Three years ago on the beach in Honolulu, my husband and I promised each other that 2015 was our year to change our lives, a year to do something crazy, a year to invite adventure and play out a little dream just to see how it goes. We have been quietly setting up our lives to do it, saving money, making plans, discussing it and coming to an agreement.
It is 2015 and everything is moving in one direction. On August 21st, we are all hopping on a plane and moving to Costa Rica for a year or two or so. Just to see how it goes. Details have been firming up since our recognizance trip this April.
My life right now is balancing the commitments I have left here which include a couple of commissions and stocking inventory for a gift shop consignment deal, cleaning up, packing and purging the house, connecting at least one more time with special friends and neighbors and a lot of daydreaming about what life will be like in less than 6 weeks.
I have been painting but I have not been blogging about it. I'll get better, I promise. I will be painting in Costa Rica, no doubt about it.
You can follow this new adventure more closely at the blog dedicated to it here:
Don’t worry, I did not forget about Magic. Never. I’ve said it before, magic takes time, patience, investment and belief. I’ve been working on all these things myself. I hope you have to.
If you did forget, here are posts 1 and 2. They are critical prerequisites to reading Part 3.
Now that you have been working on a strategy and guiding your belief. You are ready for the last and most challenging steps for creating magic. Steps 4 – 6.
Step 4. Act and Learn
This is the critical hard and easy part. NOW you must do what you say!
No one is going to give this idea to you. You will have to give this idea to the world. Do this as if your life depended on it. Because it does.
All ingredients to our potion are critical. Add Share and Act. You must.
I know this is scary. People will laugh. You will be rejected. You will not believe. Definitely, not everyone is going to agree. Your family will not think it is possible. Some people will make you really, really angry.
That is okay. You can survive these things. None of them are lethal.
Your greatest teachers are Rejection and Fear. They will lead you to your goals. They will teach you to appreciate your successes and fine tune your idea.
Here is a secret…
Having an Idea is like being a parent or gardener. An idea is born, you raise, nourish, teach and mentor this little being, from infant to adult.
Thenyou must let it go.
You can no longer protect it. It must go into the Sea of Big Ideas.
The Sea of Big Ideas is what defines the world. It is a swirling with ideas and people, just like you! And some of those ideas are really big, really old, really scary. Some of those people are too. But there are also really friendly, creative, delightful ideas here and there are really wonderful, amazing people here too.
This Big Sea of Ideas creates forces. Forces are made because an idea has power.
When you put your idea into the Sea, these forces will push and pull on your idea.
You must be flexible! Stay true to your idea and watch these forces. Determine if they are useful or corrupt. Be thoughtful and patient as you test your idea. Observe. These forces are complex and surprising. They can help you as much as they can hurt you. Learn from them.
You are an apprentice so be prepared. The first time in the Sea of Big Ideas unexpected things will happen, some good and some not-so-good. These forces are unpredictable and much bigger than you.
But always, remember your vision. Pay attention to this and learn. What needs to change? What can you improve?
Step 5: Create community
You will begin to notice these forces pushing and pulling, accepting and rejecting your idea, providing feedback and influencing you are just collections of people who believe in ideas.
Remember: It is people who give ideas power.
That is all. That big scarey idea called capitalism – its’ success is determined by the multiptude of people that believe in it. Powerful ideas are empowered by a collection of people.
Your idea needs people. It needs community.
You must recruit people that believe in your idea. The more people you recruit, the more your idea will grow and the closer you will come to magic.
Remember: there are many forces, ideas and people. Some of them don’t want new ideas. Some people have ideas that make it impossible for your idea to happen. Some people will be grateful for your idea. Other people will need to hear your idea a few times and a few different ways. Other people will hate it… always. They will always hate it.
It is nothing personal.
Identify the people and forces that make your idea stronger and the ones that make it weaker. Focus your energy on those that will grow you and your idea. Enlist them, love them, nourish them.
Community and learning will feed your idea.
Step 6. Persevere & Persist
You have a timeline in your plan. Remember those forces pressing on your idea? They have different plans than you and there is nothing you can do about it. Your plan may speed up or slow down because of them. But that does not mean that your idea is not possible.
You need steps 1-5 to create momentum, your need this final step to tend to your momentum. Momentum is invisible. Believe that momentum happens as strongly as you believe in your idea. As long as you persevere and carry out your plan, you are creating momentum.
