We have all heard it takes 21-days to form new habits. So-o, let’s celebrate the middle of summer and determine to adopt a new habit by July 31st! 
I know some of you committed to do work on your artistic goals this summer. How is that going? {Remember: Baby steps count! ♥ }
Worry never accomplishes anything. When you have a problem, it is best to concentrate on the solution to that problem, not the problem itself. ~Thomas D. Willhite
Dump any guilt or coulda, woulda, shoulda’s. {Immediately! } Forget all the times before and give yourself permission to plan the next 5-minutes. If you are feeling motivated, plan the next 15-minutes or the next few hours.
Change occurs the moment we decide do move in a different direction. It continues for as long as we maintain momentum — and there is “A time for everything“! Including wandering, making art, naps, doodling, doddling — and screaming — when we are sure what to do.
No one can go back and make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. ~Unknown
Are you stretching yourself? Give yourself room to move … Perhaps you simply need to “Begin with The End in Mind” or tackle a few 10-minute organization projects.
If you have some time, consider the excellent reflective points of “6 Proven Ways To Make New Habits Stick” and journal or collage your thoughts.
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance. ~Samuel Johnson
Because the stream of real-life can suddenly become whitewater rapids! 
This scenario exacerbates the {often meandering} train of thought and habits of creAtive-types. I speak from my own recent experience — despite being in the midst of working on my own editorial calendar, and …
Moving in the direction of change.
For the past few weeks, I have been scribbling notes {and collaging keywords} in my business journal regarding an editorial calendar. My goal is to incorporate consistency without marching like a toy soldier {in lock-step to someone else’s how-to instead of determining my own rhythm}.
Being faithful to a plan or a method of accomplishing goals is a challenge.
In the midst of refining and discovering what was not a comfortable fit for me, I noted methods and habits that were a good fit. What I needed for an appealing first-step to developing new daily patterns to ensure measurable results — without compromising {creAtivity}.
An editorial calendar is an essential element of said patterns.
Are you interested in developing your own editorial calendar? Here is an assortment of the links I discovered. Feel free to post your favorites, too!
Image Credit
The visual of a watercolor life comforts me. Canvases of soft, muted lines and broad, bold strokes of color on pure-fiber archival paper and canvases … The gentle mingling of pigments as each flows and transitions across the page … The clarity of pure water washes that reveal varying hues and tone.
Change being marked by the decision to block-in compositional elements, shapes and forms as a new work begins. Blotting darkened areas in search of fine details. Willfully evaluating, pondering and ultimately selecting colors from The Wheel … Choosing to compliment or to contrast with the ever-evolving composition.
Acting with defined strokes and purpose; sketching in the winds of a mind-storm — capturing its loose and roughed-in visualization of a dream-reality. Even if only to serve as a thumbnail sketch — tonal and compositional lines by which to track and develop subject ideas.
[click to continue…]
… But don’t become hyperfocused on The End until you divide {and conquer!} the individual steps of getting there.
- Accept, assess and plan regarding your present situation — whatever it is, whatever it isn’t.
- Evaluate the specific ACTions (and possible obstacles) in order to arrive at The End.
- What are the steps of accomplishing these ACTions? {Resources, sequences, etc.)
- Focus on the first (5) minutes of the first step of the key ACTion. Repeat.
- Put your heart into it and just do it! As many times as you need to …
{D}iscipline yourself to think through what you are doing and then to concentrate on one thing, the most important thing, and stay with it until it is complete. This one habit alone can change your entire future. And you can develop this habit through daily practice. ~Brian Tracy
Sometimes clarity comes in the midst of seeing who you are not.
For example, meetin’ and greetin’ people during a networking event. Mingle, mingle, mingle. Reciting {and refining} our introductions and public personas as we move through huddles of people.
While most of us can recite what we do {have done and aspire to do — ad nauseam} … In the midst of social situations we are not all peacocks: Prepared to fan our colorful feathers and elegantly glide among the masses.
Which is fabulous 
because we all contribute to the collective collaboration and diversity of thought. That in turn, sparks inspiration and creates clarity and affirms our unique {radical} differences.
Birds of a feather flock together? Forget that! I encourage you to stop flocking and jump {or fly} outa your comfort zone! 
Dare to smile and nod and ask questions even when you feel completely out of place.
Because moving out of our comfort zones is a creAtive act. It reveals something within us that can be refined, added to, and framed as a tangible visual. By seeing who/what we are not, clarity of who/what we are — who/what we aspire to be! — will emerge.
