I came across the following exercise when I was reading a book called The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
Now, I’ve said it here before that I don’t agree with all of the things in the book, but it does have quite a few good practical exercises like the following that I think are cool:

This is a Time Traveling/ Goal Setting exercise:

1. Looking ahead, describe yourself at the age of eighty.

• What did you accomplish after the age of fifty that you enjoyed? Be specific.
Now, write down what your eighty year old self would tell your current self.
• What would you write?
• What interests would you encourage yourself to pursue?
• What dreams would you encourage?

2. Next, remember yourself at the age of eight.
• What did you like to do? What were your favorite things?
Now, write down what your eight year old self would tell your current self.
• What would you write?

At first glance, I thought this exercise sounded somewhat corny. But I began to give it some thought:

The first phaseof the Time Travel exercise gives you the chance to picture and describe your success as an artist or designer several years down the road, then relay it back, helping to build your road map that leads to your success.

The second phase of the Time Travel exercise allows you to reach back to the things that made being creative fun! Many of the things that you enjoyed drawing, painting, making or just doing as a kid may have gotten buried by the seriousness of your adult life. Hearing the creative passion of the young artist that you were, who actually believed that ANYTHING was possible, serves as a reminder as you set your goals going forward.

Next time, I’ll post the writings from my eighty year old and eight year old selves to the current me. In the meantime, I challenge you to do the exercise yourself and share with us in the comments area below what you uncover:

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POTENTIAL:
Your creative POTENTIAL can be defined as “everything that you are meant to be or to do as an artist or designer, but just haven’t done it yet”.

Your vantage point can be limited. You may see only what you have or have not done as an artist so far…your past. But your creative POTENTIAL is what God sees when He looks at you. It’s the part of Himself that He’s placed in you to do the work that He’s calling you to do.

God’s word puts it this way: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

You look at your past artistic successes or failures because MEMORIES make them real. Now you must learn to look at what’s next to accomplish because POTENTIAL makes it real.

Here’s how you do that:

GOALS:
Writing down specific and measurable goals involving your creative ability puts pressure on your potential. It puts your potential in action.
It sounds too simple, but here’s why it works.
God-given goals, when written down, state that based on your ability (and God’s empowerment working through you), here’s what you are able to make happen and here’s when it can be expected.

After several years of spinning my wheels and wasting my talent, I began to do what I noticed successful people doing. They were beyond dreaming and were “doing” simply because they would write down their goals and then put action behind it.

So what were your creative goals this year so far? Were they specific? Which ones have you completed so far? What about going forward?

Share your comments below:
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• You’ve identified your goals (Pt1)
• Those goals include an eyecatching businesscard (Pt2)
• Your business cards include your website where you can share and connect with others (Pt3)

The fourth thing: You need to know what God’s promises are concerning His artists.

An artist or designer who has a convenant with God through Jesus Christ has certain privileges, access and assurances that only a life in Christ can give.

A purpose and plan for your talent, guidance when times as an artist get tough, divine connections and open doors,  and support when those doors seem shut. All of this is written in God’s word, but it is a secret if you don’t know what it says.

Just like knowing the details of a contract tell you what entitlements and protections you have, familiarizing yourself with God’s word does the same for the artist that has accepted Christ.

To help, feel free to download our special report: “7 Biblical Scriptures for Artists”. It can get you started on knowing what God’s word says about your life as an artist or designer.

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The 3^rd thing that every artist and designer needs for the New Year is …a WEB SITE.

Gone are the days of a website being a “nice to have”, it’s a “need to have”.

Why?

It’s the most immediate method of showing your work to the people that need to see it.

If your plan is to sell more work, display more work or do more freelance work as a designer; you must make sure that the patrons or buyers can view your work when they want to and from where they want. And even if the goal is not to sell your work, you need to be able to show it to your  audience 24/7.

I have had so many opportunities come open because I either passed someone my business card that sent them my website, or sent them an email with a direct link to my work.

Now, I know that most of you already agree with this. You’ve known for quite some time that you need some form of web presence as an artist or designer. The problem is that you STILL have yet to take action. The paradox about this situation is that many artists that know that they need a website go on the web everyday.

Tips:

Don’t forfeit showcasing your work on the web because you’re waiting until you BIG website is fully designed and launched. That could be part of what’s taken so long already. Start out small, but professionally. Many artists are using blogs as a way to showcase their work and tell more about themselves at the same time. One of our subscribers, James Ramos, does a great job of promoting his work on his blog; even allowing his audience to see his work created step-by-step. The beauty of this is that many blogs are hosted free and can be maintained with little to no “high tech” knowledge.

Definitely feel free to go that route, just maintain a professional look. When you’re ready to begin spending a little more, invest in working with a professional web designer who can design your site.

Your web presence does not only have to present a gallery of your art. Many artists use additional tools such as web video to create an additional experience for their users. Take a look at Charlene Rice’s site and how she’s created a bond with her patrons through her use of video.

Recommended Blogging resources:

WordPress.com (Can be used to host your blog FREE)

WordPress.org (If you already have paid hosting)

Recommended Web Hosting services:

GoDaddy.com

PowWeb.com

Recommended Web Designer:

J.Sharp Studios

 See part 2>>

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Here’s the first of the 4:

One 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 2^nd in this miniseries coming soon.

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