Two-Fifty Tuesday: Achievement Good…

…Accomplishment Better

I’m an achievement junkie. I set goals and I work hard to achieve them. When I do, I get my high. It’s why I make to-do lists. The hit I get from crossing off a completed item is addictive. 

Here’s the problem for writers, though. The achievement many of us strive for is a published book or completed story. But it takes so long and the payoff is so far off that we suffer withdrawal symptoms. 

Enter: accomplishment. 

Accomplishment comes from feeling like you learned something from a task you completed. That you grew in your skills, ability or perspectives. If achievement for a writer is publication, then accomplishment is the first draft of chapter one. You actually started your story! You learned how to get words out of your head! 

Accomplishments are also something no one else cares about (except your book coach. 🙂 ) Does finishing the first draft of chapter one get you adoring fans and glowing accolades? Of course not. Does it make you feel good? Absolutely.

That’s the benefit of accomplishment. You get the same high as achievement, only, it’s now in your control. And you can create your own constant supply. 

It’s not always easy to focus on what you’re learning and how you’re improving, rather than the end result—but it makes the long haul of writing a lot more enjoyable. And that’s the high we want.