I’m not very good at the Big Picture, but I’m learning that keeping an eye on it is important.

I remember reading a long time ago (but I can’t for the life of me remember who said it), that you can achieve anything you want in life, but you can’t achieve everything you might want. That idea has stuck with me for years and was a comfort when I felt so ill I didn’t imagine I would every be able to achieve anything at all.

I don’t buy the idea completely. I think we can only work on our side of the achievement equation. For example I might dream of Sustainably Creative becoming one of the top 100 most read blogs in the world, being offered a publishing contract worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, and Oprah relaunching her chat show just to interview me. However all of those dreams require actions by other people, lots of other people (and Oprah). I can’t make those people act in the ways I might like.

However I can work on my half of the equation. I can show up and write posts regularly for Sustainably Creative. I can work on book proposals and publish my own ebooks. I can approach agents and publishers. In short I use what energy I have to focus on the work that at least puts me on the right track to fulfill my dreams.

The Importance of Focus

Of course the trick to this way of thinking is about choosing where to put energy and attention. At times it may well be true that there is little of either to go around, and it’s precisely then that it’s even more important to choose wisely. For years I took a very generalised approach to getting through my days (and my life). Trying to get a little bit of everything done.

Today I am much more focused, and part of being focused is to look at the Big Picture, at least sometimes.

Now looking a lot at the Big Picture can be exhausting. Thinking about writing a whole book for example is huge. It’s like looking at the top of a mountain and thinking “however am I going to get there?” Of course the answer is “one step at a time.” I am all about taking one small step, followed by another. Little and often is my daily mantra, and means I achieve a lot. However, all these little steps need to be focused on one destination if they are to be of real use. And that is where the Big Picture comes in.

Make a pot of tea and have a think about your Big Picture

Every now and again, once every three months (or at least once a year), it is well worth settling yourself down with a pot of tea, a pen and a notebook and make some Big Picture plans. Write down the one or two things that you’d really like to achieve in the next three, six or twelve months. Maybe you’d like the first draft of a novel written, or a series of painting painted. Perhaps you want to have recorded some tracks for an album you’ve always wanted to make, or you want a series of poems finished. It doesn’t matter what your creative ambitions are, it is just important to have them distilled into a Big Picture project.

Your Little and Often Steps

Once you’ve done that, you simply work out how to break the big picture down into manageable steps. If for example you want to have a 70,000 word first draft written in a years time then break that down into weekly targets. 70,000 words is about 1350 words a week or 270 words for five days each week. That’s all you need to focus on. Forget about the Big Picture. Finish your tea and put away you notebook and pen and just write 270 words.

In three months or so, brew up again, find your pen and notebook and check up on your progress (you’ll be amazed how much you’ve achieved and probably surprised how much less exhausting the Big Picture looks).

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