The Vision Thing
As a quick refresher, last week’s blog was about From Vision to Execution. I shared an overview of the 5 steps that I follow to turn my dreams into reality. This process enables me to translate my vision for the year into tangible pieces. And at the end of the process I have a year-at-a-glance wall calendar outlining a color-coded roadmap to follow to stay on track.
The 5 steps are:
1. Your Vision
2. The Parts & Pieces
3. Key Assumptions
4. The Tactical Plan
5. Daily Execution
Now let’s dive deeper into each step, one at a time, starting with Step 1: The Vision Thing.
Think about vision as your why, the reason you’re passionate about pursuing surface design, that gut feeling that you carry around with you every day that says you were meant to share your creative talents and beautiful artwork with the world.
It’s helpful to remember that your vision outlines what you want to achieve over the next 3-5 years. It’s the roadmap for what’s ahead of you. You’re not there yet and you need an intentional set of steps you get there. This is not a mission statement. And it’s not a set of goals either. It’s what you ultimately want - your north star - if you will.
To make this more tangible, let’s dive into some examples of goals that you shared with me last week:
Vickie’s goals are:
1. Set up and sell on Spoonflower
2. Set up shop and sell on Society6 and/or Etsy
3. Create 3 mini-collections
Sharmila’s are:
1. Finish The Pattern Design Academy course
2. Start a Spoonflower and Society6 shop
3. Update her website
4. Start building her email list
5. Create one new design every day, and
6. Create a collection once a week
Sue’s are:
1. Create a logo
2. Finish The Pattern Design Academy course
3. Start to sell my designs
These are all great and are, for the most part, pretty specific. But they are different from your vision or your why. These will work perfectly for Step 2 – the parts and pieces step – so save them. We’ll dive back into them next week when we move onto the next step in the process.
But before we can dive into the parts and pieces, we need to zoom out or step back a bit and dig a bit deeper to uncover your why.
Your vision is grounded in what you want, what inspired you to pursue surface design in the first place and what impact you want to make with your work. There’s a difference, right? Your vision is more futuristic. You’re looking beyond the tactical steps and focusing on how you want to feel 3 years from now. Envision yourself in 3 years. Where do you want to be? What do you want your business to look like?
To help you hone in on your vision, ask yourself these questions and keep in mind that there are no wrong answers.
Is your why driven by a financial goal or an emotional goal?
Does your vision include building a team around you or working solo?
What products and/or services make up your creative business?
When it comes to marketing and sales, do you want to handle these yourself or have someone else responsible for it?
What ultimate impact do you want to make and for whom?
We are impatient by nature so The Vision Thing is hard and is frequently skipped over. We jump right into the tactical steps or the short term to do list. But your vision, written down or sketched out or perhaps represented through art in some way, is critical. It’s what will help you see opportunities where others see obstacles. It will sustain you when it takes you longer than expected to reach a specific goal. It will ensure that you don’t quit or bail before you reach key milestones on your creative journey.
Take some time this week and write out or sketch out your vision. Define your why and share it with us. Saying it out loud makes it real. I believe in manifestation with lots of hard work and perseverance thrown in as well. If you prefer, keep it to yourself. It may be very personal and you may not feel comfortable sharing it. But either way, don’t skip this step.
Join me LIVE on my Facebook page, Anne LaFollette Art, at noon pacific time every Wednesday to ask me questions and gain additional insights.
We’ll have plenty of time to dive into the tactical steps next. You have your parts and pieces outlined already. See you next week.
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
