Look forward

The end of the year brings all sorts of looking back. The media has list after list of 2008’s best, worst, dumbest, etc. and we seem compelled to look at the year that was. I say, fuggidaboudit.

For many creatives, 2008 was a tough year. So why review it? It’ll just depress you and, more importantly, it is the past. It’s done. Whatever it was, whatever happened, has already happened. Past tense. Over. Unchangeable. This is true even if you had a good year. It’s done. So it is wasted effort to review it over and over again. 

Instead, I suggest you take these probably slow days around the new year and look forward. Take an afternoon and go to a museum or something equally relaxing and inspiring; then, sit in a cafe (or a bar, if you prefer) and brainstorm ideas for 2009. No editing–just write down any idea that pops into your head about your business and your creativity. Be specific and focus on things over which you have control. Maybe you’ll come up with ideas for personal projects, or promos, or a new creative technique, or imagine adding a marketing assistant to your business–doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you have the money to hire an MA, this is just about brainstorming so don’t get hung up in reality. Do, however, keep in mind that you can only control yourself so writing things like “have a client hire me for a $100K project” is not a good thing to have on your list because that is out of your control (you can market to clients who are capable of offering such projects, but you can’t make them actually offer one). 

The next day, look at your list. Separate it into three parts: Doable Now/Soon, Doable in 2009 Sometime, and Doable After 2009. Note there is no “not doable”–everything is possible…eventually. Rewrite your original list into the three separate lists. For example, maybe you had “move to Tibet to shoot monks” on your brainstorming list, but you don’t want to take your young kids out of school or leave them behind–put that item in “Doable After 2009.”

Now take the items in the first two lists, those for 2009, and figure out how you can do the things on those lists. Write out the steps to achieve each item. For example, if you have “follow illegal migrant workers in Texas for 1 week” then you’d have items like “contact migrant worker organizations in TX; decide how to shoot/make equipment list; book flight; book lodging or get camping equipment…” and so on. Take these mini-lists and schedule them on your 2009 calendar (you can always move the items later if they need to be changed due to shoots). 

The third list you need to look at to see if there are steps you can take in 2009–steps to help make those items happen sometime later. For example, if you want to go to Tibet as mentioned earlier, you’ll need to save up money. So, items like “starting a Tibet Project savings account” and “saving at least $2000 for Tibet Project” are some things you could do in 2009. Schedule those items as well in your 2009 calendar. 

Suddenly, you have a plan for 2009. A plan to achieve the things you want to achieve. Each step is concrete and doable. And each step will lead you to your goals for 2009 and help you on your way to your longer-term goals as well. These are all individual things you can do–basic tasks–that when combined, will help take you where you want your business to go. You are thinking about your present and your future, not wasting effort worrying about mistakes you may have made in the past or things that happened out of your control in the past.

Stay focused on each day as it comes, work the items as they appear on your calendar, and you’ll be surprised at how much you get accomplished in 2009.