There are 4 basic things that every artist needs in order to set the stage for their success in the new year. We’ll post each of these 4 things in a “miniseries” over the next few days.

 

Here’s the first of the 4:

 

goalsOne of the most overlooked yet most critical needs that every artist or designer must have if they plan to make any type of progress in the New Year is to have WRITTEN goals.

 

For the artist, having written goals does not have to be a hard thing to accomplish. You probably already have those goals in mind already or have talked about them forever! Now’s the time to take action by committing them to paper, which is the first step toward the goal being more than something you only talk about.

 

I recommend identifying and WRITING DOWN at least 3 key objectives that you as an artist or designer really want to accomplish this year. To help narrow the goals down, they must follow the “S.M.A.R.T.” model:

 

S- Specific: The goal must not be vague like “to create more art” but specific like “create a minimum of one new art piece each month (or each quarter, etc)”.

 

M- Measurable: The goal must be something that you can track and measure. This allows you to better determine how close or far away you are from your target.

 

A-  Achievable: It must be something that you can actually reach. “Being the number one artist in the city” may not be achievable (nor is it measurable). “Competing in 2 city-wide art shows per year” is more achievable.

 

R- It must be realistic: Selling $1,000 per month in artwork after only selling $60 per month may not be a realistic goal.

 

T- The goal must be time-specific: Writing it down on a calendar is a great way to stay on top of achieving it as weeks go by.

 

Keep watching for the 2nd in this miniseries coming soon.

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