New Year, New Goals

Planning SMARTer for Success

Dear Inner Artist,

What a year 2023 has been for us! There were some very difficult moments, but that made it even more important to make time for creative play. I always intend to do that every year, but this time I created a visual reminder of my “Artist Goals” at the start of 2023 to give me better direction.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed by all of the ideas and interests buzzing in my brain, I now had clear goals to focus on. I tend to want to do all the things, but this year I practiced slowing down better and being more careful with my time and energy. I still found it too challenging to have time for all of my initial (overly ambitious) goals, so halfway through the year, I reevaluated and edited them to try to be more realistic. I am delighted that I met 3/5 the goals (sketching more often, practicing more characters, and unplugging more) and learned a lot!

My 2023 Artist Goals

What Did I Learn This Year?

In past years, I would try to make more time for art, but other tasks often felt more urgent and important to me. In the moments that I did have time to create something, I would feel so overwhelmed and struggle to get started. But this year I finally felt a shift! I learned:

• to use some monthly (low pressure) drawing challenges for fun motivation.

• to release perfectionism and just draw for the joy of it, at my own pace.

• that removing social media from my phone really helps free up my time and energy. I still check social media on my iPad a few times a day, but there is much less doom scrolling with a device that doesn’t fit in my pocket.

• better self compassion & grace for when life zaps my energy and I need to prioritize rest. It’s okay to not create every day.

• that I need my goals to be more specific with smaller steps (SMART goals).

• that simply drawing in a little sketchbook with a pencil brings me so much peace and joy. It is meditation for me.

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Dear Fellow Artist,

Happy New Year, friend! I love this time of year, but if you find it stressful, remember that there is no rule that goals and resolutions have to be serious or boring. You don’t have to change anything about yourself. You can just try to add some more fun into your life. This woman’s creativity is inspiring:

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My 2024 (SMART) Goals

My 2024 Goals made using what I learned from 2023

1. Play my Ukulele Terribly (Tuesdays & Thursdays for 30 minutes)
No pressure to be good. Maybe by the end of the year, I won’t be so terrible any more, but if I am, then well, my goal is still accomplished! I bought a ukulele in 2020, but it’s my first time trying to learn an instrument, so it’s very hard and I am very slow at it. So I can be terrible for awhile then! This reframe is inspired by this helpful TikTok by rulerlesscasey who says “Where you start is not where you will end up. If you can handle the pain of being terrible at the beginning, you will astonish yourself and others with what you can accomplish.”

2. Declutter a DOOM box every Sunday for 1 hour
DOOM boxes and piles stand for “Didn’t Organize, Only Moved.”
Anyone else have areas like that in their house? I am determined to finally tackle them all this year, using this method from TikTok.

3. Daily Slow Hobbit Walks (target 1+ mile daily with the Fantasy Hike app)
I love walking outside, but it’s hard for me to stick to the habit. I just started using this fun app that tracks my steps in comparison to Frodo walking to Mount Doom. I can’t compete with his 7+ miles a day, so I will just try to beat the slowest setting, “Hairyfoot Potter”.

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2023 was a wonderful year of drawing for me and I intend to keep that practice going, but it feels like a happy habit to me now. So my goals for 2024 are focused on 3 other practices I have been itching to do more regularly too, that are creative in other ways. I learned that I need to break my goals down to the details of small, achievable ways I am more likely to keep up with. That’s where SMART goal writing comes in.

I initially just wrote down 3 things I want to focus on next year:

1. Learn ukulele

2. De-clutter & organize whole house

3. Daily walks

Then I went through the SMART acronym and tried to be as detailed as possible so it’s clear exactly what I will do and when to take small, manageable steps towards my goals. I color-coded my 3 goals for some added fun and already scheduled re-occurring appointments with myself in my iCalendar to remind myself of those time blocks. I’m really excited to see if I find this method easier to keep up with!

Questions For Your Inner Artist

Use them as private journal prompts, or comment on substack.com so we can get to know each other.

• What do I wish I had time for in the next year of my life?

• Could I write out any SMART goals around those wishes for the new year?

• How can my goals feel fun and exciting?

• What are the smallest steps I can take to keep feeling motivated?