“If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.”
– Mario Andretti
Well, we’re just past the half-way point of the year, and guess what?
A lot of us have already chucked both our New Year’s resolutions and our goals for 2013.
I never even make New Year’s resolutions anymore.
The only New Year’s tradition at the Roller house is running around our neighborhood without shoes or shirt for about 5 minutes (this picture was taken on January 1, 2012, when it was 4 °F and my son couldn’t quite make it on his own. I cheated – I wore flip flops.)
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against setting goals. Far from it. I have a 3-ring binder full of goals, including 21 specific things I want to accomplish this year.
But a few years ago, I stumbled upon something that’s been much more productive for me than New Year’s resolutions or yearly goals.
The “copywriting sprint”
As a former long-distance runner, when I started building my full-time freelance business on March 31, 2009, I looked at the process as a marathon to pace myself through.
It is, in a way, and it’s good to think long-term.
But too much endurance thinking has a way of slowing down the brain. You tend to trudge along without a sense of urgency.
I’ve done it both ways. I’ve trudged, and I’ve sprinted. And I’ve accomplished a lot more when I sprinted, even if it meant I was a bit out of control.
If you want to forge ahead full-steam the second half of the year, and leave the plodders in the dust, try this:
- Determine a 40-day sprint period. I don’t know why, but this period of time has always worked well for me. It’s long enough to get things done, but short enough that you can focus intensely. If you start this Friday, July 12, your sprint will end August 20.
- Write down your three most pressing goals. Maybe you want to get a new client, re-do your website, or finish your book. I’d recommend making one of the three goals a financial one – how much you want to earn in 40 days, down to the penny.
- For the next 40 days, forget about your New Year’s resolutions. Forget about your 1-year, 5-year, and lifetime goals (just for the immediate future, not forever.) In fact, don’t even worry about what you’ll be doing in September.
- Put your head down and don’t look up until August 20. Do everything in your power to develop a laser-like focus for the next 40 days on these three goals only.
Tell me about your sprint. Are you up for the challenge? What is one of your three most pressing goals? How can I help you get there? What date are you starting?
