Struggling to Reach a Goal? Here’s Some Inspiration: Author and Business Owner Angela Correll
Angela Correll is a go-getter and all-around great gal. She is a co-founder of several successful businesses, a business owner, and an author of three Southern contemporary fiction novels. (Last week, I read Grounded–the first book in her May Hollow Trilogy series.) See what I mean? She’s no slacker!
I recently asked Angela how she managed to write while engaged with so many other endeavors. What she told me can apply to just about anything we have a mind to accomplish, no matter how busy we are. Here’s what she said:
“We all make time for the things we want to make time for.” When she first had it in her heart to write a novel, Angela hit the common snags. She constantly felt a tension between feeling the need and desire to write but thinking she didn’t have the time to do it. Her chores and commitments always seemed to crowd out her writing time, fragmenting it to the point where she produced very little, leaving her feeling frustrated.
She had to designate and protect regular time to write. For Angela, that meant getting up around 5:30 and writing until late morning. It wasn’t easy at first to find her rhythm, but she knew she was the most creative and relaxed in the early morning. She had to respect the hours she set aside for her goal. “If you don’t respect them, no one else will,” she told me. (Preach, sister.) She also had support. Her husband Jess volunteered to tend to the dogs and chickens each morning (normally her chores), so she could get to work and stay in the “zone.” She kept up this routine six days a week.
“Accountability is key.” Writing isn’t a task with a quick ending. It’s a time-consuming long game with plenty of opportunities for self-doubt to creep in and paralyze you. Angela realized she needed to have some external person out there waiting on her to turn in what she committed to producing each week in order to make it to the finish line. She told me, “Most of us don’t have someone in our life checking in with us regularly asking, ‘How are you spending time writing? Are you nurturing that side of your life?’” So, she contacted a writer friend she knew would challenge her to stick with her commitment (a chapter a week) and offer feedback. Angela hired her friend for a nominal fee, making this a business exchange.
Knowing someone was waiting on her to turn in her writing for the week kept her on task and helped her work in bite-size chunks–one chapter at a time, plus revisions from the previous chapter she received feedback on. In the end, she completed her first novel in nine months. (She finished ahead of schedule. She had given herself a full year.)
Bottom line: Angela was intentional with her goal of writing a novel. She prioritized and compartmentalized it. When her writing time was done for the day, she put it aside to attend to her other tasks and commitments, nurture her relationships, and spend time with the Lord until the following morning when it was time to write again.
Without intentionality, our days pass by, and our goals are left unmet. The early morning may not be possible for you, but find some regular time you can devote to writing or any other endeavor you feel called to. Regular. Time. Angela’s rhythm and commitment paid off, not only for her but for those who read her work! I enjoyed reading Grounded because I cared about her characters, and it transported me to life in a small Kentucky town and farm, which I found compelling. The dialogue is believable, and she weaves in topics like sustainable farming that made me think. Grounded invited me to a world outside my own–yet it felt familiar–and welcomed me in. I look forward to reading Guarded and Granted, the other books in her series.
Friend, what has been impressed upon your heart to accomplish? How will you take one step this week toward that goal?
(By the way, Angela continues to put intentionality into practice. She has some exciting projects currently in the works, so stay tuned for an announcement later this year. You can subscribe to her newsletter here: https://angelacorrell.com.)