My Word Of 2021, Yearly Goal, And How They'll Help Me Move Forward In My Creative Journey
Entering a new year can feel emotional at the best of times, and this year more than ever - I think we’re all feeling that. On one hand, there’s the relief of finally leaving 2020 behind. The hope that we’re through the worst of it, and that 2021 will be a better year. Then there’s the quiet voice whispering that maybe it won’t be, that we have no idea just like we had no idea in the beginning of 2020. Ouff.
But for me, the new year feels emotional on a creative level too. I know that 2021 will be a year that will challenge me. I have known this for a while now, and entering it feels both exciting and nerve-wrecking. I’m going to do things I have never done before, things I have resisted and feared. So I’m walking into 2021 a little apprehensively, but holding hope close to my heart.
Before sharing my word of the year and my goal, I want to share the background to them. How I want to move forward in my creative work this year, and how I’m checking in with the three things I believe we all need to move forward in our creative lives - my direction, my route and my courage.
Because that’s what goals and plans are really about. Doing what we want with our lives.
My direction for 2021
Direction is the vision you have, your understanding of your creative dreams, interests, identity and your ideas. Direction is the thing that points the way forward, that gets you clear on what you’re aiming towards.
Direction exists on many levels, but I have been clear on my broadest direction for a few years now: I want to live a slow and creative life. This is my north star, my compass that I’m continuously checking in with.
If we step one level down on the ladder of abstraction, I want to build a creative business that can sustain me. Full-time. One where I get to coach, inspire and support creatives to move forward in their projects, pursue my own creative interests like writing and photography, where I have space for freedom and flexibility and slow moments.
As I shared in my 2020 review, I spent much of 2020 getting clear on what exactly that means. What business it is I’m building. Who I want to be as a coach and creative business owner. What my methods are and where I want to put my focus. I’m grateful for how much I uncovered last year, and it means I’m clear on what I want going forward.
My route for 2021
Your route is your journey from where you are now to your direction. It’s what needs to happen to bridge that gap, what things are going to propel you forward.
The question for me, then, is what lies between that vision I have of my full-time creative business and where I am now.
2020 was a year that taught me what it’s really like to run a creative business. Slowly, I figured out what the puzzle I was laying looked like - and the individual puzzle pieces. I saw how it all could fit together. I saw that it worked, but it worked on a small scale.
So the distance I want to bridge is that from a small yet beloved creative business, to one that can sustain me full-time. Can you guess where I’m going with this by now?
In 2021, I need to grow my creative business.
I’ve never seen growth as something to strive for just for the sake of it. I don’t dream of being “internet famous” or getting wide recognition. So I’ve never put too much effort into growing my reach. If I’m being completely honest, I’ve always avoided it a little because the work it takes scare me.
But now I’ve arrived at a point in my journey where I have to focus on growth if I am to get to my vision. So that is going to be my goal for 2021 - growing my business. I won’t go into the details of my plans here, because it’s beyond the scope of this blog post, but let’s just say I’m going to do some things that will make me uncomfortable.
My courage for 2021
If you’ve followed me for some time, you probably know that my blogging journey began in 2016 with my Fear Year, when I decided to face my creative fears. I did it because I realised that having a direction and a route wasn’t enough to get me moving with writing my first novel. The thing that constantly got in my way was my own fear. Since then, I’ve seen in a vast range of creative projects and all my coaching clients how courage always has a role to play in our creative work.
There is something about focusing on growth that makes me very uncomfortable. Just saying I’m going to do it makes me want to go hide. I’ve pondered on why this is, and I think it comes back to this:
Saying I want to grow my creative business feels like saying I’m worthy of growth.
We so often want an invitation. A permission slip. A seal of approval. We want someone else to say that we are good enough. To on the other hand say that you think you are good enough, oh that feels like shaky ground. So the comfortable thing is to wait for growth to happen by itself, to wait to be invited onto podcasts rather than pitch ourselves as guests. To play in our own playground and wait for people to come join us.
But every time we wait for permission to do something we want, we’re outsourcing the control of our creative journeys to others. So this year, I’m gathering my courage to stand up and say “hey, I have something to say that I think you might want to hear”. I’m making intentional space for doing the things that will help my business grow. And the word I’m choosing to support me is…
TRUST.
Trust in myself, that I’m able to do this. Trust in my ideas and methods, that they’re worthy of attention. Trust in my creative business, that it can grow. Not a blind kind of trust, but an empowering one. One that will help me do the work I want to do.
Let 2021 begin
So here we are. My goal for 2021 is to grow my creative business, and my word to help guide me is Trust. Who knows how 2021 will turn out. I know not everyone likes to set goals, and maybe this year it feels even less tempting. But goal-setting is just a tool you can use, one among many to choose from.
For me, goals help point my way forward. They help me prioritise consciously, and take steps that scare me when I really want to. I always try to refrain from setting results focused goals, so I’m including no numbers in my growth goal and I interpret it rather as doing the things that can help my business grow, than reaching a very specific outcome.
Some things will take a backseat this year, like my fiction writing. With one novel done and with publishers deciding if they’re interested in publishing it or not, I will not begin writing my next novel just yet. I’ll likely think about it, perhaps plan it a little. But for 2021, I think the challenge of building up my little business will be plenty. And I hope you’ll be along for the ride.
If you are working on choosing a word and a goal for 2021, you might want to check out my guide Four Seasons of Creative Work. It begins with a yearly workbook where you do just those things, and it’s what I use in my own yearly planning.
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