In this episode of Cowgirl Artists of America's podcast we discuss purpose and focus for artists. We break down the notion that purpose is something to be "found" and talk about healthy approaches to developing a purpose. We also discuss how to determine focus in your work, how to maintain focus, and what to do when you find yourself off course.

Season 1 Episode 3

Developing Your Purpose and Staying Focused

Hello and welcome to Cowgirl Artists of America’s podcast, a podcast dedicated to cowgirl artists. I’m CAA’s founder, and your host, Megan Wimberley. I am a working artist myself and I know personally the level of work and commitment that goes into this business. CAA’s podcast is all about bringing you resources, information, and encouragement to help you on your journey. In today’s episode we are talking about purpose and focus.

Before we begin I want to tell you a little bit about Cowgirl Artists of America. Cowgirl Artists of America was founded on the belief that cowgirl artists deserve equal representation in the art world. We have heard time and again about the barriers for entry for cowgirl artists, and the numbers don’t lie, we are severely underrepresented. Cowgirl Artists of America is working hard to change that. We are cultivating community and providing resources and education to help cowgirl artists grow their business and improve their craft. Make sure to check out our free monthly call for art at cowgirlartistsofamerica.org under the resources+ tab. We have a deadline coming up for this months call for art so get over there quick to find out how to submit.

Okay, let's talk purpose! To start this discussion I want to establish a few things. First of all, each and every artist is different. There is no one size fits all approach, and I’ve tried to keep this episode adequately vague to be valuable to artists in various phases of their career. Some things may not apply to you and that is okay. Also, what works for one may not work for another. No one knows your business like you do, so you should always be learning new things while also weighing it against what you know to be true for you and your business. Don’t just do everything that is suggested to you without thought, but at the same time don’t just ignore advice because you don’t want to hear it. Even if you aren’t ready to implement something at this point, it is good to keep good advice in mind for when you get to that stage.

Purpose can be such a hard thing to pin down. Purpose is often presented to us in a “soulmate” type scenario. Where you have only one purpose and it is your job to find that purpose and if you don’t, or if you don’t follow it you wasted your life. Presenting purpose in this way can create a lot of unnecessary stress, anxiety, and guilt… and really we don’t need any more of that. In addition to the soulmate scenario, what happens when you are good at several things? How do you choose which thing to pursue? Many creatives have this problem because they find themselves interested in a lot of mediums, subjects, and activities. Creatives also have a tendency to be good at a variety of things and find it hard to narrow down their focus and pursuits.

Before we move on, let’s just clear the air of some guilt here and acknowledge that you don’t only have one purpose in this world. Your life won’t be a waste if you make a choice you later regret. Your life won’t be a waste because you choose to follow passion A instead of passion B. Your life is not a predetermined map which you are supposed to follow, despite not having the map in your possession. There is something to be said for trying to gain wisdom and insight and to make the best decisions you can, but your life is your own adventure. You get to make the choices. You get to celebrate the victories, and you get to fix the messes; and certainly you will have both. So if you are feeling unsure of what direction to go, shake off the guilt of not knowing what you should do and celebrate the fact that you have choices, what a wonderful problem to have!

While we’re at it, let’s just get rid of the whole phrase “finding your purpose.” We don’t find our purpose, we “develop it.” One of the biggest obstacles with developing your purpose is fear– fear of missing out, fear of “making the wrong choice,” and fear of letting things go, but in reality most of these things are really fear of the unknown. We know that the choices we make are going to influence our future, and what if those choices don’t pan out in a way we like. That can be really scary. When we are feeling this way, we usually start putting all our trust in the plan we make for a decision. But the reality is that even the best laid plans can go awry. It is wise to make a well-thought-out plan, but at the end of the day you have no idea how things will work out, so you have to have trust in yourself that you can handle whatever comes up, including making adjustments to your plan, or even changing directions if you need to. Life is not static, but that’s okay, you can handle it.

Think about it this way. If you head out on a road trip, you would trust that your vehicle will run and get you from point A to point B. You know you have to maintain the car on the trip, but generally you expect it will get there. At the same time, even if you haven’t thought about it, you are also trusting that you can handle issues that arrive. If your car breaks down you trust that you can get a mechanic or fix the car yourself. Your ultimate trust is in your ability to problem solve and adjust course as needed. Does that have the potential to make your road trip a nightmare? Sure. Does it also have potential to make your road trip even better? Absolutely. How do you know which way it will play out? You don’t, you just trust yourself and see what happens. So again, shake all that stress off and embrace the uncertainty, trust yourself, and be courageous.

So how do you actually decide what to pursue when developing your purpose? I believe what we value in life should be at the core of our lives and decisions. Really knowing your values will help you answer tough questions, like “which direction do I take my life.” To clarify what you value, take time to consider what you want your life to look like and be filled with. I’m not talking about specifics here, I’m talking about big picture values. How do you want to invest your time? What pace of life do you want? Where would you like to live? What activities do you love to do? What makes you come alive? What brings you joy? What is worth extra effort? Who and what are most important to you? These types of values help us, on a big picture scale, to determine if something fits into the life we are trying to cultivate. If you value a slow pace and want to stay at home with your kids, you probably wouldn’t want to take a photography job that requires you to be on location, away from home, 2 weeks each month.

