Before What, Ask Why

I remember during the storyboarding process of a personal project I asked myself, “Why am I doing this?” This, meaning this project. And for the life of me, I didn’t have a good answer.

I thought through a list of possible reasons: to learn something new, to gain followers, accrue likes, kill time—none of these reasons explained why though.

And that bothered me.

It bothered me because my actions lacked meaning. Here I was spending all this time and energy on something without a clue about its purpose.
 

New Year
New Resolutions

It’s that time of year when we all tend to make ambitious promises to ourselves. Maybe it’s to start a new project, maybe it’s run five miles every day. These promises are often too vague, too big or just not thought through.

I have some ideas, but I’m still not sure what’s going to fill my 2017 project folder. Whatever it is though, and before I do anything, I’ll have an answer for that “Why?” question.

If you have something in mind for 2017, I encourage you to do the same. It doesn’t have to be a project or even something creative. Just be clear about what the real goal is. And make sure that when you ask yourself, “Why?” that you’re happy with the answer.

You’ll need it when you’re in the thick of it and want to give up. Use it as fuel to help you push through that wall.

This is the last TLDR of 2016. We’ll be back soon with new stuff to tickle your brain, but in the meantime, here’s an archive of past issues for you to catch up on. And, pretty please, keep that link to yourself.

Despite the general bummer that 2016 turned out to be for many of us, I’m excited and hopeful about what the new year has to offer. I hope you are too.

See you then :)