I love setting goals. I also know how quickly an exciting resolution can become a burden when it is too large for real life.
The goals I first wrote here were for 2019, but the lesson has lasted: choose something you can actually practice. A smaller promise kept is more useful than a dramatic promise abandoned.
1. Move your body in a way you can repeat
Staying active helps my creative process. Trying something new at the gym—or simply taking a walk—reminds me that being awkward at the beginning is normal. That carries back into watercolor, where unfamiliar techniques can feel less frightening after you have practiced beginning elsewhere.
Your goal does not have to be intense. Ten minutes of movement, a walk while observing color, or a regular stretch break can support the body that does the painting.
2. Protect your rest
I am a workaholic by nature. I once pushed through a project for eighteen hours straight because I loved the work and wanted it finished. Loving the work did not make that pace healthy.
Rest is part of the creative process. A project can wait. With enough sleep, I am more focused, more patient, and more willing to solve a problem instead of fighting it. A useful goal might be a stopping time, a screen-free wind-down, or permission to continue tomorrow.
3. Choose one playful source of creative spark
Creative growth does not have to come only from painting more. Explore without demanding a finished result. Learn from another artist. Borrow an art book from the library. Try music, gardening, collage, photography, or anything that makes you notice the world differently.
When I chose to learn the ukulele, it slowed my rushed pace and gave me a beginner experience outside watercolor. That kind of cross-pollination can return energy to your main craft.
Make the goal small enough to begin
Write the gentlest version of your goal. “Paint every day” might become “make one color study this week.” “Learn everything about drawing” might become “study one animal pose.” You can always grow a goal that fits. It is much harder to recover joy from one that crushes you.