Tip 9: Scale back

Ambition is great but progress is better. Scale back to keep going long-term.

If we had a top 10 list of top tips this would be number one. It’s the piece of advice we say the most and it’s the one that has the most impact despite it sounding a bit counter-intuitive to achieving big or long-term projects. Bear with us!

It’s good to be ambitious. It’s great to have ambitious goals. If you’re the kind of person who isn’t phased by taking on huge challenges then amazing (you’re a better person than I am).

However, what’s even better than having a big and exciting goal is to achieve it. And you are more likely to do that if they’re small.

How you scale back depends on you and where you are in your writing project.

• You could be at the start and not know where and how to get going - if so, start where you are with a tiny step that inches you forward.

• You could be in the (saggy) middle of your project and feel procrastination taking hold - if so, write for less time or write fewer words. Make your task as easy to do as procrastinating.

• Perhaps you set a goal but keep missing it. This can can stop us in our tracks as we get disheartened, the solution is to scale back to a tiny goal so you build up the wins and increase your confidence.

Make your goal smaller and keep scaling back until it is achievable. Don’t think about what you feel should be achievable or what other people produce - think about what’s possible for you right now.

‘But I’ll never make it…’

The objection we normally get to the ‘scale back’ advice goes something like this:

All well and good but I’ll never finish my project if I write so little!

To which we say:

But you’re writing little now and it’s making you feel miserable. It’s far better to get a few small pieces of writing finished than having big ambitions than never goes anywhere. Scale back now and scale up later on. Ambition is great but progress is even better.

Take care

Chris and Bec :)

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