As we experience life, what we value may change. Maybe you valued travel and wild adventures for the last 10 year, but now you want to spend more time at home and slow down. That is totally okay, and normal. We can use our car analogy again and say, you drove that car for 10 years, maybe it’s time for a new car. There is nothing wrong with that. Remember it is your life and life is not static. A change of course does not mean that you failed, it just means you're ready for a new focus.

Once we are aware of what we value in life, making decisions about what direction to go can get a lot easier because if an opportunity doesn’t align with our values then we know it isn’t a good fit. However, if you have a lot of interests that align with your values it can be hard to narrow down your focus. At first you may be able to keep up with doing a variety of things, but at some point you won’t be able to juggle everything. At some point you’ll have to decide if you are going to just dabble in a variety of pursuits, which will keep you at an amateur level, or if you are going to get serious and nail down your focus.

Artists can really struggle with this. Newer artists are still developing their style and may be creating work that’s all over the place in terms of subject, medium, and style. For new artists, this is an important phase. Style is something that is developed. Style comes out of experimentation and experience. If you are new to art, enjoy this phase, work hard, but don’t rush it. You have to do the work to develop your style. Artists in this phase sometimes copy the work of other artists in order to learn new techniques. It is okay to try and recreate something for your own learning or experimentation. It is not okay to recreate or copy something and then share it without permission, try to claim it as your own, or sell your copy of the work. It is your job to be aware of copyright and trademark issues, even if you are a newbie.

If you have already developed your style, you may be at a point where you need to narrow your focus. For example, you may be interested in painting photorealistic images of horses, but you are also interested in abstract landscapes, and found object sculptures. It is not impossible to work in more than one medium or subject and be successful (in your terms of the word), but you should be aware that it can create confusion for your collectors, and water down your message and your brand. You may be seen as more ameteur, because you don’t have a focus and therefore you don’t have a strong voice. Think about it, you rarely see established artists doing a variety of work that is not cohesive. Established artists have developed their style and their focus. If I say the name of an established artist, Teresa Elliot, for example, you will get a specific type of image in your head. If you see her work you will likely know it is hers before ever reading the signature.

Newer artists trying to turn their art into a career, often think that they need to create something for everyone. Established artists know that cultivating a dedicated following in their niche is better than a little something for everyone. Doing a variety is like a whisper, finding your focus is like a confident speech. Only you can determine what to focus on, but you may want to consider a few of the following things when making that determination. What work brings you the most joy? What work are you most passionate about? What work resonates the most with your followers and collectors? What work is selling the most? If you look at your sales from the last year and 75% were your horse paintings, 15% were abstract landscapes, and 10% were found object sculptures it would be reasonable to assume that you should focus on your horse paintings and expend more energy working on and promoting these. Remember that your art is a business and you need to run it like a business to be successful.

After you have determined your focus, new opportunities and passions will arise. It is really really important to be conscientious about what new things you take on. When you say “yes” to one thing you are simultaneously saying “no” to something else. Be very careful that you aren’t taking on new things to the detriment of your focus.

I’m going to share a few tips to help you keep your focus.

First having a plan of action, with your goals and focus written down can help you stay on task. I can’t say it enough, you need to have a plan. A plan will help you determine your focus and goal, it will help you stay on task, and it will bring intention to your actions. Growth happens most predictably where intention is focused. If you haven’t already, listen to episode 1, where I share my own planning strategy.

Second, having a solid group of friends that you can rely on for good information, open and judgment free conversation, and honest thoughts is an invaluable resource. In fact, this is one of Cowgirl Artists of America’s foundational beliefs. “We believe that a supportive community can be one of the most life and career altering resources. We are cultivating community through our social media platforms and virtual meet-ups. We believe in a mindset of abundance that breaks down barriers of competition and grows a supportive sisterhood. Make sure you get connected with our community and start building more of these friendships.

The third and final tip for today is to put your goals and focus where you can see them. It’s easy to lose our focus, so you need to have that constant reminder of “this is my focus and these are my goals.” Always measure what you are doing against your goals and focus.

Sometimes you may suddenly find that, despite your best efforts, you have traveled down a path that you should not be on. This can happen for a lot of reasons, and in a lot of different ways. The important thing is that once you recognize it, you begin to do the work to readjust your course. Sometimes it can feel bad or embarrassing to realize you took on something you shouldn’t have, but as business owners it is important to set boundaries around our time and talents. Find the most gracious and ethical way to reverse course and then remember that lesson for next time. When this happens it is also worth looking back to discover why you said “yes” in the first place. Did you just get wrapped up in the excitement of something new? Did you feel obligated to help because it was a friend or family member? Do you generally have a hard time saying no? Figure out why you said “yes”, because bringing awareness to this can help you set up strategies to prevent it from happening again. This can truly be hard work, but it is worth the effort.

I hope you found today’s episode on purpose and focus helpful. Remember to follow us on instagram @cowgirlartistsofamerica and sign up for our mailing list at www.cowgirlartistsofamerica.org. We have a lot of exciting resources in the works and will be continually growing and expanding. We’d love for you to join us.