Happy New Year!
Are you easing into 2025, taking some time to clear your head and recover or reset from the holidays before you focus on what’s next in your creative practice, business or career? Or do you already have specific goals and plans that you are ready to tackle? Wherever you are at with your thoughts and plans for the year ahead, can I invite you to think beyond what you want “to do” this year? We are so conditioned to focus on envisioning the year ahead in terms of output related goals and achievements. We can forget that when we are building a creative practice or business we are also the architects of how we relate to our work, our measurements of success and satisfaction and the experiences we create for ourselves -by design or by default. Before you jump into action towards your goals, don’t just think about what you need to do and the output you are striving for. Think also about how you want to relate to and experience doing that work and being a creative professional in the coming year. Begin 2025 with those intentions in mind and consider how you can be intentional about creating that for yourself.
Like other skills you’ve developed as an artist or creative, being intentional is a skill and capability you can grow. It requires making a choice to learn and practice. Many of the artists and creatives I work with seek support to “be more intentional” in how they approach their work, make decisions and what to put their time and energy into. One described this to me as “I want to be choosier and feel less scattered - not just say yes to every idea or opportunity.” Others are looking to “be more confident” to take risks or in how they present themselves or “be more consistent” in making or promoting their work. Last year I worked with a client who was looking for support to find ways to hold herself “more kindly accountable” to her goals. In striving to become more intentional, confident, consistent or kindly accountable these clients sought changes in how they approach and experience their work day- to-day. Ultimately, they sought to grow their sense of well being and satisfaction as creative professionals. This type of growth requires more than goals, to-do lists and timelines. It requires changes in perspective, decision making frameworks and changing ways of working and "being" that no longer serve us. It demands developing new self-awareness and strategies and choosing to take action accordingly to create those changes. Even if it feels counter to how we’ve been told or believed we “should” work. When we work on becoming intentional in these ways, we create our own unique relationship and approaches to our work that help us:
Feel less scattered and be more present in our work;
Make authentic strategic decisions about professional opportunities, projects;
Better identify and take action steps that support our development and help us reach our goals;
Bring more purpose and meaning to our work and life as creative professionals.
How do you want to relate to, experience and measure your work in 2025
as a creative professional?
What deliberate actions can you take to begin the new year
in alignment with your intentions?
Throughout this year, I will continue to explore how we can focus on becoming more intentional in our work and lives as creative professionals through my blog and newsletter. I’ll be offering observations, insights and questions to help you expand your perspective to see and appreciate the bigger picture of your creative practice, business or career. Because, from a holistic perspective, we can begin to see what feeds and sustains our opportunities, growth and livelihoods.
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Image Credit: Chris Mitchell
