More Than Just A Resolution

With a new decade coming up, I thought a lot about larger life choices and what direction I want my life and career to go. I made a couple brainstorming mind-map things, starting with this one. Major things I realized were that I feel like I’ve hit a career plateau and I need to push myself to keep learning new things, especially graphic design-wise. I also need to update my websites to reflect my current brand, and even gain clarity on what my brand IS! I do many things from my own comics (AER HEAD - which I just finished drawing!) to custom comics, to teaching, to design & more.

Also, the end of 2019 has been a bit rough for me, but I know 2020 will be a more positive future! “Know thyself” is key - I recognize negative thought patterns in myself and will take steps to catch myself and replace the negative thoughts with positive thoughts. It’s all about MINDSET!! For example, concerning AER HEAD, sometimes I think I’m working so hard on it but in the end, as an indie comic it won’t reach many people and not many people will care. WRONG! AER HEAD is AMAZING and if I can learn more about how to market it correctly, it WILL reach more people! Even by word of mouth alone - I had 85 backers for my Kickstarter and 27 patrons on my Patreon (yes there is some overlap with people supporting both :), as well as all of you on my mailing list, and that is FANTASTIC! Definitely already blessed with lots of support!

Keep in mind that all the post-it notes in the pic are NOT just “resolutions.” They are action items that I want to work towards in 2020. Sometimes just by labeling something as a “resolution,” it’s almost doomed to fail by mid-January. MINDSET!! I made another action-map based on items from these goals, which I’ll post in a future blog.

Life Tip

Even though this is the time of year when the holidays are bustling, take some time to reflect beyond just a resolution now instead of picking something the first week of January, then dismissing it mid-month. The start of a new decade is time to think BIG! Start with a larger goal and brainstorm some action steps you can take to work towards that goal, like “mini goals.”

Happy Holidays!

Inspiration: Make 100____!

I’m already thinking about my plans for the new year, which is actually a new DECADE! I want to hit the ground running in 2020 and will do a post on some of my goals in the next few weeks, but I wanted to share something cool with you: Kickstarter’s “Make 100” campaign. I’m not participating in it (still working on my own Kickstarter fulfillment!) but if you want to get your feet wet with Kickstarter for the first time, Make 100 is a great way to finally give yourself the push you need!

Make 100 happens every January and you can make 100 anything - 100 copies of zines, 100 bracelets, 100 cupcakes, anything! It’s very advantageous if you coordinate a project you’ve wanted to do with one of Kickstarter’s special promos like this because you’ll probably get a bit of extra attention from being a part of the larger campaign. Kickstarter promotes Make 100, people search for it, and your project may end up in a featured newsletter (happened to me twice for “Small Press Big Ideas.”)

I’m telling you this now so you still have time to plan if you want to launch anytime in January. You could even launch at the end and have almost 2 months to plan. I know that people have various thoughts and feelings about Kickstarter (my launch happened mid-kerfuffle), but you can’t deny that it is the best platform to launch a project in a HUGE way. There were people who just found me “out of nowhere” just from Kickstarter!

Business Tip

Start planning for the new decade now instead of the first week of January and then give up the second week of January. By brainstorming now I feel like I have more time and space to determine what goals matter to me.