Step one of my goal setting process is my favorite one and as a creative I'm sure it'll be the easiest part for you as well.
Write down everything you want for the upcoming year. Make a long, no holds-bar list, shoot for the stars. You want a private jet this year: Go for it!
This can be a bit counter intuitive. I read a quote once that read something like "the key to creativity is limitation." The main idea was that when you have limitless possibilities it's hard to get concrete results. However, sometimes when you impose limitations on yourself you can actually stretch your creativity.
For instance, something I do regularly as a photographer is look for negative space. A typical art theory, but a difficult one, at least for me. I find it challenging to find one subject and surround it with nothing, yet still be able to make it speak volumes. That's something I do regularly to stretch my creativity.
So set your goals for something big, to push yourself but make sure it is realistically attainable. If your goal is to be president of the world, then you'd need to find a better blog than this one to help you attain that one.
One other tactic that I use to push me to dream and to dare is to ask myself "What would I do if I weren't afraid?" A lot of times we don't dare to dream for that goal because we are a afraid of something, most of the time I find it's a fear of the unknown, a fear of letting go or worst a fear of our own success.
I realized this in my mid 20's it was a time in my life where I desperately wanted to change but I was frozen with fear of following my dream. I wanted to do something that reminded me of what it was like to be fearless, like when I was a child. I wasn't afraid to take risks and consequences was just a funny word.
My answer was to jump out of plane, literally! I went skydiving on my 25th birthday, I asked myself "what would I do if I weren't afraid?" and at the time my answer was "I'd jump", so I did.
Now, I am by no means suggesting you run to the nearest airport and jump out of the next thing scheduled for take-off. But face some fear in your life, maybe go to a bar and hit on a hot guy, ask your boss for a raise, whatever it is for you.
I found when I conquered that fear, when I pushed myself to over come those bounds, I trusted myself more, I believed that I could do anything I set my mind to.
A few months later I took the big leap and I bought myself a one-way ticket to Paris; 5 years later I'm still here and shudder to think what my life would have been like if I never dared to dream, if I had never asked myself "what would you do if you weren't afraid?"
Write down everything you want for the upcoming year. Make a long, no holds-bar list, shoot for the stars. You want a private jet this year: Go for it!
This can be a bit counter intuitive. I read a quote once that read something like "the key to creativity is limitation." The main idea was that when you have limitless possibilities it's hard to get concrete results. However, sometimes when you impose limitations on yourself you can actually stretch your creativity.
For instance, something I do regularly as a photographer is look for negative space. A typical art theory, but a difficult one, at least for me. I find it challenging to find one subject and surround it with nothing, yet still be able to make it speak volumes. That's something I do regularly to stretch my creativity.
So set your goals for something big, to push yourself but make sure it is realistically attainable. If your goal is to be president of the world, then you'd need to find a better blog than this one to help you attain that one.
One other tactic that I use to push me to dream and to dare is to ask myself "What would I do if I weren't afraid?" A lot of times we don't dare to dream for that goal because we are a afraid of something, most of the time I find it's a fear of the unknown, a fear of letting go or worst a fear of our own success.
I realized this in my mid 20's it was a time in my life where I desperately wanted to change but I was frozen with fear of following my dream. I wanted to do something that reminded me of what it was like to be fearless, like when I was a child. I wasn't afraid to take risks and consequences was just a funny word.
My answer was to jump out of plane, literally! I went skydiving on my 25th birthday, I asked myself "what would I do if I weren't afraid?" and at the time my answer was "I'd jump", so I did.
Now, I am by no means suggesting you run to the nearest airport and jump out of the next thing scheduled for take-off. But face some fear in your life, maybe go to a bar and hit on a hot guy, ask your boss for a raise, whatever it is for you.
I found when I conquered that fear, when I pushed myself to over come those bounds, I trusted myself more, I believed that I could do anything I set my mind to.
A few months later I took the big leap and I bought myself a one-way ticket to Paris; 5 years later I'm still here and shudder to think what my life would have been like if I never dared to dream, if I had never asked myself "what would you do if you weren't afraid?"
"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be" - Lao Tzu
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