The older I get, the more often people tell me how quickly time passes. They bemoan how fast this year flew by, as if their dreams are slipping away because time is speeding up. They tell me that I will blink and my 6 year old will be 18, as if the things we care most about are already lost to time.
Today I want to talk about intentions. About taking back control of time in order to create the experiences you care most about — to attend to your creative vision.
Intention is how we combat the busyness, overwhelm and distraction that seems to take hold of our lives. As we look ahead to the new year, I encourage you to have a clear intention of what you want to create.
Intention, to me, is the opposite of reaction. For every failed creative project, there are reasons, and too often they are reasons of reaction. We didn’t explore our creative vision because we were too overwhelmed reacting to all the inputs in our lives.
What is your creative intention for next year? What is your vision that you won’t sacrifice so easily to the busyness of time; the overwhelm of responsibilities; the distraction of media and the internet?
What is the creative vision within you that you will fight to protect?
Intention is about caring and attending to the things that matter most to you. That can be normal every day things: a day job, family, health. It can also be things you hope to create: a book, art, music, and ways you hope to affect the world.
I’ll share my intentions for the new year, and would encourage you to consider your own. I have three main goals this year, one personal, one creative, and one business:
- My wife and I are expecting our second child in April. My primary goal above and beyond all else is to care for my wife, our newborn, and our six year old son. Come the spring, my wife and family will need much more of my focus as we welcome Baby Optimus Prime into the world. Yes, I’m still trying to convince my wife of that name. Stay tuned…
- Write and publish books. To be honest, realizing this goal has been a long time coming. While I have written more than 500 email newsletters, 1,000 blog posts, and 24,000 Tweets, I want to write and publish longer-form content.
In March, I will publish my first book. I have been working for months on this, and have recruited an entire team of people to assist. I’ll share more on the process in the coming weeks.
- Grow my company.
WeGrowMedia is now six years old and has been a complete joy every single day. I have a team of four people who work with me, and they are all incredible. This year, I want to move to the next level in terms of how the company works, what we offer, and how we collaborate. As the founder, this moves me outside of my comfort zone — the one where I stand at the center of every process and every decision. That needs to change this year. I need to empower others, and evolve WeGrowMedia in some key ways.
Could there be more on this list? Of course: I could add intentions for physical and mental health, to how I can better serve my community, and so much else. But the three items above are my primary focus, the things I consider every day.
What are your creative intentions for the new year?
Thanks.
-Dan