Finding a strong WHY as a creative – part 4

Prioritize your goals and WHY and get to action!

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Take action of your WHY! In this part, we will visualize the path forward out of your WHY(s) . In the firstsecond and third posts I talked about the importance of having and finding a strong WHY as a creative and how to define it. We started to visualize what success is for you and defining what your WHY is.


The inspiration for these posts comes from “Framgångsboken” by Alexander Pärleros. Where he talks about this topic and how important it is to have a strong WHY in your life among a healthy mind and soul. That book was on my list of summer reads and the inspiration for this blog post.

Step 4 – Let’s start to think about how we can make something of our defined goals and WHY’s. Because, a goal without action is just a dream. I will in an upcoming blog post show you what my road map to achieve my goals looks like more in detail. But now, we will make a rough plan on how we can achieve the set WHY. 

So, for every bullet point I will add roughly how I think I can achieve the goal. By doing this we will start to take the first step towards action.

  • Run my business successfully

    How can I make this happen:
    The first thing I need to do is to become a better sales person. I need to get more clients in my rooster and I need them to become returning clients. By making clients come back I can have a steadier income over time. When I have a solid client base with on-going work I can start focusing on adding more commercial work, such as advertising agencies, so my business can grow even more.

  • Make more books.

    How can I make this happen:
    I’m actually working on my third book as we speak and hopefully it will make it all the way to a finished product. For me, that already have a relationship (a great one!) with a publishing company, Balkong Förlag, the step here is to come up with new and interesting ideas that are good enough to capitalize on in book form.
  • Give speech/talk internationally

    How can I make this happen:
    I will need to keep working on my blog, The Creative Life (where you are right now), where my goal is to make every reader a better creative. I need to grow it and reach more people so it gets more recognition. I also need to create courses/workshops that I can host at companies that need a creative boost. By making my name as a creative host/talk I can start to approach different events that happens around the world and present my idea/pitch.
  • Be an internationally successful photographer

    How can I make this happen:
    I need to start to approach clients outside of Sweden and show them that I’m worth the extra money spent on travel to commission me. I think the hardest part is to find the first few international clients. When I have that, I have solid proof of that I’m worth it! The best thing with our digital world is that is smaller today!
  • Have an exhibition in an art gallery

    How can I make this happen:
    I have a plan to make my third book into an exhibition as well. As I, by experience in working at a (huge) gallery/museum, know that an exhibition backed up by a book is often easier to market and more commercially approachable. If my book never makes it to production, I will come up with another interesting series to work on that will make an exhibition.
  • Spend more time in nature

    How can I make this happen:

    This might be the easiest goals to achieve, as it seems just to get of your ass and go outside. But, as we all know this can be very hard. So, the solution for me is to put in time in my calendar where I will take a walk, go outside and get fresh air somehow.

  • Be financially independent

    How can I make this happen:

    The first step is the first step in this list – build a solid and healthy business. When that is achieved I can start to look for investments as stocks and other type of investments where “the money works for you”.

  • Feel happy in my body and soul as a human being

    How can I make this happen:
    This is probably one of the hardest goals to achieve. We all have ghosts and demons that we battle with inside our head. The first step is to spend more time outside as that is an important part of a healthy mind. Another step is to cut out everything in my life that makes me feel bad, sad or drains energy. This makes it easier to focus on the things that makes you feel good.
  • Host a ”sommarprat” (a Swedish radio show)

    How can I make this happen:
    This is the goal I’m not 100% sure how to achieve – yet! But, every year you can call Sveriges Radio (Sweden’s national radio network) and read the beginning of your talk to an answering machine (hello 1980!) to have a chance to be that year’s people’s choice. Other than that, I guess I will need to befriend the editors of the show and start buying coffee.

One last thing to do – prioritizing 

Well done! Now you have taken the first step of action towards the goals and WHY’s in your life as a creative. The next step for you now is to create a more detailed plan on how to achieve each of these goals. But first, you need to prioritize your goals. From the most important to the least. 

Why? Because, we are only human beings and despite what your boss or your significant other thinks – we are not the best at multitasking. In fact, it’s the opposite!

So, by prioritizing your list you can start to focus on the goals and WHY’s that are the most important for you and your career as a creative and content creator. Think about what goal is the biggest step forward towards the professional life you want to have. This is what my prioritized list look like: 

  1. Feel happy in my body and soul as a human being
  2. Run my business successfully
  3. Be an internationally successful photographer
  4. Make more books
  5. Spend more time in nature
  6. Give speech/talk internationally
  7. Have an exhibition in an art gallery
  8. Be financially independent
  9. Host a ”sommarprat” (a Swedish radio show)


This will end my series of finding a strong WHY as a creative and content creator.

For you, the nest step is to make a road map and make each plan more defined. Think small steps at the time and always do something each day that takes you closer to your goal!

Feel free to hit me up on social media or leave a comment bellow!

Love,
Johan

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