How Setting Goals Can Lead to Success (& a Beautiful Creative Journey!)

Every masterpiece begins with a decision.

Not just the decision to create, but the choice to turn ethereal dreams into concrete reality. As creatives, we often resist structure, believing it might cage our artistic spirit. But there’s a reason why I talk about systems and rituals just as much as manifestation — because they work in tandem.

Dreams shimmer like stars in the distance, but without a map to reach them, they remain just that — distant lights we admire from afar. You’re not holding yourself back by creating more structure in your life and goals — you’re giving yourself a guiding light. ✨

Here’s how to cultivate those beautiful creative dreams of yours!

Want a deeper dive into creative manifestation? Follow my YouTube channel for musings + strategies from a fellow artist on her own journey right along with you!

When you’re first starting your creative journey, don’t measure how many pieces you’re selling or how much art you’re doing. Measure how many opportunities and inspired actions you’re taking.

Understanding How Setting Goals Can Lead to Success

The relationship between productivity and goal-setting is crucial for creative success; many artists wonder how setting goals can lead to success without stifling creativity.

When we approach goal setting as artists, we’re creating space for inspiration to flourish while ensuring our dreams take tangible form. Unlike traditional business goals, creative goals need to breathe and flex with our artistic intuition.

I talk more about this in my video about giving yourself space to create —

Mindful goal setting helps us create containers that actually nurture our creative spirit. Like a garden, without some structure, even the most beautiful wildflowers can get choked out by weeds. Giving yourself goals helps you focus on making that budding flower and “weeds” out any distractions… until you go through your goals again and revisit.

Maybe one day, those “weeds” will become your next prized flower to fill up an abundant and rich garden.

Why I Don’t Set Goals Longer Than 6 Months

Okay, enough with the analogies already, right Kira?!

As a female singer-songwriter, I’ve experienced firsthand how setting goals can lead to success in my own career. In fact, I’ve been creating tangible goals since I was in high school.

And one of the big mistakes I would make was trying to plan my entire future. “In 5 years, I want _.” “In 10 years, I want _.” But controlling the future does really nothing to cultivate trust in the universe.

After all — the universe has a peculiar way of surprising us. I have so much of what I wanted back in high school and college, all in ways I could have never predicted or planned.

That’s precisely why I’ve learned to limit my goal-setting horizon to six months or less. 

When we try to control too far into the future, we often miss the beautiful detours and unexpected opportunities that arise along the way.

Setting shorter-term goals also allows us to stay nimble and responsive to our evolving artistic voice. Lots of productivity-lovers love the book the 12-Week Year because it breaks down yearly goals into even more bite-sized goals specifically because it’s easier to tangibly see and feel.

Setting smaller milestones builds momentum in the universe’s favor.

SMART Goal Achievement Strategies for Artists

Let me show you how setting goals can lead to success… specifically through the SMART framework!

SMART goal setting is a super common framework for professionals — so let’s bring it into our magical creative fields for a moment.

Specific

I’m sorry, but vague goals like “become a better artist” won’t serve your creative journey!

Translate this into: “Complete a series of five large-scale oil paintings exploring themes of urban solitude.”

Specificity gives your creativity a clear channel to flow through.

Different artistic disciplines require unique approaches to specificity. Here are some examples to infuse the magic of specificity into your creative goals:

👩‍🎨 For painters, rather than setting a vague goal to paint more portraits, maybe commit to completing three self-portraits using different lighting techniques by March 1st. This goal clearly identifies both the subject matter and the technical skill development needed.

🎶 Musicians might transform a general desire to improve guitar skills into mastering four new jazz chord progressions and incorporating them into an original composition within two months. 

✍️ Writers can shift from wanting to write regularly to completing the first draft of a 2,000-word short story exploring childhood nostalgia by month’s end. Digital artists benefit from replacing general improvement goals with specific targets, such as creating a series of five character designs implementing advanced shading techniques in Procreate by June 15th.

Let’s talk creativity, time management, and more to get the most out of your creative magic – explore the blog for more deep artistic chats (tea optional but always encouraged). 🍵

Measurable

Art may be subjective, but progress doesn’t have to be!

Your personal development goals should have a clear way of measuring your progress. This might mean tracking the number of pieces you complete, the hours spent practicing specific techniques, the engagement your work receives, or even the tasks you complete.

