A Simple Way to Make Your Goals Reality

At Christmas time last year, a blog post by literary agent Nathan Bransford invited readers to comment with a wish for 2010. For every comment, he pledged to donate $1 to Heifer International.

Mr Bransford invited others to take the ball and run with it. I took him up on the challenge. So did at least 22 other bloggers (according to the links on his original post). And ::bam!:: -- just like that -- a bit of writing that I did, coupled with a bit of writing that others did, resulted in a real benefit to real people. (The comments I received were enough to buy some bees!)

How's that for a warm, fuzzy feeling and for knowing that your writing is doing something worthwhile and making the world a better place?

The experience made me think about how I can make my dreams (and the dreams of my clients) have a more positive impact.

I wanted to come up with a way that would not only help clients, friends, and others reach their goals, but that would also make the world a better place as those people were reaching for their goals. So My Goal Posts was born.



It’s simple, really:

Step 1 State what you want to do.

(If you, like me, have several big projects you want to tackle, then each major project counts as a single goal. This keeps you from than loading up all of your dream projects into one big pile and calling that your goal.)

Step 2: Choose a time frame in which you will make it happen.

Step 3: Divide your main goal into 12 quantifiable sub-goals.

(For instance: If your goal is to write a novel, the following sub-goals might make sense:

1.) Outline entire project and begin required research.
2.) Write the hook, complete required research, create character notes.
3 - 7.) Write 20,000 words (5,000 words per week) until project is completed (100,000 word total).
8.) Read and edit first 50,000 words. Solicit criticism on the edited draft.
9.) Read and edit second 50,000 words. Solicit criticism on the edited draft.
10.) Incorporate necessary changes.
11.) Polish prose until squeaky clean.
12.) Edit for grammar and punctuation.)

Step 4: Determine your favorite non-profit charitable organization. Set up a way to donate to them and post it on your website or blog.

Step 5: Identify at least 10 people who love you and who want to see you succeed. Write their names down, contact them, and ask if they will help support you in your quest to reach your goal.

Ask each supporter to pledge a total of $60 to help you reach your goal.

Every time you make a stated sub-goal, each supporter pledges to make a $5 donation to your chosen charity.

Important!: If you do NOT reach a stated sub-goal, your supporters are not required to donate. However, you (and no one else) are responsible for committing to your dreams.

Failing to meet a sub-goal is literally taking money away from your selected charity. That's not fair! So it is YOUR responsibility to pledge to make up the difference that your missed sub-goal has cost the organization. If you have 10 supporters, and each is happy to donate $5 / month for each goal you make, that means that you are responsible for a $50 donation for every month you miss your goals.

How's that for incentive AND for knowing that your dreams are as important to the world as they are to you?

At the end, you will not only have reached your Big Goal, but you will also have raised at least $600 for your favorite charity!

I would love for this to take off and inspire tons of people to reach for their goals. It's on my Stuff That Would Be Cool if it Happened list.

Imagine: if only 1,000 people committed to their Goal Posts in this way, not only would those people make major strides toward making their dreams come true, but they would raise over $600,000 for charities around the world! How cool would that be?

My friend Kelly and my husband are working with me to develop My Goal Posts. Throughout the month of June, our idea is in the running for a Pepsi Refresh Everything grant. If we win the grant, we’ll receive $5,000 to put into developing and maintaining a killer website that can help inspire people, track their progress, put them in touch with others who are willing to support them in their goals, and more.

You can help! Log in to the Pepsi Refresh Everything site and cast a vote for My Goal Posts.

While you’re there, check out the other cool ideas in the running this month. You can vote for up to 10 different ideas per day. But PLEASE – come back every day and cast a vote for us.

Then – why not get started on your Big Goal? Get some friends to pledge their support, pick a charity you’d like to benefit from your efforts and make it happen!

Stuff That Would Be Cool if it Happened

I have a deeply rooted, recurring fantasy that both Robert Pattinson and James McAvoy will fall in love with one of my screenplays and engage in an all-out effort to win my affections so I will choose one over the other for the coveted part.

Hey, a girl can dream...

While such a thing would categorically prove to me the power of prayer (and go a long way toward undoing the scars inflicted upon my psyche the year I was 7 and Santa Claus "took a tumble"), my life will, somehow, still be complete if it never happens.

So instead of stalking yummy, uber-talented A-listers, I shall put my desire for their attentions on my list of Stuff That Would Be Cool if it Happened.

At the end of March, writer Cherie Burbach posted her list of such Stuff on her blog.

In Cherie's words, this is a list of really cool things... that if they happened would be just so great you’d pinch yourself. These aren’t goals, and they aren’t part of your bucket list, rather, they are things that you really don’t have any control over. Kind of like winning the lottery. You may buy a ticket, but the rest is up to the universe. Even if you buy a ticket every week, it’s not like “win the lottery” is something you can do. It has to happen to you.