Momentum leads to magic.
Keep your Idea in the Sea. Keep talking about it. Keep asking people to nourish it. Keep asking for help. Keep rewriting it, repackaging it, redesigning and re-communicating it. Keep learning.
Keep your potion brewing. It is working.
Time is your ally. Your idea will collect people. It may become larger than you. It may completely change, just like you.
Keep going back through the steps 1 -6, this is a circular and iterative process. There is no such thing as a straight line in a magical world.
Remember, this is magic. This is going to test your belief. And if you don’t believe me, go back to Step 1. You Must Believe.
Are you looking for inspiration? A little down to earth reflection and renewal? Want to stay current on what’s new and what to expect from Marika? My emails are food for thought packaged with color, soul and humor.
This post is a continuation from Part 1 posted last week. In order to be successful with Part 2, Part 1 is required reading. You can’t make magic by skipping steps. Come on, you know that. 😉
Step 3: Plan
Yes, I know, planning isn’t really the way it works in the movies or in fairytales. Unfortunately or fortunately, real magic does not require a magic wand, staff or mirror. And magic isn’t going to happen if you just wish for it or say some magic words. Sorry. Life would be easier wouldn’t it? But then, it wouldn’t be such an adventure either.
Like any good potion though, it does require ingredients, and planning is one of them. So we must add a Plan to our potion.
Idea. Believe. Plan (c) Marika Reinke 2015
Remember, you are an apprentice. Like any good apprentice, you will have to work hard, study and learn in order to make this potion work. Think about Harry Potter, he had Hogwarts, a whole school and curriculum to study magic! Even Gandolf the Grey learned, toiled and practiced until he became the White Wizard. Don’t you want to be like him? I do.
If you want to practice magic, you must commit to being a student of magic. You must always plan.
It will help to think of your plan as a treasure map that will help you get from where you are now to your Idea.
X marks the spot (c) Marika reinke 2015
You are building a map to attain your Idea. The more detailed this map, the better.
So lets do it.
1. Articulate Your Idea
In words, pictures, writing, song, you must spend time really understanding your Idea. You must know this Idea inside and out. You must create a vision of what the world would like if your idea came true. How would your life change? What will you have accomplished? How will the world be different? What artifacts will have been created as a result of this idea?
See yourself in the middle of your idea. What does it feel like? taste like? sound like? Put yourself there and then describe it, record it, perform it in whatever method works for you.
Be as specific as possible.” I kinda think it will look like this…”, “I’ll try…” or “I hope…” does not cut it! Use direct action words, start with ” I will…”
Your Idea is Your Treasure (c) Marika reinke 2015
Paint exactly what your Idea looks so you know it when you get there without a doubt. This is your treasure, treat it like a treasure!
As you learn more about yourself and your Idea, you will come back to this vision, over and over again, adding facts, tweaking and rewriting. That is life. But the Idea is the same, do not waiver from the Idea. You must believe ( see step 1).
2. Create Goals
Goals are the key markers to getting to the treasure. Think about a treasure map. It will take 2-5 years to get to the treasure, but in three days you want to cross the river. Crossing the river is a goal. It is the smaller steps towards getting to your Idea, it marks progress and gives you a sense of accomplishment. It gives you hope. You will need hope.
Magic. Is. Hard.
The bigger your Idea, the more goals you will need. Why? Some goals will be easier to attain and some might come easier than you think. If you have the goal, you will know you made progress. It will give you hope and keep you motivated.
GoalCraft
What can you achieve that will mark your path on your way to your Idea? Think about this, research this question, read some books and talk to people. They will have different ways of getting to your Idea and they will be helpful. As you think and research start brainstorming goals.
Write or draw each goal on a separate piece of paper.
When you create your goals make sure they have these components:
What will happen?
How much?
When?
Keep creating goals. Brainstorm all the goals you can that will help you feel closer to your idea. Remember you are putting each goal on a separate piece of paper. This is important!
So many Goals (c) Marika Reinke
It’s a mess isn’t it? Maybe even overwhelming? Here is a sad truth; somethings must get worse before they get better. (Sorry…suck it up…and keep goal crafting.)
Goal Map
Once you have a good set of goals, let’s make it better. Detangle them. Make a map.
Which goal needs to happen before others? Which needs to happen first? Which ones last?
Lay each goal out from first to last. Some goals can run parallel to each other, overlap a little and some will happen at the same time. This is ok. This is great!