Yes, creating tasks and then checking them off is measurable — you don’t even need an audience or fanbase yet. This is a great way to measure your progress when you’re just starting out.

Specifically, when you’re not measuring how many pieces you’re selling or how much art you’re doing, but how many opportunities you’re taking.

Achievable

Goals should stretch your abilities without breaking your spirit. And I know, that sounds super nuanced… because it is!

The thing is, even the most ambitious artistic achievements are built on a foundation of subtasks and tiny wins. Because you are allowed to dream big – but I don’t want you to be disappointed because you’re holding yourself to impossibly high standards. That wouldn’t be fair to your self-esteem!

Think about an aspiring photographer who wants to shoot for National Geographic. Telling yourself that you should have an award-winning picture by tomorrow isn’t achievable. But telling yourself that you should have an award-winning picture in your local area sounds a little more on the nose.

There’s a balance between shooting high and making your life unrealistic. And honestly? I started out by shooting too high and realizing that goal was a little unrealistic. But the great part is that I don’t know if I ever would have achieved what I did achieve, had I not set that goal at all. 😉

Relevant

Your goals need to align with your authentic artistic voice and long-term vision.

Are the goals you’re setting for yourself ones that truly serve your creative development and artistic message? Sometimes we create goals for ourselves that we think we want, but aren’t actually related to what our souls are calling for.

For instance, have you been setting a goal to get a promotion in your Cozy Girl Job? Is that something you really want to do? Or, is it to start making money in your creative career by the end of the year?

Implementing these success planning techniques will help you create a clear path forward. Nobody gets to tell you what you should do with your life and career — that, my friend, is up to you.

Time-Bound

Without deadlines, goals can drift soooo endlessly!

Set realistic timeframes that motivate rather than overwhelm you (hint: realistic! Remember Achievable? Same thing).

Too tight a deadline can stifle creativity, while too loose a timeline can lead to procrastination. You’ll likely have to play around with the speed at which you’re able to achieve something — it can take time to have a good understanding of how long sketching an outline will take if you’ve never timed it before! Do your best and keep self-correcting as you move forward.

Common Pitfalls for the Goal-Setting Artist (& Their Solutions!)

The Paralysis of Perfectionism

Perfectionism and analysis paralysis can hold you back so much and prevents forward movement.

Dare yourself to, instead of pursuing flawless execution, shift your focus to progress and learning. Think of quantity over quality when you’re first starting. Then focus on quality over quantity once you’ve had some time to imperfectly “perfect” your process.

The Social Media Comparison Trap

Social media’s constant stream of artistic achievement can trigger comparison paralysis which is why I deleted a bunch of social apps from my phone for the first 6 months of the beginnings of my creative journey.

Creative Blocks

Creative blocks can feel like running into an invisible wall while your inspiration takes an unannounced vacation.

Instead of forcing creativity (which usually leads to frustration), move move move! I have a ton of resources in this podcast episode on why you’re having creative blocks and how to bust through them 👇

Manifestation Tips

Make Pretty Systems

Color-coding, stickers, and beautiful layouts are so important to making your goals more joy-sparking! I love adding emojis, fun colors and customizations to the apps I use like Notion, Asana, and even my desktop wallpaper!

I hope these manifestation techniques help show you how setting goals can lead to success in your art! Join my email list and get some occasional cute tips on how to best the most artistic version of yourself.

Vision Board

Your vision board is a powerful, energetic manifestation of what you’re bringing into your future. It can be digital (like on Pinterest or Canva) or it can be physical (cut through a magazine) but what’s important is that you see it multiple times per day.

Affirmations

Speak your artistic dreams into existence with intentional, present-tense affirmations. Focus on both the doing and the feeling: “I feel confident and fulfilled as I create my art.”

Vision boards and affirmations serve as a cosmic conversation between your deepest desires and the universe’s infinite potential, training your subconscious to manifest what was once just a dream.

Learn How Setting Goals Can Lead to Success & More: Subscribe to Violet Gaze

When you understand how setting goals can lead to success, you’ll transform your artistic journey — and I love that for you. If you’d like to continue the cozy conversation, subscribe to join our community of goal-oriented artists. Let’s turn our creative dreams into reality, shall we? ✨