Talking about aiming to improve performance — my brother and I went to very traditional boarding schools: the kind with Latin mottos 😜 .
My brother’s school motto was Sic Itur Ad Astra, which means “Reach For The Stars” and they had a really cool, starry coat of arms, too.
I still remember it…
It was inspiring and there is nothing wrong with reaching for the stars.
Except that it doesn’t always improve performance, especially in the short term.
Lofty goals can be daunting as well as inspiring, and if/when we fall short, the feeling of failure discourages us.
So my advice to you is lower the bar (to improve performance)
Positive psychology shows that early wins are a great motivator to keep going at something, and keeping going makes the difference in reaching your goals.
Given that success breeds success when it comes to reaching your goals, first set yourself a tiddly target that you can reach easily.
What’s a practical “tiddly” goal in cartooning terms?
Over the years I’ve noticed that even when people can only draw for 15-30 minutes a day, that is enough to move you forward.
It certainly helps if the material that you are working with is set up to be consumed in bite-sized chunks like my step-by-step courses like the Drawing Decoder (both the home-study or guided version). They are carefully crafted to be consumed in small bites.
If you are an absolute beginner, working to build your skills foundation will reap good rewards. If you do 15 minutes a day, 3-5 days a week, you’ll soon see a difference.
If you’ve already got some skills, aiming to complete a cartoon scene a week (in 15 minute intervals) is a solidly achievable goal.
Three ways to build cartooning skill, starting today
- Line up 5 simple cartoon characters you like and copy them
- Do a bite-size self-study course (First Character Kit) or one that’s set up in bite-sized chunks (like the Drawing Decoder)
- Copy a scenario from a newspaper (or webcomic) cartoon strip — but tweak the character to be your own, not a famous one.
So, there you have it — reach for your phone…
… and make an appointment with yourself. You have my full permission to leave reaching for the stars to the likes of NASA (and the Old Boys’ association at my brother’s school).
Instead, lower the bar of what you initially call success and achieve many small successes that all move you in the right direction.
P.S. I know you’re wondering what my school motto was (and if you weren’t, you are now 😁).
It was Fons Vitae Caritas — The Fountain of Life is Love. And our school hymn was “Fill the world with love.” Pretty humane… and yes, inspiring.