When I initially set a goal for myself, nine times out of ten it will be abstract and unmeasurable; not particularly useful in the long run, but enough to get me moving in the right direction.

My specific fitness goal for 2017 is to be able to hold an l-sit on gymnastics rings, and this goal is helping to shape my long-term approach to fitness throughout the year. On the other hand, I have not had any sort of equivalently defined goal when it comes to writing; it has essentially just been ‘improve writing skills’.

I’ve previously considered whether writing posts regularly counts as ’enough’ of a specific and measurable goal, and I’ve ultimately come down against the idea because it strikes me as much more of a process than it does than something uniquely identifiable as a goal.

Since my days as an undergraduate humanities student I have always wanted to try my hand at writing a book, but over the years, while I’ve had some ideas, I’ve haven’t made the time, had the discipline or the drive to follow through.

The task of putting together an entire book remains as daunting as it was back then, but I have settled on a topic that I believe is worth the investment in time to explore in a book format, and so I am replacing my abstract goal of improving my writing skills this year with the specific goal of writing this book.