I have been in the habit of goal setting for as long as I can remember. Sometimes I triumphantly surpass those goals, other times I fail miserably, and more often I work hard learning more about myself along the journey. Before the new year I sat down and took stock of 2016 – what I accomplished, the things I learned, the ways I grew – and from that I decided on some resolutions to continue to improve in 2017.

The single most important resolution I have made to myself is to create something daily and share often. Not only does this support the entire objective of this blog (to share my journey and inspire others along the way) but it is a critical piece in developing myself as a creative. In my true list making nature, I  broke down my goal further into 5 key ways I will accomplish my creative resolution which I will be able to come back to throughout this process.

5 Ways I Will Accomplish My Creative Resolution

• Create anything

  No seriously. I am talking everything from doodles on old receipts to detailed watercolor paintings. Anything goes because the more I put pen or brush to paper the more I discover about myself along the way.

• Practice, Practice, Practice

  A consistent daily practice including drills and new techniques will allow me to check in with myself, unlock things stored away in the corners of my heart, and build confidence with each stroke.

• Be vulnerable

  I predict this part will be the biggest challenge and take the longest for me to see progress. Vulnerability is something I will explore a lot this year in terms of my creative work as well as my personal life. An important part of that will be sharing my feelings honestly and keeping it real with y’all. I want to leave plenty of space to embrace inevitable failure and uncertainty with the outcome. Sharing my work openly is going to force me to be okay with rejection but hopefully also prompt me to ask for help from others more often. Overall, I hope to embrace vulnerability often and learn to channel fear and frustration in a more positive way.

• Jump into the creative community

  There are so many amazing creative people online and in my local community that are doing really cool things. As an introvert, it can sometimes be difficult  to jump into unfamiliar territory around new people. However, finding a creative community and building new connections is super important to my creative growth this year.

• Share widely with others

  Sharing my creative thoughts, inspiration, process, and final work will be a big focus in coming blog posts. In addition, exploring other platforms to share and connect with others will factor in to reaching new audiences and break out of my comfort zone.

A 2-month Check-in

As I type this mid way through the second month of the year I am reflecting on what I have already done towards my creative resolution and quite honestly, I know that I can do better. Yet, I am happy to say I have not abandoned my resolution unlike the way many people’s new years diets were abandoned with the start of Girl Scout cookie season.

Creating this post has helped me consider what I think will be an interesting framework to self reflect in coming months and I plan to do more checkins of how my progress is coming along.

As for sharing what I am up to, I will be doing a lot more semi-regular (hopefully eventual daily) posts on my instagram in the coming weeks. So if do not already, you can follow me @heartandbloom to see what I am currently creating.