How Will You Know?
Now that you have a Map take a look at the first few goals and ask:
How will I know that I have accomplished this goal?
In other words, how will you measure this? If you don’t know, go back and rewrite your goal. You must have a way of measuring your goal. It is simple, if you don’t, you won’t know that you have achieved your goal.
Because seriously, how can you celebrate if you don’t know what you are actually achieving?
Celebrate
This is the fun part! What is the use of goal if you don’t have fun? You Must Have Fun! Fun is deadly serious necessary business.
Create a reward system for attaining a goal.
You want to make $1000 dollars in a month? When you do, have some chocolate, drink some wine, buy your favorite sweater in that catalogue, ring a bell, dance, do it all and just make sure you do something that makes you feel good.
When you achieve a goal, record it somewhere. Create a book of goals you have achieved, or put it in a fancy box, sing a song or paste it on a poster. Make it colorful. Make it real. Make it feel like your goal really did just happen!
You want to watch the pile of achieved goals accumulate.
Pile of Goal All Done! (C) Marika Reinke 2015
This will make you powerful!
The more powerful you feel, the stronger your magic.
As much as ideas define you, goals define the attainment of your Idea. Without goals, a map, and a celebration, no magic.
3. Strategize
Strategy is the how, what, where and who you need to make your goals happen.
Think of your treasure map. Are you going to go through the woods or over the mountains? Are you going on horseback? How will you get a horse? by boat? by caravan? running or walking? Will you do this alone? bring your family? what about friends? when will you do this?
Pick 1-3 Goals that you are comfortable starting now. These should be ones at the front of your map.
Ask of these goals:
As I stand right now, do I have what I need to achieve this goal?
Do you need additional
skills
resources
people
money
time
knowledge
to attain that goal?
You may need to take classes, educate yourself, practice, research, read, meet people, talk to people, develop yourself or stop doing something that is killing your time. You may need people with those skills you don’t have and who want to help you.
If you need more of the above, make a goal to get it and add it to your map.
Refine your goals. Make sure you have everything you need to make them happen. Be honest with yourself.
Are you sure you have the right 1-3 goals to start with and everything you need to achieve them?
Let’s move on.
Think in NOTS.
Ask the following of your goal;
What can I possibly do to make sure this goal does NOT happen?
No, seriously. Try it out.
Here is an example:
Goal: Sell $1000 in paintings this month.
My list of NOTs:
Let no one know I sell paintings. Do not price my work. Do not reasonably price my work. Do not show people my paintings. Do not talk to people about my painting. Do not show any enthusiasm for my painting. Do not love my painting. Do not post my work online. Do not share it on facebook or other social media. Do not contact galleries about my work. Do not contact interior designers about my paintings. Do not ask people if they want to buy my painting or commission my work. Do not actively search for people who like and buy art. Do not seek out ways to provide alternative affordable options for buying my work.
Now try it. Go on, get it out of your system. Give me all the NOTS you can think of. Take your time. It kind of feels good to get negative…in a productive way.
Is it clear now?
The point is:
Plan to Give Your Goals Opportunities! Lots of Opportunities!
I must say it again. A goal will never be achieved unless you plan to give it opportunities.
After you have listed as many NOTs as possible, delete the NOTs and you have the beginnings of your tactics.
Now get specific.
Spell out the when,where and how for each tactic.
Your tactics need to be flexible, this is a strategy. Make sure you have more than one tactic for how to achieve a goal. Why? One tactic will be more successful than another and sometimes it will surprise you!
Here is an Example:
I’ll share my work every week day (when) online on Facebook (where) and twice a week on my blog (where and when) These posts will include a picture of my work, a description, price and a means to contact me (how).
I will contact via email or phone (where) one potential buyer once a week (when), introduce myself and my work and ask for a brief meeting or studio visit to discuss my painting (how).
I will hold an Open studio party at my studio (where) once a year when (March 28th to be exact!) and invite people to review my work, purchase prints, paintings, commissions and socialize.
Now, you have a lot of work to do, don’t you?
I’m tired too.
I’ll leave you to it. It takes time to articulate your Idea, create your goals and build your strategy. And like all the steps, they are dynamic and you will return and tweak them. Over and over again.
But the more time you spend thinking and working on your plan, the stronger your magic will become.
It may seem like we are close to done, but we are only half way there. There are 3 more steps and they are just as critical as the first 3.
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