Goals, writing a bestseller and the law of attraction

If you are a regular follower of my blog you will know I’m quite keen on goals. I set goals for my writing: I set annual goals, which get broken down into weekly, monthly and daily goals. I come from a managerial background. Before I was writing full time I worked with targets both for myself and my staff.  (I wish I had staff now, ones that did housework and cooked dinner, sigh…). And goals transfer well to writing. They keep me motivated and help me to plan my work.

Today I was talking to Helen, a very wise, and very good friend of mine, about one of her favourite subjects, the law of attraction. If you haven’t heard of this before, it is the process of attracting things, people, money, and – well virtually anything you like really – into your life, effortlessly.

“You could do it,” Helen said, with a huge smile. “What would you like to attract into your life right now?”

“What I would like most,” I said, after a few minutes thought – OK, three seconds thought – “Is for my novel, Ice and a Slice, to be a bestseller.”

“Right,” she said, “You’ve just taken the first step. You’ve thought about what you would like.”

“How many steps are there?” I asked.

“Four,” she informed me cheerily.

So step one: Think about what you would like to happen. 

“What’s step two?” I asked.

“Form a clear intention about exactly what that means. Write it down.”

I had a think.  “Hmmm, well, I think I would like Ice and a Slice to be on the New York Times Bestseller List, oh and it would be quite nice if it was a Sunday Times Bestseller too. That would be pretty cool.”

Step two: Be specific. Identify a very clear goal and write it down somewhere you will see it often.

I thought it might be quite a fine plan to write it on the cover of my novel. Which was excellent fun. I recommend this. See picture.

“Step three,” Helen continued, “Is to take action.  Think about your goal (what it actually means) and then identify the actions you need to take to make your goal happen.”

Step three: Take Action.

That was pretty easy. If I want my novel to be a bestseller I need to sell a lot of copies. How exactly do I go about that? Well, I need to tell people about it for starters. Ideally, it would be good if I could get an advert on prime time television – in between the first and second half of Corrie would be excellent, or maybe Britain’s Got Talent.  However, I think this may require slightly more of a budget than I’ve got at my disposal 🙂

So what’s Plan B?

I can tell people about it.  Hence this blog – well you are reading it aren’t you?  Did I mention that Ice and a Slice is now out in paperback and it’s available here. You may find your copy doesn’t have quite the same cover as the copy above, but it’s close. It’s also available for Kindle enabled devices here.

“So is step four, to sit back and watch your plan, come to fruition?” I asked Helen with a wink.

“No, it is not,” she said, wagging a finger. “Step four is a ‘results step’ you are right there, but it does not involve sitting around doing nothing.” (I had a feeling that would be the case!)

“As you continue to carry out the actions that will make your goal a reality you will grow both personally and spiritually. But you must persevere. You must carry out these actions with passion. You must never, ever give up. It is in the process of action, action and more action that you will grow spiritually, and you will also inspire other people.”

Step four: Persevere. Never give up, which will result in both personal spiritual growth and will also inspire other people.

I decided to have another go at the cover. Just to be sure – this one’s slightly different. Check out the top right hand corner. I really do recommend you do this with your own bestseller projects by the way.  It’s excellent fun.

Does it work? I have no idea. But I have a great deal of respect for my friend, Helen.

Watch this space!

What I can confirm, however, is that if you are feeling low about anything, whether it is writing related or anything else, trying these four steps really does cheer you up. So it’s worth doing it just for that reason. I would really love to hear your thoughts. Please do comment.

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8 Responses to Goals, writing a bestseller and the law of attraction

  1. Laura says:

    I’m currently working on my own law of attraction to help with motivating me to write! Procrastination is my middle name, but hey there’s no harm in being positive….I’ve only been doing this for a while and I’m already seeing some good results!
    Good luck and I have everything crossed for u!
    Laura xx

    • Della Galton says:

      Thanks, Laura, procrastination is one of my favourite activities too – especially if I’ve got access to the internet. But positive thinking definitely definitely works. Happy writing 🙂

  2. Great post, Della. I’m so glad I’m not the only one who sets yearly, monthly, weekly and daily goals. The advice from your friend reminds me of the concept of “cosmic ordering” .While I was looking for that phrase because I couldn’t remember it, I came across this quote from Dr Brian Weiss. “You still have to go beyond understanding and make changes, improve the world, repair relationships, forgive others and accept their forgiveness.” In other words, as you say, you can’t just sit around waiting for things to happen. But I also believe that what is meant to come to you will come anyway, regardless of what you do. Confusing, isn’t it? x

    • Della Galton says:

      Yes, actually you’re right, Melissa – it is confusing. I have this other theory though, which is that if you move in a direction that is right for you, the universe will assist. That’s been my experience anyway!

  3. kath says:

    Great blog! I so agree – identify your goals and then work towards them, positively. And never say ‘I can’t…’ Because you can.

  4. Della Galton says:

    Yes, the words, I can, can get you a long way 🙂

  5. Hi, Della. We met a few years back at Earnley (what ever happened to Earnley? Sad) Well, enjoyed the piece a lot. I’ve tried similar things but, as yet, no tangible success has come about. But I agree, the important thing is not to give up. Hope your friend’s strategy works for you. You deserve it.

    • Della Galton says:

      Hi Anne, lovely to hear from you. Re Earnley, watch this space, it won’t be at Earnley for obvious reasons but Southern Writers is being resurrected next year 🙂 And thanks, I shall keep you posted re the visualisation strategy. Some pretty interesting things have happened so far!

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