle becomes. Talk to those closest to you, tell them why you will be saying no more often, share your vision with your loved ones so that they can get on board, remind them that they will be sharing in your journey and your successes. 

“If your priorities grow out of a principle center and a personal mission, if they are deeply planted in your heart and in your mind...only then will you have sufficient independent willpower to say NO.”

—Stephen R. Covey