Dragon Lake Books

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goals

Small Steps

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When you’ve no time, how do you change your life?

One small step at a time.

In 2007 I set out to write a novel. I committed to writing 100 words daily and knew if I persevered, I would finish Fallen Warriors in four years. It took ten, but eventually, Fallen Warriors was published.

Small steps, taken daily, lead to long journeys.

Five minutes tidying a room, daily, will gradually clear the clutter.

Ten minutes pulling weeds, daily, tames your garden.

We can all find a few minutes each day to work towards our goals.

What you will achieve will be amazing!

Analysis of a Project

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Back in 2013 I completed one of the largest projects I’d tackled to date and decided to work out what I’d actually managed to produce during four months developing a complex business application. I realised then that I’d actually produced the equivalent of a book with all the code, queries and user documentation I’d written. That realisation was pivotal in helping me believe I could finish my first novel.

Last week I completed a much smaller project, one that only took 17 days and decided to carry out the same analysis.

The final application had:

  • 12 user forms, each providing a different type of functionality to the users.
  • 3635 lines of code.
  • 13 database tables
  • 57 SQL queries.
  • 28 user guide.

Converting those lines of code into pages, that’s 95 pages, plus effectively 57 pages for the SQL queries and the 28 page user guide. A total of 180 pages, not including the forms or database design. 180 pages equivalent, after editing and testing… A proof read, formatted, final draft…

Divided by number of days on the project, that works out to just over ten pages a day, full time. So, in theory, if I could match that level of output for my fiction writing, I could potentially write a 300 page novel in 30 working days, or in six weeks.

Writing that last sentence, I still find it hard to believe that it’s possible. But, it’s worth noting that I’ve been working as a software developer for 13 years now. Enough time to have honed my skills, to have learned the methods and routines that allow me to tackle complex projects.

If we keep working towards developing our skills and experience in areas we want to improve, we will see progress. Often, there is no substitute for perseverance. For taking the long road, building discipline and habits. This is part of the reason I’ve set myself the challenge of writing at least 100 words a day for 100 days.

What goals do you want to achieve? What skills will you need to achieve them? Will you commit to developing those skills, day in and out? If you do, one day you’ll look back and be amazed at how far you’ve come.

Looking back

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Growing up I was taught to look back, to consider what I’d done. My father worked as a printer and I would help him in his printshop. At the end of the day he would take stock of what he had achieved: 5,000 pages numbered; 2,000 sets of carbon sets collated; 500 tickets printed…

He looked at what he had planned to achieve and what he had actually managed to achieve. Comparing those two allowed him to see whether his estimates were accurate or needed refinement, to see whether he needed to charge more for the work he was doing.

It’s a valuable habit to get into. Reflecting on what we planned to achieve against what we actually achieved and then considering whether we should change how we manage ourselves based on that analysis.

More about this tomorrow…

All of my…

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As I start writing this post, I’ve yet to write up a formal plan for how I’m going to complete this goal of writing 100 words a day for 100 days.

I feel it will be important to set milestones and at each milestone, review where I’m at. This will give me a shorter timeframe to focus on which will make it easier to keep going. Rather than focusing on the big, impossible 100 day target, I just need to focus on the smaller goal.

25 days may be a good milestone. Breaks the target into four manageable chunks.

Also, I’m already starting to think in terms of weeks. I’m considering making every Friday Flash Fiction Friday. Every Sunday I plan to post about Jesus and faith.

I’ve already realised that I need to be writing two posts on Saturday – one for Sunday and one for Monday so I can take a day off each week.

Yet with all this thinking around planning…

On Sunday we worshipped using a Robin Mark song: Jesus, All For Jesus.

The words always give me pause. My ambitions. My hopes. My plans. Can I really surrender these? Have I really surrendered them to God?

Who am I blogging for?

I confess that I blog mainly for myself. I write mainly for myself. I am ambitious mainly for myself.

I suspect I will always battle with an inner desire to do for myself.

Yet, may my focus turn outward. May I look to serve Jesus through my writing. I suspect this is what I was made for, that I will only find freedom and purpose by living for Jesus.

Day One Dread

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It does get easier, but it is often hard to imagine that as your first day approaches.

I can understand why some people never even make it into their first day at a new job. Fear of change, fear of commitment, fear of the unknown, of not being up to the task – all of these can contribute to a temptation to quit before even starting.

Yet I know from experience that the act of turning up makes a lot of that fear fade away. Day two is always easier than day one. Day three becomes a little better. Every day you turn up, the fear evaporates a little until turning up becomes the new normal.

And in some situations you can cheat… which is what I’m doing here 🙂

I wrote this post early and indeed am planning to write every day’s post the day before or even earlier if I can. My commitment is to writing 100 words every day. That doesn’t mean I can’t get a drop on tomorrow if I have the chance.

If you are feeling an increasing sense of dread at the thought of taking on a new challenge, it is normal. Hang in there! Every time you face that fear and overcome it, you build a strength to help you overcome the next fear you might face.

Today is day one of my self imposed challenge to write 100 words a day for 100 days. Or at least it will be, when today finally arrives… 😉

100 words – A transformation

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The goal I set myself
to write 100 words
a day
for 100 days
is one I share with you.
The power
of daily progress
cannot
be overestimated.
Brick by brick
the house is built.
Drop by drop
a lake is drained.
Small steps
towards your goal
will take you there.
Small steps
will train you,
will build discipline,
will give you a sense
of satisfaction,
will allow you
to gradually
take longer steps,
walk further each day,
run faster,
jump higher,
until…
Not only has your goal been achieved
but you as a person
are transformed.
Will you join me
today?

© Mark Anderson Smith 2017