Tiff’s Tips: Do Not Be Afraid To Change

Do Not Be Afraid To Change

Some say that, the one constant thing in life is change. That is true. Change is chosen or forced on you, either way it will happen. Life is full of fresh adventures and pivots in your plans. Adjust to these redirections. You can either resist and fear the change or accept the new normal and adjust to it. If you resist and fear the change, that may cause more issues though. Not accepting the different way of life can stunt your creative or your general growth. You should not fear change, but embrace it and adjust to the new chapter in your life or creative career. Most changes are a new chapter in your story. They can be you turning down an alternative path on your life’s journey.

This tip goes along with another one; Try different things. Do not be afraid to allow life’s changes to move your creativity into another direction. When you embrace the changes, instead of fighting or fearing them you can grow from them.

Yes, it will be hard. It’s difficult to adjust to adjusting. There will be times when you need to focus on transitioning into this new chapter of your life, whether it is an enormous change or a small one. Transitioning into the new normal will be even harder if you resist or fear it though.

It is easier, in the long run, to go with the flow so to say or at least accepting the needed change. You’ll also save emotional energy when you don’t fear or resist the change. When you allow the changes to happen, you can even learn from the events that brought on the changes into your life or creative career.

Want More?

This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.

Tiff’s Tips: Have Creative Friends

Have Creative Friends Tiff's Tips image

The creative life can be hard and lonely. You will get stuck on ideas and take criticism for your work. This life will be hard, which is why having friends that are creative and a creative community is so important. They’ll be able to lift you up or get you unstuck. They’ll show you you’re not in it alone. There are other artists and creatives in the world going through similar stuff in their lives.

Yes, you will work alone if you are a painter, writer, or sculptor. You must practice alone if you are a musician or actor. There will be alone time while you create. Your creative friends will show you that others are doing the same thing. Everyone will get stuck or come up against an unfamiliar obstacle. That is part of growing and improving. All artists and creatives will have to deal with criticism for their work. Also, every creative person can improve with the help of others.

It may take time to cultivate a friendship that focuses on mutual creative trust and a feedback cycle. It is worth the work. You can find these opportunities in already established groups or events. There may take time and work to find the right fit, but you’ll be able to grow in your creativity when you do.

You will learn a lot from others and they will learn from you. You will improve your art with their help and they’ll improve with your help. These types of relationships should be beneficial to all parties.

Want More?

This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.

Tiff’s Tips: Try Different Things

Try Different Things image

It is important in your creative life to try different things. You should experiment with different mediums, styles, and subjects. As you explore unique aspects of art or creating, you’ll find what you enjoy and also your own style. You will learn what does and doesn’t work for you. As you try unfamiliar things, you’ll also grow in your understanding of art and as an artist.

Trying new things is also good in life. With each unknown experience, you can learn more about who you are and life. Do not shy away from what is new or foreign to you. It’ll grow you as a person and artist if you let it.

I have many experiences where I tried unfamiliar things. A lot of them had to do with jobs I had. I tried out 9-12 jobs that could become a career. Funny enough, besides the ones I have now, I would only go back to cleaning dog kennels or theater carpentry. I just didn’t fit well with the others. Trying the different jobs I realized being creative was an important aspect in my career path.

I also experimented in my writing as you can tell if you look at my older writings. I’ve done short stories, poetry, articles, and even my memoir called To Love. In doing all this exploration I learned I am a fiction writer, poet, and love sharing what I’ve learned throughout my life.

In my visual art life I have drawn, sculpted, painted, and do digital art. I have done more than just those few things, but that has been my main focuses. In doing all that I learned that it is easiest and highly fulfilling for me to do digital art, but I also love painting. There is almost a need for me to paint. That is why I sculpt and draw less. My focus is on painting and digital art.

I have noticed recently that as you experiment and try new things, certain elements will remain. I will always be me, and my art will always reflect who I am. An example is that long before I focused on hearts as a series I have put or painted hearts in most of my visual art pieces. This is most likely because I focus my art and core on spreading love, happiness, and sharing my heart. I shared this focus of my life before I even realized it or spoke it.

Learning about your core and more about yourself are the 2 primary values of trying new things.

Want More?

This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.

Tiff’s Tips: Assess and Have Goals

Assess and Have Goals

It is important to set goals for yourself and your creative life. I find the more often I write my goals down, the more focused I become in achieving them. Once you have your goals set, you must also assess your progress.

It will not be very helpful to you if you only write the same goals repeatedly and not assess your progress. Perhaps you’re setting goals that you’re not achieving. If you do that, it will add undue stress and pressure on you. Maybe it’s too easy for you to meet your goals. If your goals are too easy than your not challenging your self or improving. If you don’t assess them, you may not progress at the correct speed for you.

