Setting Realistic Creative Goals for the Year

Over the past few years, I've been a chronic goal-spreader. What in the heck does that mean? Well, as many can relate, I've got a serious case of shiny object syndrome. I’ve been trying to do ALL THE THINGS at once without giving any single goal the time and attention it actually needs to succeed. And spoiler alert: it didn't work.😅

What I've learned the hard way is that I'm actually pretty good at following through when I focus on one specific goal. Case in point: when I finally got serious about my art and zeroed in on landing a licensing deal with a fabric company, it happened in under a year. With one of my top three choices. But when I'm juggling approximately twenty-million different goals at once? I'm basically half-assing everything.

So this year, I'm done with that. No more half-assing all the goals! I'm ready to whole-ass ONE big thing.😂

If you're nodding along thinking, "Yep, that's me too," you need to watch this video by creative entrepreneur Kelsey Rodriguez. She articulates this idea way better than I can. The gist of it, though, is that the secret to creative success isn't innate talent, it's unwavering focus. She talks about how to channel your effort into a single specific thing while dealing with self-doubt and external pressures, plus gives actionable advice for actually achieving your ambitious goals.

WATCH: This video will find you when you need it most

Curious about what whole-assing one big “thing” looks like for me?😆

First of all, my main focus this year is to sign on with an art agency. Eurgh. It feels uncomfortably vulnerable to say that on a public post. But you know what? I need the accountability.😅 I’ve realized over the past few years of inconsistent pitching that…well, frankly, I hate it. I never want to do the research required. I’m terrible at remembering to follow up more than (maybe) once (even with a spreadsheet, schedule, and reminders!🙃). I actively dislike curating my portfolio to, again, approximately, seventeen-million different industries. So I end up productively procrastinating on it like a champ (I’m Olympic-level good at productive procrastination). I’m not bad at doing any of this; I’m actually pretty good at it. I just hate doing it. (We hates it, precious!)

One day, I caught myself thinking the thought: “Man, it would be nice if I could hire someone to do all the research, pitching, and negotiation for me.”

And then I thought, “…Wait a minute. That’s literally what art agencies do.”

(Look. I’m tired. I wear a lot of hats. Sometimes those hats fall over my eyes and blind me to what’s right in front of me (lol).)

Now, can I control if I get chosen by any of the art agencies I’ll submit to? Of course not. Ultimately, it’s out of my control. But what is in my control is putting all of my focus on accomplishing this one goal, rather than spreading myself too thin trying to win at everything.

This way, I’ll have one type of portfolio curated for one thing: art agencies, rather than needing to curate my portfolio for different industries and different companies within said industries.

And much as I love teaching, it has been taking way more of my focus and time than I would like. So I’ve decided that this year will be the first year since 2015 in which I don’t make a single class, for Skillshare or otherwise. I’m still going to be in support teaching roles in a few of the various creative spaces I support in (I love it so much!!!), but I’m holding off on creating my own course content, at least until I’ve achieved my goal of signing on with an art agency. And then, who knows how I’ll feel? I guess we’ll see! But I have to cut out what isn’t serving me in this moment.

And another thing that’s great about this goal for me is that all of the weak points that I need to address happen to coincide with my sub-goals, so for example, I really need more placement illustrations (i.e. not repeating patterns) for my portfolio, and one of my sub-goals is to make more art. Perfect! This sounds obvious now that I’ve written it out like this, but you get what I’m saying.😆

I’m pretty excited about this, y’all. And one quality I do possess is a variable truckload of determination, and, as Kelsey put it, the utter audacity to believe in myself.😎

It's a lesson that took me way too long to learn. Don't be like past me, be like future us who actually finish what we start! 🙌🩷✨

Love,