Now that you've dialed in and amplified your authentic motivation, it's time to define your creative vision and goals by following the steps in this practical article.
First, you'll create a clear, focused, and compelling vision for who you need to be, what you need to do, and why.
Then, you'll prioritize and select the creative, entrepreneurial goals that are most important.
Grab Your Free Copy of Bigger, Better, Bolder so that you can begin visioning and prioritizing as you read through this article.👇
Then, keep reading below.
The Annual Reflection Guide for Designing Your Best Year Yet 🤘
As a result of going through this guide, you will:
Look back on last year to uncover key insights and lessons learned that can be applied moving forward.
Ask Yourself...
Now, let’s think big picture for the year ahead.
Ask Yourself...
"Given what authentically motivates me"…
To bring your bold creative vision to life, you’ll likely need to shift into being a different version of yourself.
This is not about being inauthentic in any way, but about upgrading, modifying, or letting go.
This might look like developing new skills and capabilities, making changes in your behaviors, and letting go of unhelpful thinking and habits.
Ask Yourself...
If you don’t need other people to help you achieve your creative vision, your creative vision may not be bold enough.
Take a few minutes to reflect on what relationships and types of support might help you accelerate your creative vision.
Ask Yourself...
Even with an authentic, energizing creative vision, it can still feel like too big of a challenge to actually make it all happen.
To actually bring your big, creative vision to life, you need to make things smaller and more specific.
When you define things in smaller and more specific ways, they shift from big, overwhelming, abstract concepts in your head into measurable, objective, and less threatening steps you can take to experience real momentum.
Respond to these questions to help you get clearer, more specific, and more actionable:
Most bold creative visions die early. Ensure you keep going by getting in small wins right at the start.
Ask Yourself...
What aspects of your creative vision can you make more objective and clear?
What projects and goals can you define?
Next, do your best to identify a simple and clear definition of your creative goal.
Ideally, you’d begin with a verb, followed by identifying the result, and a deadline.
For example:
If you’re unsure what deadlines you want to set right now, that’s ok.
It's hard to set specific, accurate deadlines when we're starting something new to us. We often don't know what we don't know.
Instead, focus on putting in the time and learning along the way.
Just write out the verbs and results (e.g. Write a book, Launch my online course, Finish my film, Build v1.0 of my app) - and come back later to set some dates after you get started and create some momentum.
Sometimes getting clear, specific, and committed on what you WON’T do can be even more helpful. Make sure you have enough clarity, space, and focus to do what truly matters most.
Ask Yourself...
You can’t do everything all at once, but if you sequence things thoughtfully, you can make amazing things happen.
Ask Yourself...
There is a decent chance that the big, bold things you are committed to pursuing will take longer than estimated - and often due to things out of your control.
Ask Yourself...
Take the time upfront to create a clearer, more compelling vision - and to begin breaking down some of the components of it so that it doesn't overwhelm you.
Read more in this series on reigniting your motivation and designing a purposeful creative vision:
Grab Your Free Copy of Bigger, Better, Bolder so that you can begin taking action on bringing your biggest ideas to life, today.👇
The Annual Reflection Guide for Designing Your Best Year Yet 🤘
As a result of going through this guide, you will:
Jeff Fajans, PhD
Creative Performance & Leadership Coach
Leading Expert in the Art & Science of Creative Work
My name is Jeff Fajans (rhymes with "lions") and I help creative entrepreneurs bring their biggest ideas to life and reach their next level of creative success.
I have a PhD in Positive Organizational Psychology from Claremont Graduate University, where I studied under Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the world-renowned author of Flow. My research focused on how to help people learn, develop, and lead more effectively to better achieve creative goals.
I am also an avid music creator and guitar player. 🤘
Through my 1-on-1 coaching, 30-Day Creative Momentum Challenge community, internationally acclaimed digital courses, and speaking engagements, I've helped thousands of people from around the world connect with their purpose, clarify their creative vision, amplify their motivation, and create actionable strategies that make achieving their most meaningful goals inevitable.
These are people who are pursuing big goals like starting or leading a business (and scaling it to higher levels of innovation & growth), writing + filming a feature film (and it winning a Sundance award), building an app or product (and getting accepted into Y Combinator or getting VC funding), writing a book (and hitting the Amazon bestseller list) or even exploring a meaningful side hustle or passion project.
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