Seven Days of Strategic Planning: Day 1 Brainstorming

Day 1 of Strategic Planning

July 1st of every year is the day I set aside to plan my annual goals for my arts career. I make a master list of everything I want to do, see, make, want, and more. Easy art projects, large grant proposals, a new art material or a visit to a museum. Everything and anything gets written down.

I started off my morning with a cup of homemade chai tea, began to review some of my favorite books on career planning and  revisited my goals that I had listed from last year. I kept the music off although I wanted to bust out some tunes, I figured it would clog my mind of the small goals in the back of my head that I had to wait and listen for.

Here is me enjoying the weather outside working on listing all the goals I wish to accomplish for the year. Currently at 14 pages of lists, notes and goal ideas. Yes, 14! I make sure to touch on studio needs, materials, financial goals, marketing and advertising, organizational goals and more.

I create a master list of goals that I eventually want to accomplish and I have a shorter list where I work from on an annual basis. Every year, I sit and brainstorm new goals I wish to accomplish. Somethings contradict themselves, but that is perfectly fine. My list also seems like I could only accomplish everything in multiple lifetimes. The most important part of goal setting is getting rid of your preconceived boundaries and writing it down. Allow yourself to dream, dream big and dream far. I’ve read about it in numerous books, writing things down makes them more intentional and your more likely to acheive it!

I then work from a more tailored short list of about 10 goals I want to focus on for the year. When I accomplish them I write the date next to it. If you cross it off you forget about what you have done Celebrate your accomplishment and remember when and how you achieved it. I have an accomplishments journal where I list everything I have done for the week, and I highlight every time I achieve a goal.

Goals should stretch you, if you can achieve it tomorrow its a task on your To-Do list. If it takes some thought planning, intention
or effort, its more likely a goal. Spend a day daydreaming and listing everything you want in life. Work from your list to begin refining goals and making a plan to accomplish them. Tomorrow I will type up all my brainstorming ideas into a master list of goals I want to accomplish an begin to flesh out the ones I want to focus on for the next year.

New blog post tomorrow on my continuing strategic planning!