Write your goals down; make them public so you’ll be held accountable. (Note: If you post this to your blog, then… check!)

Take Tucker out for a walk at least several times a week. You both need the exercise.

Spend no more than 30 minutes per day on social media. You can update your blog and your Twitter feed without letting them take over your entire day.

Finish your manuscript—the one that stays with you 24/7. That’s really all there is to say about that. Just finish the thing.

If you want to call yourself a writer, then you’re going to have to write. Figure out a way to write no matter what else might be going on in your personal life. No matter how much the sadness threatens to overwhelm you, no matter how exhausted you are, mentally or physically, there has to be a way to get it done. See if you can find a way that works.

Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get a particular thing done every single day, because there are bound to be days when it can’t. Beat yourself up if you have the opportunity, but don’t use it.

Remember that in writing, as in many other things in life, your mental attitude makes all the difference.