Set clear goals. If you don't, then that's your goal.

How can artists set goal?

(Transcription)

Artist, Sam Shennan, Australia 

Ann Rea (00:00):
All right. This is Ann Rea and Rebel Rea and more importantly, Sam Shennan from Australia. Where in Australia?

Ann Rea (00:09):
Sydney. Sydney. Okay. So you’re by Lucy Chen. All right. So Sam is a student in the making art making money semester. And I just want to, she shared a post, and I, I have, so many of my students were inspired by what you posted that I’m sure they want to know more about what you did so they can do the same thing. And even if you’re not one of my students, you can benefit from knowing what Sam did. So I’ll just read what you wrote. So I’m buzzing with excitement. I’ve just been slapped across the face by the reality of the power of the SMARTER goal. So I teach everyone how to create goals. So we all stop and struggle with goals. And it’s not because you’re not capable of meeting your goals, it’s because you haven’t actually defined a SMARTER goal. So Sam knows how to do this now. So then Sam wrote, I had to tell someone, and I want to help encourage you guys that anyone can do this. That’s right.

Ann Rea (01:18):
So then I don’t use the numbers to brag and you’re not because you need the numbers to measure your success and I want to show how being specific can help align you. Amen. With some direction. A plan to persist in a desire to improve my life through an implementing accumulated wisdom for the third time. Now I’ve achieved a far fetched goal, so our goals are centered in the making art, making money semester around the sale of art. But when you learn this, you can apply it to any aspect of your life, not just the sale of your art. So Sam wrote my SMART goal from earlier this year. I’m so amazed and confident now that I’ve made over $100,000 in 2016-17 financial year revenue, not profit. I was using a weird measuring until my accountant put me right. So good. I also was traveling and snowboarding in the U S for a month this year. Oh, okay.

Ann Rea (02:19):
Nice. While this SMARTER goal setting and hard work pays off so far it’s worked. So Sam lost 14 kilos, 30 pounds. Damn. Is that since enrolling in Making Art Making Money semester?

Sam Shennan (02:34):
In the early part of it, yeah.

Ann Rea’ (02:34):
He said paid off $10,000 in credit card debt and is now hit over $120,000 this fiscal year, $60,000 of that has been art sales. Damn. So here’s his lessons and this is what you want to listen closely to set bigger goals, not ones that are impossible you don’t believe in, right? Be bold. you’re not getting out of here alive, so you might as well get clear on what it is you want while you’re here. Enjoy the ride. And then what he also learned is it’s possible and said, dream, plan, execute, enjoy, repeat. Keep telling people about your mission. So for those of you who are not in the Making Art Making Money semester that’s how you sell your art.

Ann Rea (03:38):
You just simply share your mission. You don’t need to sell anybody. You can just share your mission and guide them through a conversation and then the sand goes on to say, thank you all. I’m so filled with gratitude for all the good vibes, love and support that flows so strongly in this group. Yay. Very proud of you Sam. I’m so glad that you took the time to share it because you inspire other students in the Making Art Making Money semester. And this could inspire somebody else who’s thinking about enrolling. What did you, what changed for you? I mean you learned, you learn the SMARTER goal, but what else? Anything else changed for you from the time you enrolled versus before?

Sam Shennan (04:22):
Um, it’s just so it’s starting to, um, like stew together and like really like getting little, like feedback from what’s actually feedback from reality that’s like, yeah, like things are possible and it’s can be changed. And so seeing like that, once I hit that number at the date, when I’d set the date for it, I was just like, um, and that was like the slap in the face by the reality of it. It’s like, yeah, that’s the third time that I set a goal and then I’ve hit it like pretty much on the date when I set the goal for it. So I was like, Oh man, well now we’re going to like reevaluate that and go, all right, well if I can use that sort of skill or power like what else could I do, what else could I achieve and how can I apply that to selling art to actually live the life I’m trying to live.

Sam Shennan (05:10):
Well you sold $60,000 of art. That’s really great Sam. Cause how much did you sold before you enrolled?

Sam Shennan (05:19):
That would have been like my total for like the entire year for everything. Like other jobs and stuff. So it was amazing to get that massive chunk.

Ann Rea (05:28):
You’ve got $120K for everything. But you said you sold $60,000 in art on top of that was a big significant chunk of your overall income.

Sam Shennan (05:39):
Yeah, it’s been amazing. So like, yeah but using, using the sort of the mission to be able to communicate with my clients a fair bit better about like the benefit of the, not the benefit of the art but making, selling the same art. But I’m describing it in a different way.

