What does success mean to you? Does it mean a lot of money, a beautiful car in the driveway, or a big happy family?
For me, success means that I get to wake up every day and do what I love. Don’t get me wrong, I also want most of the things mentioned above; but a job that I love has always been a big goal of mine.
Unfortunately, jobs that demand creativity and self-expression are in short supply. When was the last time you saw a sign that said, “Now hiring: creative people with an overwhelming desire to draw?”
So because of my love of creativity, I decided to become a book illustrator. I wasn’t aware, however, of how much work that would take. It involves even more work if you’re self employed.
When you’re working freelance, you’re responsible for what gets done and when. If you don’t set goals for yourself, and determine what it means for you to have had a successful day, week or year, than It becomes hard to stay motivated.
I found that out first-hand during the first half of the pandemic. I’d always been a pretty motivated student, and didn’t really think I’d slack off if I neglected to set any specific goals for myself.
But after a while of considering myself “self-employed,” it became more and more obvious that I wasn’t getting anything done. I mean, I’d do a bit of work in the morning, but it still felt like I was only treading water, and waiting for some boat of opportunity and wonder to find me and bring me aboard.
But anyone who’s been in the art world for long enough will tell you, that’s not the way things work. You can’t just sit around and hope that someone’s going to notice you out there in the middle of the ocean. Because that’s what the art world is; an ocean of really talented, passionate people who are all asking to be brought aboard a very small boat of opportunity and wonder.
You have to become your own boat. You have to create the opportunity for yourself. You have to become the wonder that the world is looking for.
In order to stop treading water and start moving forward, you have to know where you’re going. That’s why it’s important to set daily, weekly, and monthly goals, and define what success means to you. If you feel that a successful day is spent doing the dishes, mopping the floors, and cleaning out the kitchen fridge, than that’s awesome, as long as your goal was to clean the house.
On the other hand, if your goal was to learn how to ride a motorcycle, or write a blog, than you’ve done a pretty bad job at reaching your goal for that day.
Sure, setting a larger goal for yourself, like becoming a blog writer, helps you figure out where you’re headed, but setting smaller sub-goals for yourself, helps you figure out how to get there.
If you want to write a blog, a couple of good sub-goals would be to: a) choose a topic, b) make some rough notes on what you want to say about that topic, c) do some research, and so on. You’re not going to just sit down and start writing without, at least, a vague plan. It’s the same idea for everything else in life, and it’s the same for art.
So wether or not you’re an artist, a writer, or a motorcyclist-to-be; if you find that you’re like me, and it’s hard for you to stay motivated during this… challenging time, try defining what it means for you to be successful, and write down some goals.
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