How to get started on creative goals

I thought I’d switch this week’s #flowerfriday post for a few inspiring links. In between indulging in 4th of July desserts and heading to the beach, it’s nice to walk into the month feeling ready to attack your goals. Lately what’s on my mind is the difference between dreaming + doing. If you’ve read The War of Art and felt like yeah! this is totally me! totally my problem! and then went back to your old ways, you’ll relate. We have so many great resources up weekly on The Blog Market, it made sense to post the ones that really fit with me + what I’m currently doing/struggling with/inspired by here. More often than we think, we could use the reenforcement that it’s okay to jump in and get started: we don’t have to be 100% organized or have a distinct plan. These little reminders are essential.

just get started

The hardest part is jumping in–it’s even psychologically proven. I’m one of those people who puts even the simplest tasks off because of the anxiety that comes with beginning. For those days, I’m going to try the five minute rule to push myself to jump that hurdle. Working for five minutes and five minutes alone both forces you to forget those things that were holding you back and makes it not so scary because there’s a close enough endpoint that it’s not overwhelming. I love this idea.

See what’s working + what’s not

While there are a lot of posts that talk about getting the results you want, there aren’t too many that talk about what happens when your results don’t match your efforts and what you can do about it. I’ve seen this on my blog + many others–we’ve created something we’re proud of, but can’t seem to gain traction, whether with page views or engagement or feedback. I loved hearing the support that perhaps you’ve found your people, they’re just not quite in a place to hear all you have to say. Or maybe you need to tweak your approach. There are a lot of reasons we might put effort into things as bloggers, artists, and writers, but that doesn’t mean it’s always going to pan out. Just knowing that there’s a fix for some of it is really helpful in getting unstuck.

Find space for creativity

Every crafter or designer I know, including myself, has thought about ways to boost creativity. How easy is it to get in a slump? What I like about this list is that it doesn’t tell you specific things like go on Pinterest, or something. The first thing to do? Commit. We all say we commit but how much time do we actually put toward things we want to accomplishment? Less if it doesn’t supply an immediate ROI like money or recognition. But if you want to live a creative life and actually do it for a living, commitment is #1. I also liked the part about connection. I do so much of my job alone that I start to miss those connections. When you’re around people who help you generate ideas and genuinely make you excited about your craft, you start to realize that your work is/will be appreciated and understood. People to connect with on that level are out there, it’s just a matter of finding them. And finding them, I’m realizing, comes as part of the getting started. Once you start work, connections come naturally.

Value your time

Valuing your time during this process is important. What Rachel talked about in her post is just a small (yet vital) piece to the puzzle. You may have to make compromises and definitely can’t please everyone, but when can you? In order to get started, you have to unplug from some of the things you’re used to obsessing over. It just isn’t a good use of time to be on email or social media just checking in 10-20x a day when you could be making something, doing something.

I’m the worst at valuing my time. I allow others to dictate it and then get in a rut and start to panic. Fixing this means not spending as much time on things that aren’t clicking and carving out more for others. When you do this, you invest in yourself, even if the end result isn’t certain yet. Don’t lose hours on tasks that don’t make sense for you. Instead, put them toward more meaningful efforts.

If you have an inspiring link to share… please feel free!