Guest Blogger - Amber Stockton on Sticking to Your Goals

For December, I am pleased to have Amber Stockton as my guest blogger on the importance of sticking to your goals and to offer a glimpse at her latest release, Patterns and Promises, from Heartsong Presents!

Let’s face it. Not many people these days are living their dreams or achieving their goals. And why? Because they’ve lost sight of the goal and allowed other distractions to deter them. Before you even take the first step toward the goals you want to achieve, write them down!

Writing helps you visualize the goals. It also forces a commitment on your part. Only about 5% of the population actually takes the time to write down their goals and dreams. Writing down your goals creates the roadmap to your success. Although just the act of writing them down can set the process in motion, it is also extremely important to review your goals frequently. Remember, the more focused you are on your goals the more likely you are to accomplish them.
Some quick tips for writing your goals:

Write your goal in the positive. The more positive the instructions, the more positive the results will be. Thinking positively will also help in your growth a human being. Don’t just limit it to goal-setting.

Write your goals out in complete detail. Be as specific as possible. Instead of writing, “Sell a book,” write, “Sell a romantic suspense where the heroine is faced with solving the mystery of several murders, and the man who comes to help might just be a suspect.” If you can visualize the goal, you can see the finish line.

Write in the present tense. Don’t write, “I will write 1000 words a day”, or your mind will believe it can be postponed. Instead, write as if the goals are currently true. “I am writing 1000 words each day.” You’ll be amazed at how easily your subconscious mind will transfer that thought into reality.

Re-write your goals often. When goals are re-written, they have the most impact. Just like a book that goes through several drafts before the final manuscript is ready, so your goals must be revised and fine tuned for maximum efficiency.

Writing your goals down is the first step toward making the goals more real. Somehow having things in writing makes them seem more important to most people. It will also make it easier to make the plans needed to reach your goals if you have something in writing. You’ll breathe life into those goals, making them a force which cannot be easily stopped.

About Amber: Tiffany Amber Stockton is an author, online marketing consultant, and web site designer who lives with her husband and fellow author, Stuart, and their baby daughter in Colorado. They also have a vivacious Border Collie mix named Roxie. Amber has sold eight books to Barbour Publishing with more on the horizon. Other writing credits include five short stories for Romancing the Christian Heart, and contributions to Grit for the Oyster and 101 Ways to Romance Your Marriage. Her goal in writing is to convey the message that God is always present, even during the most difficult circumstances. Read more about her at her web site: http://www.amberstockton.com/.

Patterns and Progress

A farmer's daughter would rather turn back the hands of time than accept the fact that advancement in technology could be in God's plan.

Shannon Delaney was right. Every time she might consider changing her stance on what other people called progress, something bad would happen and she would be proven right again. Take the day Jacob Berringer almost ran her over in that new Model-T, for instance. And he had the nerve to suggest she'd been daydreaming? Or the Titanic. A marvel of modern invention. Look where that got them. Or how about the new tractor her brother insisted they try out. What did he get from that? A broken arm. Why can't things just stay the way they are—the way they should be? Jacob's got his work cut out for him, proving to the stubborn but beautiful Shannon that just because he works for the Henry Ford Company, he isn't evil incarnate. But something about her tells him she's worth the effort, and when Jacob puts his mind to something, he doesn't turn back. But will either of them look to God for direction?

Read the first chapter here: http://www.amberstockton.com/excerpts/pnpexcerpt.html