Every New Year can be full of hope. It feels like a chance to reset and start afresh, a chance to search for new opportunities or make them. For artists, this can be double edged. The New Year can make it feel like it is possible to achieve anything. But it can also feel like another year went by without achieving everything that you might have wanted to. One thing that has helped me over the years is to set goals, but even this, as I have learned, has a learning curve. Here are a few things that have been helping me over the years.
- Figure out what kind of an artist you want to be
What kind of companies and people would you like to work with? What kind of work would you like to be a part of? What kind of work are you eventually hoping to create? What is the specific role in your artistic field would you like to focus on? For example, would you rather perform, teach, direct, choreograph or manage?
- Set realistic goals
This seems easy enough, but often, we find that we tend to overestimate what we can do. Sometimes, our goals as artists can also be dependent on other people and factors that might make it take longer for us to achieve them.
- Set specific goals
Saying that you want to become a better dancer or singer is vague and can be difficult to achieve. Instead, identify what being a better artist means to you - what are the areas you would like to improve in, what new skills would you like to develop, what would you like to learn and from whom. This can make the goals more achievable.
- Figure out your long-term and short-term goals
Figure out where you would like to be in your career eventually, maybe in five, ten or fifteen years. Then, take a look at the steps that you might need to take to get there and then figure out short-term goals. If you don’t know the steps, then a short-term goal can be to find out more information - through research or talking to relevant people in the field.
- Set deadlines for yourself
You’ve figured out your long and short term goals, great. Now the next step is to set deadlines. As artists, our development happens over multiple years. While it might be easy to say you want to improve a specific technique, it might take years to actually do so. Therefore, a deadline for your goal can be to, say, enrol in a class that will help you within a specific date. Or if you have a bigger goal, for example, to choreograph a new production, then break it down into smaller tasks with deadlines. Your long-term goals can be broken down into short-term goals, which can come further down to monthly, weekly and daily goals.
- Keep yourself accountable
This can be through a journal, a friend, a relative, a mentor or anyone that you trust will ask you the hard questions and keep you accountable.
Being an artist can be a difficult job - you are expected to keep up with your training, perform, create, network, earn and build your career by yourself. Setting healthy and realistic goals can ensure that you don’t feel overwhelmed by the process. So, what are your goals for the year, as an artist?
References:
https://www.artdex.com/how-to-set-goals-as-an-aspiring-artist/
https://artstudiolife.com/artistic-goals-for-artists/#Take_time_to_think_and_process
https://www.angelafehr.com/news/2018/01/7-artistic-goals-you-can-set-and-achieve-in-2018