(Now, one of the things on Cherie's list is "Write a Song." I might argue that writing a song rarely just happens. It takes conscious work, much like writing anything else. But she knows that, and she refutes my argument before I even make it. Her song-writing "cool stuff" involves collaborating with one of her favorite songwriters. She also recognizes that though she likes the idea of writing a song, she's not going to put her life on the line to make it happen.)

This gives me the courage to post my own STWBCiiH list. It's stuff that I'd love for the universe to smile upon me and allow to happen, that would grace my time on this planet and put a bounce in my step. Serendipitous stuff like, for instance:

Being Cast as an Extra Movie Rider. I have no delusions of acting ability. I have no desire to ever be in front of a camera and be required to emote on any level. But I would jump at the chance to put my entire life on hold and ride a horse as an extra in a film. Heck, I'd even pay my own way for the privilege. 'Cause it looks like it would be a blast. ("There's Mommy, dear. In the twentieth row, seventh from the left, on the big bay." How cool would that be?)

Skydiving. I know I could just open the Yellow Pages, make a call, and go for a free-fall. But flinging myself out of a plane is not something I want to do by myself. If I die, I want to die with friends around to mourn my passing. My friend, movie director, pilot, and fearless sky-diver Paul Martin swears he'll take me diving whenever we actually begin shooting a feature we have collaborated on. I keep telling him that this event should happen sooner, rather than later, because with age comes wisdom -- and wisdom suggests that jumping from perfectly good planes is something someone of my age should not do. But he's older than I am and he keeps getting up after hitting the ground. So this remains on the list.

Voicing an Animated Character. Too many of my friends say I remind them of an escaped Muppet. Though the recurring theme of my life is looking for ways to avoid being in front of a camera, I would love to play around with voice options for helping pixels come to life.

Seeing Earth from Space. When I was a kid, for the longest time I wanted to be an astronaut. I would be willing to live on ramen noodles and water for a year in order to save up enough $$ to go into orbit. But even that probably wouldn't be enough for a down payment on a waiting list. Maybe there'll be a space-travel-for-starving-writers option before I die and become the stuff of stars... (Photo from NASA. Wish it was from my own camera...)

Riding the Pan-American Trail. How cool would it be to take a horse all 15,000 miles from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego? This clearly falls under something that I would have to make happen. And with my responsibilities as mom, spouse, bread-winner, etc., heading west to go for a lengthy ride seems the teensiest bit self-indulgent. ("At 50 miles a day, it should take me just under a year! You guys have enough mac & cheese to last? Ok. ::kiss. kiss:: Be good. Listen to Daddy. Say your prayers. Brush your teeth. I'll see you when you're 8.")

Having a Personal Tour of the Vatican Archives. I'd love the opportunity to just -- inhale -- all that history.

Swimming in an Antarctic Hot Spring. I almost didn't put this on here, because it's technically on my Life List. Someday, I swear, I'll sit in the hot springs on Deception Island. Just so I can say I did it.

Hearing Bon Jovi or Loreena McKennitt Sing One of My Songs. Or provide the soundtrack for a movie I wrote. That would be good, too.

Start a Global Goals-for-Charity Movement. My friend Kelly Smith and I are developing My Goal Posts, a site that encourages people to articulate a major goal, break it into bite-sized parts, and support their favorite charitable cause as they strive to make their goal reality.



It would be beyond cool if the idea would take off. It would be a painless way for people to make their dreams make a difference. I would like to be a part of that.

I could go on. Maybe another time I'll add to the list.

How about you? What's on your STWBCiiH list? Dreams, as you know, are free for the taking... Here's hoping that the best of yours come true.

First Benchmark for "First Book"

In our house, kids and books go together like peanut butter and jelly. Like syrup and pancakes. Like ketchup on french fries. It seems like my daughter has been reading ever since she's been born.

Reading is so prevalent in "Hendricksonville" that we tend to take a passion for the written word for granted. We can't imagine our lives without the joy of books.

First Book is a non-profit organization that understands the vital importance of literacy. First Book provides free books to children in need year-round. It has earned a top rating of four-stars by Charity Navigator, with more than 92% of donations going directly to their programs and less than 8% going to administrative costs and overhead.

When Kelly Smith decided to take me up on my Goal Posts challenge, First Book is the non-profit she chose to champion in her quest to finish her historical novel this year. I am honored to be one of her charter supporters. Today, the last day of January, I was thrilled to hear that she had met her first goal!

Yay, Kelly!

Want to encourage a writer and do some good in the world? Contact Kelly and sign up to be a supporter!

Want to make your own goals count to more than just you? Make your own Goal Post commitment. Good luck! And let me know when you've made your first benchmark!