Goals should be realistic for who you are as a writer. Your prose is your fingerprint. It cannot be compared to someone elses, so why compare or compete with another author’s daily word count?
Well, if you’re like me it challenges you, but here’s the rub. Adding a challenge to the already daunting task of finishing a novel is sort of like scooping water into your row-boat. It sort of defeats the purpose and eventually you’ll sink.
I set goals that I know I can meet. They don’t always compare with other authors. In fact, they rarely do, but you know what? I’m not trying to be other authors. I’m trying to be me, and me wants to finish a book without neglecting family, friends and the occasional DVR date. LOL.
Does that mean I’m not taking myself seriously?
Hell no!
It means I’m balancing myself.
I only wish “balancing myself” didn’t have to include counting calories or going to the gym. *sigh* 🙂
LIVE MESSY© 
I like this. Our goals should be our own. It does us no good to compare ourselves to another. All this tends to do is make us self-judge. No growth in that! Peace. Mark
Delightful…couldn’t agree with you more about the comparisions…or the calories and gym.
I enjoy the gym way more than I enjoy counting calories. LOL
Very true. Comparing ourselves to others is to take a defeatist attitude right from the start. Someone else might right faster or need less editing or have less things going on in their personal life. We also need to keep in mind that some days things are going to happen that keep us from meeting our WIP and not kick ourselves for it or we will find it harder and harder to work on the writing each day. Great post.
Thanks so much for your kind words and for reading my blog!