If you had to — and please do — how would define yourself? If you need a nudge or an example or two {or four!} glance through Dove, Eagle, Peacock and Owl Personality Traits. Or take “The Animal in You” quiz! Hey, it’s Friday! Let’s have some fun!
Personally, I consider myself to be a Rockhopper Penguin: extraordinary social, {sometimes} unrefined/unedited and very inquisitive. And I love cold weather!
Thrilled to be in the midst of Oklahoma social media-ati this Thursday in Oklahoma City! Collaboration regarding the latest buzz about the way people interact and build their businesses online — from right in my home state! More than a conference, this is being billed as an {un-conference}. Which makes it all the more attractive to us creAtive-types! Eh?
One of my favorite Oklahomans, Becky McCray {consultant and entrepreneur from Alva / editor of the award-winning blog Biz Survival Guide} will offer guidance for how small towns can take advantage of online resources as well as using social media to increase tourism. If you are a freelancer from da’ country {or the big-city} her insights and expertise are always inspiring and always practical!
Attendees will also learn about social media for business, time management, new tools and trends, generational differences in online usage, gaining publicity, and building your personal brand.
For more information, or to register to attend: getsocialconference.com
Or contact Jessica Miller-Merrell: jessica@xceptionalhr.com or 405-343-5751.
There never seems to be enough time / To do the things you want to do / Once you find them ~Jim Croce
Overwhelm is the default mode when we create our own rut by {being busy}. Day in. Day out. We busy ourselves with the urgent and mundane — all the while convincing ourselves we are being productive. Until we realize the walls of our rut are becoming narrower and more restricting. In order to climb out of the rut — to overcome this slow-motion {or freeze-frame } mode — we must “get rid of anything that doesn’t feel like you” and learn when it is time to walk away.
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is. ~Albert Einstein
How we decide, plan and experience the events of a day reveals our values and beliefs, as well as the aspects of life we enjoy, abhor or do out of obligation or habit. When we pause to examine these events, we can quickly determine the categories! What we get rid of and walk away from determines if we live life as though nothing is a miracle — or as if everything is a miracle.
- How would you categorize your daily events? What lasting value do these tasks and activities provide to you?
- What is {one} task, realization, discovery, to-do you can celebrate today?
- How is your artistic goal-setting? Here’s a peek at mine … [link]
Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose. ~Charles Eames
As a consultant, I know the marketing buzz on design. As an artist, I appreciate its elemental flow and diverse effects. As an entrepreneur, I know it matters; design can change {inspire} what is viewed into something that is experienced, savored and seen {in “kaleidoscoped” views}. Which is why the design and function of this site has returned as a main focus for me.
The timeline of design activity for this blog includes random, sporadic points marking its progress; a timeline that began as I merely blogged my ideas about right brain planning. {Because I was in need of a means of compiling my notes which couldn’t be misplaced!}. My goal was to collect notations regarding practical, creatively-minded how-to’s — even as I discovered my own common threads and methodology of planning. Personalized templates, SEO and site traffic were not included in the mix.
Said focus is now evolving again as I develop and combine what is in my mind’s eye with those early notations. A plan for something tangible: A collaborative collection of artistic practice. Day planners, online workshops, creAtive partnerships …
But first … Design.
Elements that will invite all of us to experience planning as {art}.
It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. ~Henry David Thoreau
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. ~Victor Frankl
Interesting week of order for me. {Imagine that!?! I am so-o excited! } On Monday morning I had the opportunity to fall into excuse mode. I could have declared that since I had been in the ER with my son {and did not got to sleep ’til 2a.m.} I would opt to begin my full work day on Tuesday. But that would have been a train wreck for the daily plans I had so creAtively compiled.
So … I changed tracks. I decided to begin my day — as scheduled — with the option of a nap, if necessary. {BTW: My son is fine. Moment of fun — and lapse of judgment — led to a deep cut requiring stitches. }
Completed Tasks
- Transferred images from my three cameras to my hard drive
- Decluttered my studio {five 15-minute sessions}
- Maintained my physical therapy exercise schedule
- Started 365 Views to document quick notes/visuals
- Journaled every morning
- Collaged every afternoon
Resource Links
- The Artist’s Way {basic-tools.pdf} — Yep. I am reposting this. Just in case you missed in last week and because it is an excellent place to begin your journaling practice.