Goal setting is a balance and a dance. Some weeks or months you may achieve more than you thought, while other months you may not achieve that much. This is just the way of life. You shouldn’t expect success to be a straight line or even expect you will meet all your goals on the first try. The key is to not beat yourself up on the slow goal for months and accept that you can learn from failures too. This is a lesson I remind myself of often.

The best way I’ve found to use goals is as a marker on your journey. This is easier said than done, at least for me. When I set goals, I want to achieve them with flying marks, but sometimes life gets in the way. Other times I set my goals too high. There are times I meet my goals or surpass them, but often those times are few and far apart. The goal with goals is to see the progress over time and to keep you focus on the main path you’re on. You may have to adjust your goals while you are assessing your progress. If you do it for a long enough amount of time, you’ll see that your progress can motivate you further down your path. I know it has pushed me along my path.

This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.

Tiff’s Tips: Start where you are

start where you are

This post may seem out of place, since he first 3 posts in this series dealt with where you are going. However, you first need a map before you can start your journey. Now that you know where you are going it is time to figure out where you are. Just like any other journey you can’t start from a different position. You need to start where you are.

You may say I need to start my journey across the street you still need to get across the street. Once you start walking across the street you start your journey to where you need to be. The journey starts when you start working or walking towards your goals.

This is the same with your creative life and creative goals. If you already answered the questions about where you want to go, you already started the journey.

Another point you need to be aware of is that you cannot expect to run if you are still crawling. Let me go back to the street analogy. If the bus stop is on the other side of the street you still need to cross the street before the bus can pick you up. That does not mean the bus will never pick you up, you just have to do something to get to the bus stop.

This may seem obvious and maybe realizing where you are in your creative life will be easy for you. Others may have difficulty with this.

My start

I know figuring out where I was and my first steps were not easy. Each time I looked around I was expecting to be in a different place in my creative journey. I thought I knew everything I needed to know, but when I stopped to assess I realized I was still at the beginning.

My end goal was and still is to become a full time artist, but it takes more than just doing art to make that happen. I needed to be research marketing strategies, audience growth plans, and just basic business stuff.

Once I had a rough map I needed to start actually working towards my goal and walking my journey. I needed to cross the street get on the bus, get off the first bus, hike a mountain, and do a little dance. I’m still on journey, but can see my start and how far I’ve gone. That is a good feeling.

This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.

Tiff’s Tips: Have an Ideal Life

Have-An-Ideal-Life

Like any journey you need to know where you are going. You need a X that marks the spot. Part of that is defining what success means to you and figuring out if you are a hobbyist or artist. Another aspect of figuring out where you’re going is to have an ideal life.

Having an ideal life means that you know what you need in life and you have an ultimate end goal. When you are just starting out the perfect life you have in mind may be vague and hard to define. It’ll morph a bit and become more defined in time.

How I create my ideal life.

I regularly write my ideal life down on in my journal. This helps me to see if my heart is changing and also solidifies my ideal.

First I break my life into sections.

  • Spiritual
  • Job/ Creative Career
  • Relationships
  • Mental health
  • Physical health

I then write a few sentence about how I want my life to be in those areas of my life. If I have enough time I’ll then combine them into one paragraph explaining how my best life would look.

It is easiest to start with a rough idea and then work it into having an ideal day.

Example #1

In my ideal life I am a full time artist who is involved and active in my church. I have close friendships in whom I can trust and great relationships with my family members. I work out and journal regularly and eat healthy. I am consistently working on bettering myself in all areas, so that I can become the best version of myself.

Example #2

In my ideal life I wake up early, before 7, and pray before I read my Bible. I then do a short workout before I have my breakfast and start my day. Each work day is a little bit different, but I work long hours on my visual art and writing. Each day I also find time to text, talk to, or hang out with the people most important to me.

You see having an ideal life doesn’t need to be a long or highly detailed thing. It just needs to be clear and what you want your perfect life to be. It’ll help you keep on track.

This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.

Tiff’s Tips: Decide If You Are A Hobbyist or Artist

Hobbyist or Artist

In my mind creative people can fall into 2 camps; the hobbyist and the artist.

The Hobbyist

The Hobbyist is creative for the joy and pleasure of being creative. Their idea of success is just having time to be creative and enjoying it.

Being creative to them is either relaxing or simply a fun time. They do not need anything else out of their art or creativity. The hobbyist is someone who will have another job and is simply being creative because it is their hobby.

It is a simple and pure reason to create art of any type.

The Artist

The Artist is a person who wants a career focused around being creative. Art is more than a hobby to them. It is a passion that they can’t get enough of.

Yes, they enjoy creating and art most likely started as a hobby for them too. It has since grown and changed into something they want to do more of.

