Here at the beginning of the year, I want to challenge you to start thinking about the end of the year.

Yes, I know the year has just started … but if you don’t consider what your goals are, you’ll never achieve them. As Stephen Covey says in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind.” So with that, I want to challenge you to think about what you want your writing life and business to look like at the end of this year.

To that end, we’re doing a short 5-day series on New Year’s Goals for writers. I’m going to issue five challenges to you—five commitments to make this year.

If you do these five things, I promise they will change your life!

The first goal is to finally write that book you’ve been talking and dreaming about for years. It’s never seemed urgent. Dreams rarely seem urgent until you wake one day and realize that time is slipping away and you never accomplished what you wanted to do.

When you write a book, you automatically become an authority on that topic. A book can open doors, help you make money, change people’s lives, and go places in the world you’ll never be able to go.

When you have a book out there with your name on it, it’s MAGIC.

Success in your writing life does not need to be complicated. In fact, success usually comes down to doing just a few focused things well. As a writer, getting your first book out there—or your NEXT one—is a critical piece of the puzzle.

It’s been said that 8 out of 10 people want to write a book. However, the vast majority of people never do it. When you choose to put the time and effort into finally writing that book, you’ll be able to join the elite club of people known as AUTHORS.

You can do it! Commit to making it happen this year.

Today’s challenge: Shoot me an email with the subject line, “I’m in!” and tell me about the book you want to write this year. You can email me at kent@dailywriterlife.com.