Wednesday, February 10, 2010

GOALS, DREAMS, WISHES 2010


The moon at sunrise on a winter's day in December - I love that beautiful, soft pink just at dawn!

When I used to teach elementary students, few of them knew how to set goals. And fewer still knew the differences between goals, dreams and wishes. To dream or to wish for something to happen is passive - you do nothing to set about achieving those things. Or, if you do, there is not a plan in place, with steps toward the end result. With goals, there is a plan, and you put steps toward achieving that plan, and ultimately your goal. As well, there is a time frame in which you work to achieve the goals. So, for me to dream or wish to be a productive artist who sells her work is fine - but it doesn't move me toward that dream. However, to set goals means that I am moving toward making my dreams and wishes come true!

I have been thinking about goals for 2010... and since it is already the second week in February, I want to get them onto paper and begin to actually pursue them! There is something quite intimidating in sharing my goals, though.

First of all, even though this may NOT be true, I feel as though there are friends out there reading my blog, and counting on me to do what I say I will do. It feels like I am accountable to my readers - and that if I am faithful to put time and effort into my goals, they will be encouraged to create their own goals and work toward achieving theirs also.

Second, by putting these goals "out there" where everyone can see them, the question pops into my head, "And what if you don't make these goals? Everyone will know you failed!" But then I realize to not even try to set and achieve goals is a much larger failure than trying and not quite making it!

And last, by putting these goals on my blog, I am committing to actually do something about these goals... and that means hard work! If I don't put these on paper, I could go along at a very leisurely pace and not really push myself to work hard. It would be an excuse for being lazy and wasteful of the time I've been given... I find time has a way of slipping away on me if I don't plan. The old saying "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." seems to apply here.

So, here are the MAIN goals that I will begin today to work hard to accomplish in 2010:

1. Produce 55 paintings of various sizes and in various mediums. (up 15% from the 48 I did last year!)
Considering that I now have only 11 months in which to do this, I had better get busy FAST! That is 5 paintings per month - and that doesn't take into account any time I may spend on holidays. As well, my daughter, her husband and her 3 children return to Canada this year and will move in with us in July. I am sure that will impact my production - so I need to "front load" the number of paintings to get more done in the next 5 months than in the last months of the year.

2. Become very comfortable painting in oils.
This means doing many oil paintings - some of which I will have to throw out as I learn the techniques which give me the results I am seeking when painting in oils. Hard for me to do that and not think of it as wasted time and effort!

3. Place a painting and a photograph into juried competitions for 2010.

4. Hold another home art show in November.

5. Put a lot more effort/time into selling my work online.
To sell online takes time investment in the portal galleries and social networks that I am already listed with. I have really not worked at creating an audience for my work, and so this year I must pay attention to this aspect of selling my work.

There are a couple of "secret" goals I am also pursuing this year... but I want them to be surprises as they are achieved. I will tell you about them - just not at this time. :-)

Do you have some goals set for 2010? Want to share them with me? I would love to hear what you are doing to make your dreams a reality in 2010!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

admirable goals. you can do it all!

paz

Jessica Giesbrecht said...

Sign me up for the November show again. As well, I can hardly wait to see your goals come to fruition. So proud of you, Mom!!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Paz! It's friends like you that spur me on to achieving my goals. Thanks for your support!

Unknown said...

Hey Jess, you are on! Actually, I could NOT do the show without you... you are amazing! Love you!