4 Questions to Help You Focus

Kendra Adachi, host of the Lazy Genius podcast says “When you haven’t figured out what matters, you implicitly allow everything to matter”.

In the age of social media where we are constantly seeing what other people are doing with their careers and getting to look at so much artwork, it can be overwhelming to know what we want to do with our own career and what our own work should look like. We get sidetracked easily because we see the success of others right at our fingertips and we can easily “allow everything to matter”.

We believe focus is such an important part of a successful art career. You have a unique voice as an artist and your own path and potential… we want you to have the tools to remain rooted in your purpose and focused on what is important to you as an artist!

So we wrote these 4 questions and invite you to use them as journal prompts to help you get laser focused when you are feeling overwhelmed. So curl up with your notebook and a pencil and get writing! 

#1- What matters most to me as an artist and how do I most want to spend my time?

Annie Dillard, in her beautiful book, The Writing Life, says, “How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is what we are doing.”

Very simple point but powerful when you think about it. Our time truly is our most valuable resource. It connects DIRECTLY to what matters most to us. So what do you want to spend your time doing?? What matters most to you?

#2- What are my main gifts as an artist…what am I good at and what do I feel good doing?

This question can help you put your unique gifts into the equation. It may take time to answer and your answers may change throughout different seasons of your life. But, recognizing what we are good at and what gifts are can help us find focus in our careers!

#3 - How do I want to feel as an artist? 

Think of this from a big-picture standpoint. What kind of artist do you want to be and how do you want to feel? Do you want to be on-the-go and moving a lot as an artist? Do you want to feel rooted and calm with lots of downtime in your studio, working in a backyard garden?  What are the overall, big picture feelings you want to have for your art career?

#4 - What impact do I want my work to make in the world?

This is such a big one and one that again, will take time… but if you can identify your big intentions and the impact you want your work to make, it can help you with clarity and focus.

What powerful things do you want your work to say and do?  What legacies are you plugging into? What conversations do you want people to have because of who you are as an artist and what you make? 

We hope you can spend some time doing some writing and reflecting with these 4 questions to help you get to the heart of what matters to your art career.

These questions are pulled from our North Star activity! Which will help you use these questions and your writing to come up with a solid statement that can help you clarify your dreams, claim your space and connect with your unique path as an artist. We have a free guide to help you do this on our website at www.thrivetogethernetwork.com/freebies

Or, we would love to do this as a community with you on our live Art & Tea session! Sign up to join us on the network and get a free 2 week trial to see what we are all about.

We would love to get to know you and the unique way you are building out your path as an artist!!