How to Plan Ahead and NOT Be Overwhelmed
Making a plan to realize your big dreams can be overwhelming! As artists, we have SO much freedom in how we structure our studio practice, but what happens when that open structure becomes daunting? We want to avoid this type of choice fatigue and know what we want to focus on and prioritize. The reality is, we can’t do it all, have it all, or be it all, no matter what Instagram tells you.
However, we believe you can dream your biggest dreams and create achievable goals to get you where you want to be! So, we wrote these 5 steps to help you feel freedom to dream big while also creating doable plans!
#1- Time Travel
Mentally fast forward to the end of the year you are planning and ask yourself: What are the dreams that I would be the most proud of when looking back at the end of the year? We suggest sticking to 1 or 2 dreams to aim for!
#2- Plan In Quarters
Quarters allow enough time to accomplish a lot, but they aren’t such a huge amount of time you will get lost in the plan and not know how to make actionable steps. Set your goals in 3-month chunks! It’s very manageable. We promise! And, we have a workbook that helps you structure your plans this way. It’s called the Thriving Artists Map, and a free downloadable version is available to everyone who is a member of the Thrive Together Network.
#3- Plan 4 Goals Max
Be realistic with your goals and your time. Your big dream for the year will have multiple steps and parts and often we don’t take the time to map these out and get clear on what our dream or goal truly entails. Keep things to 4 goals per quarter as you work toward next year’s dream!
#4- Have a Parking Lot
A parking lot is a metaphorical place to write down and record all of your dreams, plans, and hopes. Yes, limit yourself to 4 goals per quarter but add a “parking lot” section where you can write down everything else you hope or want to get done. Get it out and park it there for the future!!
#5- Don’t Go At It Alone
Whether you join our community or not… a tip for planning ahead but not getting overwhelmed is to have accountability and community so that you actually put that plan into action! Find other artists who can share in your planning process, celebrate your victories, and console you in your setbacks. Planning, implementing, and processing are always easier in community.
We hope these steps will help you achieve something big and feel good doing it! We hope you will join us on the Thrive Together Network and make use of our amazing planning resource, the Thriving Artists Map.
If you want to join the TTN community and sign up to the Network at www.thrivetoegthernetwork.com
