Allow Yourself to Take a Break

WELCOME! to 2018.

I thought I’d warm up into filming this year with a relaxed video expanding on what I want to focus my energy on in 2018 in regards to my art but also myself personally, and then talk about getting focused after taking a break over the holidays.

I’m always wanting to be conscious of where my personal faults lie, so that I can continuously work on bettering myself. I want to feel like I’ve made the most of my life because if you do then you’ll live a life with little regret.

In 2017 I transformed my future by learning techniques of how to overcome my anxiety when I feel like it’s taking ahold over my life.

Anxiety has always been something I’ve experienced. As a kid I was extremely shy, and growing up I always worried about a lot of things and actively tried to avoid stressful situations rather than deal with them. Then, as you grow up, you take on more responsibilities and learn that there are some situations you can’t just avoid or pass on to someone else, and because I hadn’t learnt how to deal with stress, I would overthink things and get overwhelmed easily. That’s my own theory of my brain, anyway.

I used to beat myself up over the times when I’d take a break from drawing for a while and I couldn’t just pick myself up right from where I left off. By doing this I caused myself more stress than I needed to, and in turn was afraid to take breaks, or would feel guilty if I did.

Something I want to continue to remind myself of this year, is that nothing is the be-all and end-all of life.

In this situation, try not to worry about taking a break and struggling to return to it. It happens to everyone, and you know what? It DOESN’T REALLY MATTER! All you need to do is focus on where you’re going, and work through the struggle, and after a week or two of working through it, you’ll feel back to normal! Nothing matters as much as you think it does. You can work through those kinds of problems, and it’s REALLY not that big of a deal, even though in your mind, right now, it might seem as such.

Recap of 2017!

2017 is coming to a close, so of course I thought it would be appropriate that my last video and blog post for the year should be a recap of what I accomplished this year! I've had an incredibly amazing year, and so many things happened that I would have never expected when the year began!

For the first half of 2017 I was still working at my full time job, which was as a Graduate Illustrator. I was incredibly lucky to score this job, as Graduate jobs related to art are pretty much unheard of in Australia - I was surprised this one even existed! The job was a great first proper job after studying (although it was over a year after I finished studying that I got this job!).

Throughout my time working there, I grew to realise it wasn’t what I wanted to do, and I didn’t want to live a life of regret from settling and being stuck in a "secure" job that made me unhappy, and never pursuing a career that would be fulfilling out of fear I’d never succeed at it.

Listening to Gary Vaynerchuk’s YouTube videos and talks had a great influence on me. He tries to impress on people the fact that they have the ability to achieve what they want - it’s just that most people are too lazy, make too many excuses, or are too afraid to take the risk; they think they won’t succeed or they’ll lose too much in the process. I realised that I was already in a great position to follow my dreams - I’m still young, so the earlier I made the leap, the less risk I was taking, really!

So I spent a lot of time and energy researching what I needed to do in life that WOULD make me happy, and how to go about reaching that. After much research into a viable plan, I quit my job to start pursuing my own art and content!

I enjoy video editing, and I found I enjoyed being in front of the camera, so I wanted to focus on YouTube, and I’ve made great progress in that over the past 6 months - making 37 videos, and gaining 15000 views, and over 250 subscribers!

I started getting back into the habit of drawing, after letting it fall to the wayside when working full time.

As soon as I took the leap to quit my job, my doubts about taking the leap faded away. Every day that passed I only felt more satisfied that I made the right decision, and more excited for what lay ahead.

I started finding out my true self, and what i enjoy most, and what makes me fulfilled. I became more confident in myself and my capabilities.

I’ve had some struggles so far, and I know I’ll have plenty more ahead of me, but they’re all totally worth it!

So, what am I wanting to focus on for 2018?

I want to continue to focus on my drawing a painting skills, which includes getting into the habit of doing loose sketches every day or so, and learning how to paint traditionally with various mediums.

I want to learn to put less pressure on myself, but to also challenge myself more! And I want to continue my weekly youtube videos, sharing fun stuff and positivity!

What did you achieve this year that you’re proud of? And what are your artistic or personal goals for 2018?

You should be proud of what you achieved this year, and if you didn’t achieve as much as you’d hoped for, then try not to focus on that, and instead get excited for 2018!

Watch the video recap below :) That's all for this year, see you in the New Year!!! ^_^