Where I fall

I fall into the artist camp. I started as a hobbyist. For most of my life I wrote because it was just something I enjoyed doing. I started to draw and doodle, because it was fun.

The issue I started to face was that I wanted to write more and do more with my visual art too. I never feel like I have enough time to do everything I want to do with my creative career.

I started to make life changes to help me make more time for my creativity. First it was small things, like making sure I had Saturdays to be creative and setting goals for my creativity. Then the changes became bigger, like leaving my office job and the commute, so that I had more time and less mental drain.

Another change I made in order to fall more into the artist camp was that I simply started to refer to my creativity as my art business and my creative career. I switched my brain into realizing and accepting this is the path I’m on.

Whether you chose to be a hobbyist or artist both are valid and can be successful. Just like life your art and creativity is yours. Only you can decide how much time, effort, and emotions you put into.

If you are hobbyist that does not mean you are less passionate about your creativity. It simply means you have decided to keep it as a hobby instead of a career.

This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.

Tiff’s Tips: Define Success for yourself

Success is Defined

Success is defined as the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. It is the attainment of popularity or profit. Success is based on achievements and accomplishments. What you aim for and strive to accomplish will be unique to who you are.

You need to define what a successful life looks like to you. Who do you want to be? How do you want your life and art to look? What accomplishments and achievements mean most to you?

No one can define success for your life, except for you. A successful life for me will look very different than your successful life. We are all unique with different passions, personalities, and life styles.

Let Me Share My Definition

In my life success is defined as living a life I’m proud of, where I am allowed to be fully me. This definition will allow me to grow, but also allow contentment as I grow.

I live a successful life by keeping a journal for self-exploration, so that I can keep in touch with who I am at my core.

One reason why I pray and read the Bible daily is so that I can learn more about my spirit/ soul and grow closer to God who made.

Living a successful life for me also means being creative often and sharing my creativity with others.

Notice, I have defined a successful life with things that I can control. I can decide to journal or not. I can focus on building healthy habits or I can ignore those habits. It is up to me.

I learned through goal setting and striving to be a better version of my self that the focus has to be with you. You cannot focus on the achievements, but that what you do to get to the achievements.

This means that it if you want to get to point B, don’t focus on point B. Focus on walking to point B and the steps. You’ll get there, but if you focus on the end goal and achievement it becomes easier and easier to see that you’re not at point B. This is especially true if point B is far far away.

Focus on your habits and what you can control and you’ll get to your successful life.

This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.

Tiff's Tips blog series logo

Tiff’s Tips

We all know things other do not. It’s a fact of living. You’re not going to have the same knowledge base or experiences as someone else. No matter where you are on your journey you can help other people. I have been on my creative journey for a few years now and I have been learning things every step of the way. That is why I’m sharing things I know with this blog series, Tiff’s Tips.

My experiences and my life have taught me things that you may not know. What I have to say may help someone just by the facts I share, or who I am may explain it in a different way, with a different light that makes the tip click into their mind.

Yes, some of these things may seem common place or obvious to you, but others may not realize or know those tips.

I hope you enjoy this series and I hope you learn from it. Please allow it to help your mind grow and your thinking to shift, so that you can achieve your goals. Hopefully by the end you will see your art and goals in a new light.

I will leave you now with the first ten tips of this series. In the coming months I will explain and expand on each of them.

  1. Define Success for yourself
  2. Decide If You Are A Hobbyist or Artist
  3. Have an Ideal Life
  4. Start where you are
  5. Assess and Have Goals
  6. Do Not Give Up
  7. Have Creative Friends
  8. Try Different Things
  9. Do Not Be Afraid To Change
  10. Regularly Reflect On Your Journey

Side note: I did do a video project about goals years ago. Check out the playlist if you’re interested.

Ending note

This is part of Tiff’s Tips a blog series. I have also done a goal setting video series on YouTube.

To Do: (A Poem)

poetry

I have this to do
now that must be done,
sitting still is not doable.
The laundry needs to be done,
my room needs to be clean,
the mess is taking over.
I must do all the things around.
Can you not see the list in my brain.

I have to do this
and that cannot wait.
The list is growing
even as I sit,
even as I think,
I see it growing
like a monster in the swamp
I have too many things to do,
too many ways I must run.
Sitting should be unheard of
and writing should be put away,
this to do list is growing and growing,
consuming my mind.
It’s taking over my life.

I need to do this
and that is so very important.
Creativity needs to be put on pause
and my goals should run and hide.
I need to do all I need to do,
because I have this and that
both need to be done.
The universe will implode
if I do not do what is on the list.

Or maybe this and that can be put on pause,
perhaps my creativity needs to come out and play.
I can put my list away
and meet my goals instead.
The laundry can wait
and the mess can stay.
I need to sit
and create.