Ann Rea (05:56):
I’m so glad you said that because you are selling the same art. So a lot of, a lot of artists have this misconception that they’re going to have to change their style or are they going to have to change their approach? And that usually does not happen. What usually happens is they start making art and selling more art and their style or approach actually just gets better. But the art doesn’t really change that much. Unless your art is complete crap, then I can’t help you. But yeah,

Sam Shennan (06:26):
there’s a, there’s a sort of a middle ground for it to work. I’m also making less, um, I’m making less art in a way, like less. I’m floundering around just sitting on a canvas and trying to create something sort of art as a hobby kind of art. So I’d like to make more, now that I’ve got this sort of the plan in place, I’m kind of able to start trying to create a bit more time in my life to be able to spend time and enjoy in the studio.

Ann Rea (06:52):
So that’s a goal itself. You could say, for example, you could say, I’m going to spend every Friday or a minimum of X number of hours each week on average. So that’s a smart goal right there.

Sam Shennan (07:05):
Yeah, that’s a good way to do it. Yes. It doesn’t have to be massive goals. Could just be like simple sort of ways to implement it. Yeah. Cool. I like that.

Ann Rea (07:13):
This doesn’t need to be hard. This isn’t like that’s the whole point of this. This looks like let’s not make this hard.

Sam Shennan (07:18):
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And it wasn’t like the three times I’ve done that big goal. Like it was something that didn’t feel like it was going to be possible, but I just said, Oh, we’ll give it a crack and put it down. It sort of seemed like this lofty thing, but then just kept taking steps towards it. But it wasn’t like, Oh man, so blood and sweat and tears and then coming out there and like, all right, I did it. It was sort of like just a little bit every day.

Ann Rea (07:42):
So suffering is optional. Did it, did you really like, let me just, let me just ask you this. So you have a pretty assertive goal. So did you, did you suffer the whole time?

Sam Shennan (07:53):
I didn’t suffer. I had, I mean I had to do things like I had to get an extra job to get to there, but like I made sure that the job wasn’t like grueling and horrendous.

Ann Rea (08:02):
Right. So a lot of people think, ah, I’m just going to go from not selling any art or very little art to supporting myself full time. It’s very unrealistic. I started, I was working and I was selling my art part time right before I actually transitioned to full time. So I want to be silly about this. Do you want to gain some traction and let the numbers, you know, support your decision to transition to making art full time. And so glad you’re being sensible about it. Let me ask you this, if you could go back in time to this Sam, who hadn’t yet enrolled, maybe it was just thinking about it. What is the advice you’d give him if you could travel back in your time machine?

Sam Shennan (08:51):
Mmm. So you’ve got to invest in yourself and the, that it’s not just for fine artists, it’s like it’s can be a practical thing to apply to. Yeah. Anyone who’s wanting to just work in the arts. So yeah, it’s possible and it’s exciting. And you’ve got this some like black magic fun like skills in here that like will help you. Like just reframe your mindset on what you’re trying to achieve with it.

Ann Rea (09:26):
It’s white magic. And I’ve got the magic wand to prove their white magic and then, all right, so now a lot of students saw this post and your fellow students and you did give some advice, but I’d like to just kind of capture it on camera. What about them? What would you tell them?

Sam Shennan (09:53):
Um, sit down and actually like spend a couple of minutes or a few minutes, like thinking about your SMARTER goal. Make it all of the things. Make it, give it like a set date. Like it’s got to happen by a certain time, otherwise it’s too vague. Um, set something slightly outside your reach but not too far outside your reach. So that it doesn’t like lose its power of or like a lore. Right. Um, yeah. And then once you’ve got that, then step back from it and keep like kind of figure out the milestones or at least the first milestone and then start to make some changes to achieve that.

Ann Rea (10:30):
So what’s interesting and like, uh, just it’s an interesting mix of identifying the practical steps that you only can assume will lead you from where you are today to where you want to go. You can only make an assumption because you don’t know, right. You have to take the first step or and complete that first milestone and that informs the second and the third milestone. Right.

Sam Shennan (10:57):
I’d had no idea how I was going to do it. Right. Like I’ll just take the first step. You take a step towards it might not even do it one in the right direction. It was just taking something, making some sort of forward motion.

Ann Rea (11:10):
Exactly. So I set my goal and I first started out, I didn’t know either. I just started with the goal in mind and then I made a plan that was kind of half baked. But you know, I didn’t just, let’s say a plan is not a roadmap. It’s like a compass. It has, it changes every move you make, it changes. You have to check. And I still go North or am I veering off and, yeah. And then you can adjust it. Um, so, uh, now I know you connected with some people, you did some study partner sessions, right? So the video calls. So how did that change from the Sam who had not yet enrolled and now the Sam who is part of this community that’s, you know, meets with each other on video calls and how does that change your, your approach or your experience of pursuing art as a business?

