Setting Goals and Objectives as an Artist
A person with a clear purpose will make progress, even on the roughest road. A person with no purpose will make no progress, even on the smoothest road. Thomas Carlyle
Setting goals and objectives are important to your success as an artist. What are your goals? What does your dream life look like? Do you have your goals recorded or written down so that you can read through them regularly? Here are 5 reasons why you need to set clearly defined goals for yourself in every area of life- mentally, spiritually, physically, socially, financially, etc.
First of all, it’ll help you stay on track. You’ll have a road map of where you’re going (overall destination) and stops along the way (sub-goals). You’ll be able to measure your progress. It’s true that you won’t be able to know exactly what your path will look like. There will be unexpected opportunities as well as obstacles that come up but at least you’ll be headed in the right direction.
You’ll have less wasted time and you’ll get more done. Not only will you be able to schedule times to work on your goals, but you’ll be able to take advantage of unscheduled opportunities that come up. Let’s say, for example, that a family member offers to do some chores for you which gives you a few extra hours. If you have your goals written out, you can take full advantage of opportunities like these. You won’t waste any time deciding what you should do.
Setting goals and objectives will help you be more decisive. You’ll know which opportunities to pursue and which to let go. Will you go on that shopping trip with your friends or will you decline and so you can put aside more money for that printer you’ve been wanting.
Life will be more fun, exciting and meaningful. Even as you work on those mundane chores that need to be done every day, you’ll have a sense of purpose and something to look forward to.
Having goals will motivate you to discipline yourself and get rid of bad habits. You’ll want to do the things that help you stay healthy– eat wholesome foods, drink enough water, exercise etc., not just because you should, but because you want to feel good and have plenty of energy to work on your art business.
If you don’t have a plan for your life, circumstances and other people will likely decide how you’ll spend your time and energy. Setting goals will keep you from drifting aimlessly through life.
In a way, setting goals is pretty simple. Figure out what you want to accomplish and write it down. It does take some thought. Take a few days or even weeks to contemplate what you really want to do with your life. Keep a notepad and pen or a voice recorder handy as you go about your day.
As ideas come to you, write them down. Allow yourself to dream and imagine what you would do if you had unlimited time, money and resources. In a few days you may have several pages of things you want to change or accomplish.
After that, it’s time to take a look at what you wrote down. Some of the items on your list may not be a high priority right now. You can file them in a “Maybe Someday” file (I learned about this from Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, a book by David Allen)
For example, some day, I would like to get a degree in graphic design, but for right now it’s not a high priority. It goes in the “Maybe Someday” file.
The items you want to work on now need to be broken down into manageable action steps. For example, you may have a goal to own an art gallery. Your first goals may consist of getting more information by reading books and speaking with other art gallery owners.
For the goals that I work on daily, I have two “next actions” lists (Allen, p. 19, 2002). One list has things on it that require a higher level of concentration and focus, such as deciding how to finish up a piece of art or working on a book that I’m writing. Things that don’t require as much focus and energy go on the other list. Examples might be, working on a mixed media piece or creating a YouTube video to demonstrate a technique.
Have a plan but be realistic. For instance if you’re taking care of young children or working at a job 40 hours a week, you probably don’t want to schedule 5 hours a day to work on your art business.
However, do have a plan to work on your goals regularly- whether it’s every day or 3 times a week. It may be as simple as reading for 20 minutes and journaling about what you learned or starting a blog so that you can upload images of your artwork and write about what you created.
Personally, I hate stress so I avoid making hard and fast deadlines for myself. I may set soft deadlines but mainly, I focus on making progress by working on my projects regularly. For example, every morning I write until 7 o’clock. Then I spend 20 minutes exercising. After that I work on my art for 2 or 3 hours, depending on what’s going on that day.
Decide if there’s anything you want to change about yourself in order to be more productive. For example, maybe you’ll want to spend less time watching TV and more time reading. Perhaps you’ll want to get to bed earlier so you can get up earlier to work on your projects. Maybe you’ll want to change your diet or take a vitamin supplement so you’ll have more energy throughout the day. One artist quit eating white sugar and junk food so she’d have more energy at night.
Record your goals. There are numerous ways to record your goals, a simple notebook and pen will suffice and so will a document on your laptop. You may prefer to use a goal setting app on your phone. Pick the method that works best for you. The important thing is that it’s easy for you to access and use.
Another thought: some people find that they are much more apt to read their goals regularly if they are typed or written out neatly. If they are jotted down on a messy piece of paper, they may never look at them again.
Setting goals is a personal thing. Find a system that works for you and your lifestyle. What’s important is that the system you choose helps you make progress on the goals you have for your life.