come back strong in the new year-the benefit
Come back strong in the new year by taking time to know exactly what you want to achieve. Probably the largest benefit for me is I was able to take a scheduled break, almost 2 months. Consequently, I could fully enjoy our summer Christmas and vacation and come back strong in the new year only because I envisioned and planned my life over a year ago.
The scheme I’m showing has allowed me to continue creating my eight Rhema Derivative works which are part of my 52 abstract works to be finished by 31 May 2024.
I highly recommend you read the previous post to learn how I got to this point by clicking here.
Motivated to come back strong
October 2022 found us emerging from a 10 month grind of living in the midst of a chaotic home repair. I closed my art studio in order to full-time project manage the repair and restoration of half the floors in our home. Click here to read, “When Life Gets in the Way of Creating”, to learn more
As we were tidying our renovated home before Christmas, I became eager to come back strong for my best life personally and in the studio. Looking at the prior year helped better determine the direction for a better chance of reaching wanted to get to by the end of 2023.
With my 2022 Looking forward Annual Reflection in hand, (click here to see how I did this) it was time to look forward to 2023 to create my Yearly Plan.
Crafting a Yearly Plan
Focus
Our overall focus for the year was:
- restoration.
- personal renewal.
All that I aimed to achieve would defer to that aspiration.
Annual goals
My broad goals were to:
- complete the final touches needed in our home inside and out.
- grow a private community on my website.
- create lots of art, which was part of the inspiration for for 52 in 52 pursuit.
Values, themes and challenges
My value, themes and challenges were:
- faith and love which would inform our decisions and actions.
- restoration and thriving as key to a good 2023.
- renew my arts practice.
Major Events
Our son and his family would be visiting from overseas and we wanted to plan to better enjoy the occasion.
break down big goals
Next, I looked at the over all goals and broke them down into smaller achievable aims that were dispersed into the different quarters of the year.
quarter 1
- Because we’d be on summer holiday mode until late January, we’d aim to finish our future TV room.
- I’d get ready to relaunch my YouTube channel and renew my website.
- Finish any small interior surfaces we’d missed.
quarter 2
Quarter 2 would be the period I’d:
- relaunch my YouTube channel and my website
- make 16 works of art.
- create 3 videos.
16 artworks might be too many, but that’s okay. The point of this exercise is to think about what is possible.
Design studio time for a
productive year
Five part series by Beverly Claridge.
Click a box to read or watch video.
quarter 3
Quarter 3 aims were:
- relaunch the Charles Bargue video series I had put on hiatus after I got kicked off the Metaverse.
- create work for Invercargill Licensing Trust Art Awards show and make works for the 2024 Queenstown Art Show.
- continue working on the interiors on weekends.
quarter 4
- Quarter 4 in New Zealand is the end of the school and business year, so Bill and I would take our Christmas and summer break in mid-December. There’d be graduations, weddings, and year end get togethers.
Therefore, I had two principle aims for this period:
- Our home would be restored.
- I will have created lots of art.
Quarterly Planning
Planning the 2nd quarter
With my Yearly Plan created I could forge ahead onto specific quarterly plans. Because our first quarter is largely occupied with summer break in New Zealand, I’m showing how I planned the 2nd quarter.
Keep eye on the Prize
To help keep my focus when using the 2nd Quarter Planner I transferred the following from my Yearly Plan:
- My yearly goals.
- My objectives for the quarter.
- Major events that would happen, including Easter, ANZAC, and school term break.
Break down overall goals into smaller chunks
Next, quarterly goals were broken down into smaller chunks and then distributed over April, May, and June.
April goals
During the month of April I planned to:
- debut my first video with the relaunch my YouTube channel.
- complete 4 artworks and videos making them.
- paint the TV room and hall.
- contemplate the work I make for ILT Art Awards exhibition.
- re-launch my email campaigns.
April Milestones
Milestones were major steps that I would aim to achieve. They were:
- set up my YouTube Channel art.
- make artwork, video, and blog.
- prep first relaunch email.
- decide on ILT work.
April Benchmarks
Progress would be shown by:
- my YouTube channel page being ready.
- the channel trailer finished and uploaded.
- relaunch email sent out.
- having 4 videos ready to publish.
May goals
In May, I planned to:
- complete 4 more works.
- begin making the ILT work.
- work on TV room and bedroom hall on the weekends.
June Goals
For June, would be more of the same:
- Complete 4 more works.
- Begin making the ILT work.
- Work on TV room and bedroom hall on the weekends.
Major steps or milestones are determined by breaking down quarterly goals into their smaller achievable chunks. Benchmarks show what I’ve done to make progress each month.
Normally I fill in milestones and targets at the beginning of each month. My aim is to plan them for each month on a quarterly basis. Progress is the aim in planning, not perfection.
quarterly planning helps you come back strong
Knowing what to do each quarter is critical for me to come back strong in the studio. I recommend you make the extra effort to plan your time in the studio at least to this point.
I often don’t take it beyond quarterly planning until I get to the second quarter because first quarter is our summer holiday and followed by the beginning of the school year.
Remember, you don’t have to do this perfectly. Forecasting your time in the studio is sort of an art in itself. Therefore, don’t beat yourself up if you don’t do it perfectly. In fact, you won’t. Not every idea that comes into your head works well for you when confronted with the realities of your life. That’s okay. You can later assess if it’s important to pursue an idea you’ve postponed.
The point is have a firm idea of the direction you want to head before you return to the studio. Then, every day take one action towards that in the studio.
Come back strong:The reward
These “Rhema Derivative” works, which are now known as my “Hurly Burly” collection, were started way back in early September 2023 alongside other work I was completing. The progress was spot on per the plan that I crafted back at the end of 2022 and early 2023.
Returning to these works in 2024, after a scheduled break brought fresh eyes, thereby, sparking fun and offbeat ideas for finishing them. I’m really surprised and delighted with the results. What do you think?
Hurly Burly
Formerly known as Rhema Derivative
The inspiring Rhema Meditation Series
