set goals – Stephanie Richey Art

Renew

Goals are a funny thing for me. I tend to do better in my day-to-day life when I have goals to achieve. I also utilize my time more wisely when I have a clear direction for my day. But I also get distracted easily. Especially if my goal is a long-term goal. But I find when I am distracted it is usually because either we are super busy as a family or with my husband’s business, or I haven’t set my goals correctly, usually making the steps too big and I get discouraged and give up. So, every once in a while, I have to reevaluate and adjust my big goals, my everyday goals, and the progress goals just to make sure I am headed in the direction I want to go.

The past 3 weeks or so have been that adjustment. This summer was so busy, and the garden took up a lot of my free time, which was good and necessary, but I got out of the habit of doing a number of things, like keeping track of my eating and inflammatory foods, painting, exercising in a productive manner, etc. Getting back to school and back into a good routine also took a little bit of doing. I am not a morning person but have to wake up early during the week, which takes me over a month to adjust to at the beginning of every school year. I don’t know why I let myself get out of the habit, but I really love going to bed later, like around 11:00 instead of 9:30 and waking up around 7:00 rather than 5:15.

I feel like the past 3 weeks however have been so good because of the finally steady schedule and renewing or reenergizing of my goals. I use my time better, my house is cleaner, I have been making better, healthier homemade dinners, I have been exercising regularly in a more productive manner, and I have been painting! I love painting because it is so relaxing to me, and this has helped immensely to relieve stress and focus my mind. I love having direction, and I am so grateful to have the renewed energy that I get when I have direction and purpose to my days. The remainder of my post today will be pictures of my most recent paintings. Renewing my goals helped renew my inspiration, and I have enjoyed feeling that excitement to sit and paint everyday.

Focus

I recently read several articles, that, when I started, I didn’t realize they were related. But as I read through them, they had the same theme, focus. I found it interesting, that in my business recently and how I manage my time, I have been learning about focus as well. I don’t think life is random, and part of my belief that the Lord is in the details of our lives, I find it interesting that as I was learning more about focusing my time and energies toward certain business goals, these articles and references were “randomly” found that aided in my search for more understanding and knowledge. I had not previously been looking for more information on the topic of focus, as I was searching for information about business things. But in my personal study of the scriptures and modern-day prophets, I was drawn to these articles in particular.

Backing up a few weeks. I was frustrated about a month ago because I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere with my business, with my website, with anything at all. I felt like I was putting in time and energy, only to be spinning my tires so to speak. I began to wonder if what I was doing was worth the time and energy, if I even really wanted to keep going, if there wasn’t something else out there that I was supposed to be doing instead. I have had several interesting experiences over the years that have helped me feel confident in the direction I have been going, but these thoughts were making me questions everything I had previously learned and understood.

As I pondered, I began to pray. The answer was almost immediate. I had no focus. I realized that I did have goals and an ultimate direction that I wanted to go, but in trying to get there I was just shooting off in a dozen different directions, hoping to somehow hit the mark without ever really aiming more than in the general direction that I wanted to go. I realized that yes, I had a direction, and yes, I had goals and steps to get there, but I was trying to “focus” on all the steps for all the goals simultaneously instead of one thing at a time. I realized that if I stopped focusing on everything all at once, and one thing at a time, I would be able to get where I needed to be faster and more accurately than how I was proceeding. I would also be able to do a better job when I focused my time and energy on one thing rather than many all at once.

This past week has been a much better week for my understanding as well as my business. I decided I wanted to learn more about digitizing art, and how photoshop works. I found many helpful videos and used some of my newest paintings to figure out how to digitize better. I am amazed at how much I learned, from the videos, and my own experimentation now that I understand the program better. I now have more confidence in digitizing my own art, as well as offering that service to others. Today as I sit down and figure out what my coming week will look like, I am excited to focus more on one aspect of my business rather than on everything all at once. It’s interesting, these are lessons that I know inside my head, but sometimes I don’t know them in my heart well enough, so I have to learn them better. I also think it has a lot to do with learning line upon line, here a little and there a little as we go along and are better able to understand harder and harder concepts. What do you do in your life to focus your time?

Do

Image result for do or do not there is no try

The wisdom of Yoda. I love the old Star Wars movies. But that’s not what I am writing about today. Only the wisdom of Yoda. Yesterday I finished my workout and took this photo:

I had just finished my workout and was sweating. My thought was to share it on Instagram with a comment about still being able to get in a good workout even though I am still recovering from a shoulder injury. But it got me thinking about “Do.” I have had a couple of more major injuries in my life that have inhibited my ability to function, or at least it could have inhibited my ability. As I talk about these two opportunities, please don’t assume I am always perfect at this, but as I work through life, and am currently working through an injury, I have learned to get up and do.

About 10 years ago I broke my tibia bone right above my ankle. This was extremely frustrating at first as I began to think of all the things I would not be able to do. One of those things was exercise. I figured I was done until I healed. I was angry because I loved running and had just PR’d on my 4-mile run. I hate to admit it, but for a couple of days I didn’t do anything. I sat with my foot up and thought. But, as I thought, I decided that this would be a great opportunity to work my upper body, and there were still some things I could do to work some of the muscles in my lower body, so they didn’t atrophy so badly, plus my other leg was going to have extra work, and I could focus there as well. Being able to get back to work lifted my spirits, and I was able to see great upper body gains by the time I got my cast off. I am so grateful for the opportunity that experience gave me to learn about myself, and to learn about doing what I can do rather than focusing on everything I couldn’t do.

