WHAT IS IT ABOUT A FRESH START that’s so invigorating, so thrilling, so inspiring? This time of year, many of us feel the itch to shake, fix, and perk things up, especially regarding our creative goals. We want to approach what lies ahead better, more brilliantly. To fill our work with a brand-new passion.
But where do we start? What should we focus on when setting Animation goals?
Often, Animators jump head-first into a project, diving straight to the deep end. They quickly get overwhelmed and lose interest in the project as they lose direction on where they are going. This is why mapping out a plan for your animation journey will prevent you from drowning on the way to your creative dreams.
Table of Contents
- See the Vision: Planning Your Animation Path
- Nourish Yourself: How to keep yourself motivated
- The Journey is a Meandering River
- Success is built on Failure
- Your not Alone
- Track Your Progress
- Conclusion: A todo list
Start Planning Your Animation Journey with Our “Basics in Traditional 2D Animation” Course Beginning This February 2025.
See the Vision
Clearly envision where you want to go when mapping out your creative goals. Do you want to create your animated series? Do you want to work on animated films? Or maybe you want to design a uniquely animated game? All of these require a certain level of quality to achieve. Gather resources and information based on what your ideal animation career looks like. There’s plenty of information on what being an animator at the top studios looks like. Then, Pull it together in a list or vision board so you can see what it takes to get to where you want to be in the animation industry.
Vision boards are especially important because they are a visual representation of what changes you want to make in your creative process. It will stick in your subconscious and guide your choices in a direction that helps make the vision real. (Make sure to include works that inspire you and make you feel freer and happier rather than what you think your ideal work should look like.)
For Example, having good line confidence and volume consistency when finishing your animation can turn misaligned lines, rough edges, or inconsistencies into a clean, solid polish that elevates mediocre animation. Does your work reflect this? What steps will you need to take to achieve the right look?
Once you have gathered all the information, break it into smaller, achievable milestones and implement your framework.
Nourish Yourself
Big Goals take lots of focused energy over a long period. Which can feel quite daunting. You will easily find yourself adrift in a vast sea of doubt if you don’t take time to refuel your creative energy. Each time you find yourself stuck, try one of the following practices to infuse your creativity with motivation.
- Revisit Your “Why”: look at your vision board, rewatch the animation you love, and write down the joys that brought you to this creative path.
- Imagine Your Day as an Animated Story: what would it look like as an animated story as you overcome this bump in the road?
- Set SMART goals: Be Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.
- Shake up your environment. What distractions are keeping you from your goal? Is there a place you can go to focus solely on your project?
- Build a Reward System for Yourself: Treating yourself after each small goal will help you meet your deadlines.
- Take a Step Back: To use your creativity differently, find a short non-animation project to work on, something you can complete in a day or at least one week. Then, get back to it!
Motivation is different for everyone. The key is knowing what drives you. Knowing what keeps your big animation dream burning in your heart in the cold ocean of a world. You will have to find it again and again as you run low on energy or as obstacles come up in your life that make you consider abandoning your passion. Do what you can to keep your goals alive.
The Journey is a Meandering River
In Animation, there is no straightforward path to achieving your long-term goal. The road is often filled with twists and turns that seem to lead you away from where you want to be. You may even find yourself taking up positions you may not want to. Many great animators have worked in restaurants, design firms, and even accounting offices. You could view this as a failure or a stepping stone. It’s all a matter of perspective. Sometimes you need to course correct when you get stuck on the bank of the river. The point is to always be on the lookout to take a chance on your dreams.
Success is built on Failure
Find solutions to the problems that arise. Each side job you take teaches you different skills that will ultimately help you become a better artist. If something is not working, then consider what you need to change. It’s very easy to look at setbacks and feel like you want to give up. Instead, put your thinking cap on and reevaluate your priorities. This might mean letting go of toxic friendships, bad habits, and old grudges to let your creativity flow.
By Discovering how to make small but significant improvements to yourself, you will be able to move closer to your animation goals. It may take months or even a few years to get where you want to be, but the journey is as important as the destination. Don’t take it for granted. If you enjoy animating and this is what you want to do, you will find a route that will help you improve and progress to get to the end of the river.
Your Not Alone
A popular quote, attributed most often to motivational speaker Jim Rohn, says, “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” While this is a limited view of people’s influence, it does have some merit.
PAY ATTENTION to who you surround yourself with. Are there people around you who have common goals? Are there people with whom you can talk out solutions when you feel stuck? Do you have people who will encourage you to move forward? Many successful people surround themselves with positive, influential voices to overcome the tide of naysayers in their lives, including themselves.
These positive people become touchstones in your animation journey. If you have a mentor, which could be a past supervisor, professor, coworker, or friend, tell them your goals and ask for advice to help you achieve them. They become a way to keep you accountable while also boosting your confidence as you get closer to meeting your goal. By involving people who were better than you will find the road to success is not as lonely as you first thought it was.
Need more positive influences in your life? Join our Discord Board!
Track Your Progress
An Important part of sticking to your goals is recognizing your progress.. It’s easy to think you are not swimming any closer to your goal when all you see is how much further you have to go. Keep track of your progress throughout your journey. How much have you improved? What new skills have you learned?
Conduct a self-check-in to give you insight as to whether the effort is worth continuing. If your improvements show growth, then take a second to appreciate your efforts and get back to them. If you haven’t noticed improvement, circle back to the areas you want to strengthen. There are many online classes, schools, and resources available to try a different approach to studying, understanding, and applying what you’ve learned.
A common practice to see your improvement is to reanimate something you made when you first started creating animation. You will be able to see what animation technique you understand better and how much your drawing skills have grown, but you will still need some focused study. With each step you take, you will become as swift as the coursing river and strong as the force of a great typhoon.
Conclusion
If you are ready to make the most of the coming year, follow these steps:
- Plan out your goals
- Decide what you are working towards and how you will achieve it.
- Find a Mentor
- If you are struggling to find one, we can help you with that!
- Practice, Practice, Practice!
- The more you put your skills to work, the more improvement you will see
- Have patience and compassion with yourself
- The world is already hard enough without you putting extra pressure on yourself.
By focusing on this list, you will find your animation journey this year enjoyable, energizing, and filled with renewed passion.
