[00:00:00] Welcome to a new year authors. This time of year is brimming with fresh opportunities and of course those ambitious new year's resolutions and goals that we all set, or at least somewhat set in our minds that we'd like to achieve this year.
[00:00:15] As an author, looking ahead to 2024, how can you effectively achieve the author goals and dreams that you've been working so diligently towards. How can you position these goals and resolutions to not only be achievable, but to lead you to success? Because success after all is a powerful motivator.\
[00:00:37] I'm Zach Kristensen, and this is Beyond the book presented by Juxta book.
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[00:00:51] So we're all familiar with the plethora of information that's out there on setting goals, creating smart goals and establishing the processes around them and the [00:01:00] motivators around them. And I'm not going to go over what all those are and what's underneath that. That's important, but I want to try and go a little bit deeper today. I want to dive into what the underlying mindset is that drives you and everyone to achieve these goals.
[00:01:19] For me and for what I've seen with authors, I've worked with. I have two key pieces of advice for you this year that relate to your mindset.
[00:01:30] These are strive for excellence, not perfectionism and build routines.
[00:01:35] So first striving for excellence, not perfectionism. We all aim to produce high quality work but it's important for us to distinguish this work from the pursuit of perfection. Perfection in writing, for example is an elusive if not impossible target.
[00:01:54] Even some of the most prolific authors out there have books that [00:02:00] they probably wanted to tinker with a bit more and change, but due to deadlines, and looking back in hindsight, those changes were not possible. There's always something that can be tinkered with an updated and improved.
[00:02:17] Striving for excellence means accepting that writing and producing your book is a process that involves constant learning and improvement. It's about producing high quality work but without the paralyzing pursuit of perfection.
[00:02:36] One thing that's great about pursuing excellence instead of perfectionism. Is excellence gives you space. It gives you space to pause and learn from what you're doing. Because you're not going to be perfect on the execution of your goals all the time, because life happens.
[00:02:56] Things get in the way stuff comes up and you may also [00:03:00] realize that what you're doing isn't working as well as you'd want it to. So you have to pause and shift because you're striving for excellence and not perfection.
[00:03:10] By aiming for excellent. You acknowledged that while you may not achieve 100% of your goals, making significant progress is a victory in itself. And that excellence still produces work, but it's work that's still going to have an impact. It's work that is high quality and it's work that you can be proud of as an author.
[00:03:34] And it keeps you going. It allows you to sit back and learn as you're striving for it. And that leads and builds into the second piece of advice for you this year.
[00:03:47] Build routines. Our goals and resolutions are built upon habits and routines.. Developing a habit becomes so much easier when it's anchored in a routine.[00:04:00]
[00:04:00] The beautiful thing about routines that I love is that a routine is something you can already add onto something that you're already doing or something that you can already shift to something better than what you're doing.
[00:04:13] So as an example, set specific times for your writing and follow a consistent sequence of tasks. Make these practices and routines that you're doing part of your day.
[00:04:26] To begin establishing these routines identify the time where you have the most control over what you focus on and do each day. The more outside influences there are the harder it's going to be to establish a routine.
[00:04:40] Routines reduced the need for you to be consistently making decisions and have, and reducing the willpower that you need to make those decisions and the energy that goes into it. Which will gradually transform those goals you're trying to achieve. Into habits that reach those calls and [00:05:00] resolutions.
[00:05:01] In summary for 2024. Focus on these two principles, strive for excellence and establish routines. This approach will not only help you in achieving your goals, but also in building your book, your brand, and your marketing strategies. Good luck in the new year. And I look forward to engaging with you your questions, and further going into on what it means to be an author and achieve success.
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[00:05:30] To further understand how to pursue excellent and build routines this year.
[00:05:36] Visit juxta book.com. To set up your author coaching session today.
[00:05:43] If you have any questions about a recent episode, I'd love to hear from you. Visit juxtabook.com/beyondthebook and click the appropriate button to leave your question and we will include it in our weekly Q&A episode.
[00:05:59] Your book is [00:06:00] just one chapter in your author journey. Think beyond the book as you craft your path. Thank you for your questions and thank you for listening.