Recently, with my shoulder injury, I was again caught off guard again (because that’s how injuries are) and had a small window of time right after the injury where I was discouraged again and began to think of how this injury would inhibit my ability to exercise and function normally. But, having learned from the last injury, I decided to focus on what I could do. I couldn’t hold weights even to do lower body workouts, but gratefully, I have learned over the years a number of techniques that work to keep my body in shape that don’t require weights or impact. I am grateful for the knowledge I have gained over the year in that regard, as well as the tools I have acquired to help increase resistance without weights, like loops and bands. So, I jumped in, I realized that I could do most cardio workouts, not my favorite, but still work. I also was able to increase my lower body workouts as well as my ab workouts, an area I hadn’t really focused on in a while. Once I was cleared by the physical therapist, I was also able to start into some joint mobility and tendon strengthening exercises as well. My other realization was that this injury would help me focus more on form rather than weight, something that I work on and strive to maintain, but really don’t focus on as much as I should. Opportunities that I saw only after having a problem to solve.

Every day, with every problem that we encounter we have the opportunity to choose to see the problems that arise, or to see the opportunities that problem has given us. We also have the choice as to whether to act on those opportunities or to sit and sulk. Doing requires us to see solutions. But it is only through the doing that we can get beyond the problem. So today, I encourage you to do as Yoda inspires us to, don’t try, go out and do.

Changes

For the last several months I have been pondering on, and slowly making changes to my business. Last year, a few weeks into the year I decided to write this blog once a week. Then, as the year progressed, I decided to up that to twice a week. I have really enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you, and hope that you have enjoyed reading them. I have also enjoyed the comments that I have received, and hope that you continue to do so. With the 1-year anniversary of my blog approaching, I wanted to get some feedback from my readers,

I have been trying to decide how to proceed this year with my business. This isn’t a new thing, I’ve been thinking about several ways to proceed since about October, and have started to implement some already, and have several that I will work on as the weeks go on this spring. But I wanted to touch base here and get your opinions. I have been debating on adding one additional day to my blog, not sure which day yet, that would be totally dedicated to what I am doing with my art/business, whether it was links to YouTube tutorials, things I was working on painting, art I had uploaded to my website, new products or product reviews, etc. I would still write this blog, with thoughts and things on Sunday’s and Wednesdays.

So today I am looking for feedback from my readers, particularly those who are subscribed and getting these as an email. I know that I am one of those people that, as soon as I start getting a ton of emails from a particular company, even if I like that company, I unsubscribe. Simply because I don’t have time to read them all, and I don’t really want them cluttering up my email every day. Obviously, this wouldn’t be every day, but I don’t want to clutter up your email with stuff you really don’t want to read.

I do share, and am planning on increase what I share, on my Instagram page. I enjoy sharing there, but I feel like there is a limited amount of “space” there to share. I know I can write whatever I want, to any length I would like, but again, when I’m on Instagram, if it’s very lengthy, I don’t read it unless it’s really interesting, or something I have been researching myself and want to learn more about (or if it’s family). So now I am asking you to share with me. Do you want another email? Do you want to know more about my art? Would you rather I just stick with 2 emails a week and look at other platforms for sharing art? What other platforms do you like for your business? I have debated on doing podcasts, do you listen to and like podcasts? Do you have any other thoughts about subject matter, even for this biweekly blog? Change is inevitable, and if we can’t learn to change, we will be left behind. I look forward to and love change, it stretches me and makes me grow. I am looking forward to hearing from you and listening to your thoughts. You can comment here to my blog post, or you can contact me via my email – richeysteph@gmail.com

Embark

How often do we want something, something big, but we allow fear to overcome our desire to take the first step forward? I have written a little bit about this subject before, but we are coming to the end of one year and starting a new year, and I have been thinking about fear and how it affects my ability to make changes and take the first steps in my goal setting.

This past year I have learned a lot about myself and the things I do to allow fear to stop me in my progress. Consequently, I have been able to push past barriers that have, in the past, been difficult for me to navigate beyond. I have learned that starting is the hardest part. Have you ever noticed, or maybe it’s just me, that when I can take that first step, when I can get out the door, or paint that first brush stroke of color on the completely blank piece of paper, that great things happen?

This life is full of so many new, scary adventures, that aren’t really that bad, usually, once we get going. But it’s often that first step that is so hard. That first step to more success in our personal lives, in our health and well-being, in our career or finding a new career, in our goals, or whatever scares us. Once we get that first step out of the way, well then, we’re in it and we can deal with the various challenges that arise, because we’ve already made that commitment by embarking on a new path.

I’m not sure yet what my new goals and challenges will be for 2022. When I started this blog, I thought I’d do it for a while and see where it went. I have enjoyed writing and enjoyed sharing who I am with you. I am going to continue with my blog, and I hope you’ll continue with me! I have a new printer, and new opportunities, some of them a little bit scary, that will play into the next step in my business journey. I said at the beginning of last year that I don’t set new year’s resolutions, and I still say that. I am not a resolution kind of person. But I do set goals, not necessarily at the beginning of a new year, but as I progress along throughout the year. That will continue. I love to see the progress that I make with each new goal that I embark on. With that progress, I love that it gives me the drive and determination to continue on to new, scary adventures that I can take the first step on.

So, with 2022 fast approaching, if you are a new year’s resolution kind of person, I hope you not only set those goals, but take the first step. And, if you’re like me, I hope you just continue to see ways to improve, no matter what time of year it is. No matter what, continue to improve each and every day, and never let fear determine who you are, or where you are going.