As artists, we know very well that something can “not be done,” only until someone does it. Some artist, somewhere, decides to shove the fence back a little and extend his or her and all of our range. As artists, we must listen most carefully to our inner guidance and secondarily to our outer advisers. This isn’t just spiritual law — trusting the still, small voice to guide us — it’s good business practice as well. The interaction of commerce and creativity is a tricky dance, and we as artists must lead it. Show a new direction in your painting to a dealer who is being asked for more of last year’s series and you may hear a worried and dispiriting “Mmmm.” Do not be fooled. He cannot see what you as an artist may sense, that your direction is the new direction the market will soon be following. For an artist willing to have a learning curve, all directions lead somewhere worthy. ~Julia Cameron
Ponder / Dream
- What is {one} activity you long to do … But you find yourself locked in a loop of “never getting around to it” or “I don’t know how” or “I will do that when {fill-in-the-blank}.” {Action point for me: Started organizing my beads and findings which will enable me to resume crafting the designs I have sketched for myself and for sale.}
Celebrating
- Completed daily task lists {huge daily celebrations ★`¨*•☄}
- Provided myself room to move free from my expectations … {✔ post}
- Worked on specific artistic goals {no more hopin’ and wishin’} {✔ post}
- Said what I meant; meant what I said {regarding personal situation}
- Did for myself what I so willingly do for the people in my life … Again! ♥
What is one aspect you view as something to:
- Ponder?
- Celebrate?
- Evaluate?
- Eliminate?
If your week didn’t go as you hoped/planned … What will you learn from that?
If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it’s moving you away from your goals. ~Brian Tracy
Starting new projects or making life changes can feel like a series of “Are we there yet?” moments. There are internal dialogues {debates} competing for the time on the proverbial front seat. Points and counterpoints regarding where to make turns in order to arrive at predetermined destinations.
These distractions lead to procrastination.
Unless you have a map.
Have you ever looked at your list of things to do and just wanted to run away? Procrastination sometimes does get the best of us self-employed people. Everything seems to be a priority therefore we tend to put some things on the back burner. More from Stop Procrastination: 5 Steps to Getting Things Done Today!
But distractions can be minimized.
When you work from a plan {create a map to where we want to go…} you will arrive at your destinations in record time! Consider the following questions when compiling a plan or a list of To-Do’s {or a map} to where you we want to go with your artistic {or other} pursuits …
- Where do I want to go? Determine what you want/how you will develop your current goal or pursuit.
- Will this be a hobby or a business pursuit? The answer to this question could influence Question 3.
- Do I need additional training? Is my existing skill level/knowledge base adequate?
- How committed am I to this pursuit? What priority is this new pursuit? How much time will I commit to it?
- Are you stretching yourself? Will you do what is required to reach this {destination} or are you merely day dreaming again?
The answers to these questions need to be in writing. Jot down you answers; collage keywords or images. But commit to creating a visual plan in order to avoid meandering or becoming bogged down with distraction(s).
[Here are my answers to the {mapping questions} pertaining to my own artistic pursuits.]
- Where do I want to go? Refine my creative planning methods and incorporate with my training and business management skills to assist clients with an artistic option for business planning and personal development.
- Will this be a hobby or a business pursuit? Currently a hobby as I experiment, observe, compile research notes and learn how-to’s; it is also a collaborative experience via my peer group discussions and involvements. My {goal} is to offer this as a business service — as well as continue to provide free services and online resources.
- Do I need additional training? Yes; enrolled in a technical certification program as well as collage and art journaling classes; self-directed education {reading recommended book lists; note-taking and focus group input regarding assimilation/application to planning how-to’s}.
- How committed am I to this pursuit? Resigned former commitments in order to devote my full focus to this; scheduled blocks of time for education and training (15 hours per week).
- Are you stretching yourself? Will I do what is required to reach this {destination} or are you merely day dreaming again?
It has taken (4) months to fully answer this, but I determined this is truly a desire of my heart. And that I am committed to do what is required. This includes {but not limited to}:
- being willing to completely let go of what I have always known as a management consultant in exchange for
- observing, discovering and experimenting with what I can {sort of} see as possibilities for a creative business/personal planning service
- diving into the creative depths of the unknown {to explore, abide and embrace trial and error}
- to release my expectations and perfectionism
- to ask questions and learn more about what I need to know
- listen and learn how best to obtain that knowledge/experience
- be patient regarding the space and time necessary to arrive at competency
