Excellent post. I usually set myself a goal of writing 2,000 words a day on whatever novel I'm writing (I'm working on my third, currently). I often write more than that, but 2,000 a day is a reasonable, easy goal to reach for me, and pushes the book along nicely, so I finish it in a decent amount of time. Setting reasonable goals is key, as is giving yourself rewards for meeting big goals, such as finishing writing a novel. Writing goals down also helps you to achieve them.
Good stuff. Here's a follow from me to help you begin to build your audience. :)