It’s good to have a balance in all things, right? Like a well-balanced diet – not too much protein, not too many carbs, lots of vegetables. Or a good work-life balance – yes, you want to advance your career and make money, but not at the expense of neglecting your family.

Balance and moderation are good things usually. We could all probably do with more balance in certain areas of our lives (like finding that perfect balance of staying connected on social media without letting kitten pictures on Instagram or trolls on Facebook suck up all of our time and mental energy).

Anyway, as lovely as balance and moderation are, sometimes you have to get out of balance to achieve a goal or to grow yourself in a certain area. For example, one of my goals for 2017 is to get out of balance with my dedication to writing.

I have lofty goals of publishing several works this year, and so to do that, I need to do more than what I’ve done in the past. For me, writing needs to become a greater priority than ever. If I want to have multiple stories of publishable quality, then a nice balance of writing and other life stuff isn’t going to be enough. I need to tip the scale by putting more weight on the writing side.

There’s nothing wrong with writing just every now and then, or writing only when the muse strikes. But if you’re in a position like I am, where you’re wanting to take your writing to the next level (whatever that might mean for you), then you need to get out of balance.

Dedication. Grit. Hustle. Motivated. These are terms that people use when they’re working hard at reaching a goal or chasing a dream. And it means that their life is out of balance, because every thought, decision, and action is focused on their goal.

This doesn’t mean you should totally neglect everything else in your life (especially not little things like your family, your primary source of income, or your mental and physical health). But if you’re serious about doing more with your writing (or whatever goal you’re pursuing), then focus hard and get out of balance.