August 1 always feels like the beginning of a new year to me. No, I don’t spend July 31 drinking champagne and counting down the seconds until midnight, but there’s something about August that feels like a clean slate. Most likely, I feel this way because I’m a teacher and August means the beginning of a new school year, but I use this month to start anew in all areas of life, not just my teaching career.

“All In August” is usually my motto for this month. August is the month that I decide to go “all in” with my goals. Think about what could happen in your life if you did the same.

Here are five things you should go “all in” with this month.

Start writing the book you’ve been carrying in your heart for years.

This month I’m going all in with my book project. Last month I wrote a first draft. It was terrible, but that’s exactly what first drafts are supposed to be. This month my goal is to write a draft that I actually won’t be ashamed to give to an editor next month.

Focus on growing one social media platform at a time.

When it comes to social media, it would be nice to be everywhere all the time to maximize your exposure, but it would also be nice to eat cupcakes and ice cream every day and not gain weight or get sick.  Let’s be adults about this. Let’s be realistic.

This month I’m going to focus on growing my Instagram following and that’s it. This doesn’t mean I’m going to disappear from all other forms of social media. I’ll still schedule tweets and Facebook posts, but my #1 social media goal will be growing my Instagram following. (You can follow me here.)

Send story pitches to 4 of your favorite publications.

Roni Faida Clark of RoniTheTravelGuru.com recommends that bloggers send pitches to brands EVERY SINGLE DAY. I still remember when she shared this during a workshop at last year’s Blogalicious conference. I and the See Jane Write members at the table with me all audibly gasped. But I kept thinking about how writers should be just as serious about pitching to the publications we want to write for. Because I’m working on my book this month, I can’t realistically send story pitches every day. But I can send one every week. And so can you. So, this month let’s send story pitches to four of our favorite publications.

Related Reading: How to Pitch Like a Pro

Strive to double your blog’s monthly page views.

When working on a book it’s tempting to abandon blogging. But it’s important to continue to build your platform so you’ll have a group of loyal readers eager to buy your book once it’s published. To make sure I don’t slack on blogging, I’m setting the goal of doubling my monthly page views in August. How do I plan to pull this off? I plan to post more and promote those posts like crazy.

Guest blog for one of your favorite websites.

Guest blogging is another great way to drive more traffic to your site. This month I plan to reach out to 10 websites that I love in hopes that at least one will publish my work.

If you’re interested in sending pitches to publications or guest post ideas to blogs, remember to get familiar with the outlet first so that you don’t pitch a story the publication has already done. For guest blogging, mention specific posts the author has written that had an impact on you. Share your idea and expertise to show why you’re the right person for the story or post and include links to writing samples.

What are your goals for the month? If you need help setting your goals for August, click here to get a free goal setting and planning workbook.