Sam Shennan (12:07):
Um, I have a big poster on my desk that says, who can you ask for help today?

Ann Rea (12:11):
Nice.

Sam Shennan (12:15):
I’m like, I’m fine. Like really realizing that like you’ve always said, like you can’t do it by yourself. Like I’ve wouldn’t have got to where I’ve got to so far without saying, I don’t know. Like, I don’t know, everything I can’t know and I can’t know everything. Like I kinda just watch all the videos and do all the research and then come up with the perfect business plan for the art. It’s about like finding out or like bouncing ideas off other people getting new ideas and the exchange of like the actual, like the video calls. Um, which. I thought it was a bit like hokey when I first signed up. I was like, ah, it’s all right. I’ll just do it. I’ll just watch the videos and I’ll do it in the studio and I’ll like, it’ll be [inaudible].

Ann Rea (12:50):
Yeah.

Sam Shennan (12:51):
And then you get the tied in knots with the coursework or tied in knots. So it’s just like everything but being able to go through it with someone else and swap ideas because you hear like different people’s versions of explaining the exact same thing and eventually it clicks. Like you hear it enough times, you know, like, Oh right, yeah, that makes sense now. And you can help each other clarify stuff.

Ann Rea (13:10):
I’m glad you said that because a lot of people will enroll and they think, Oh, I’m not doing this study partner part. Here’s the thing. I get to see who’s being successful and I get to see those floundering and the ones that we graduate and the ones who don’t graduate and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt the ones who try to do it by themselves, they don’t even frickin’ graduate. No, because they have to rely on their own willpower and you just don’t have enough. The ones who I can see are actively meeting with other and making friends like look at Khadeeja. Did you see you can Khadeeja in London like some, like another student from London came and gave her a big fat hug.

Sam Shennan (13:53):
That was such a nice video. That was, that was one of the ones that kicked me off to like really get back into this more.

Ann Rea (13:58):
That’s why I do these because you need constant motivation and constant reminder, but I can’t do it all the time. You get on a study partner call and you can get it from each other and I’m going to say, look, if you meet with someone, you don’t want to meet with them again, don’t, I don’t care. You want to give you energy and you give them energy and don’t take it personal. You just, we all have different, we just connect differently. So I’m, I can see, and I, and I see that I can see the logs of people who’ve met the ones who’s had like lots of study partner meetings. They feel like they just really jam it. It’s really interesting. So you got to have a support network, 100%.

Sam Shennan (14:42):
You also need a safe space where you can come and like share victories, like to come jump in there and rotten first. I was like, Oh, I feel, I feel like a bit embarrassed about it, but I was like, there’s one else who I know who like is involved in this.

Ann Rea (14:53):
Yeah, yeah. No, I’m so glad that you did because, and I invite all my students to do that. You know, share your wins. Even if they’re small things. Like somebody asked me for a discount and I said no. And I answered and I responded with the strategy that Ann us to respond with that. I didn’t discount and they bought it full price. Like that is huge victory. You just like one little part, I got another freaking uh, you’ve been accepted to this art contest. It’ll only be $100 bullshit. And you said, I’m not doing that anymore. That’s a huge win.

Sam Shennan (15:35):
Yeah. Yeah. I love it in there. It’s great. Like as often like cause the coursework I have to like set my, um, set my deadlines for it. I’ve kind of fallen off cause it started another business but we um, yeah. So every time I see the videos and those little posts, it’s always like, Oh yeah, that is possible. There are other people doing it. Like come on, get back on the schedule.

Ann Rea (15:54):
Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, the big takeaway here is to understand that you need to set goals, but you have to do them in a very specific way or you’re to increase the likelihood of you attaining them and they have to fit the SMARTER criteria. And Sam did this and he sold $60,000 worth of art is pretty damn good after just enrolling or late last year and lost 30 pounds. Damn. So, all right. So if there is somebody sitting on the fence and they’re like, ah, I think I want it and I want to apply to enroll, but I’m not sure, maybe I should wait. What would you say to them?

Sam Shennan (16:41):
Get off the fence. You’re drungo. Life’s too shot. If you want to like do your art and a board of where you’re at, if it’s, if there’s a part of that’s board of where you’re at, you’ve got to change something. So like invest in yourself. Like you’re the person who’s going to take charge of it. No one’s going to give you anything. You’ve got to go take it or go reach out for it and asking for help for someone who’s cause it’s not just paying for a course. It’s like it’s a community of people who can help you and it won’t to and want to help you.

Ann Rea (17:12):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean

Sam Shennan (17:14):
more valuable than just like a little course.

Ann Rea (17:16):
I was really proud of. I have to say like I’m more proud of the community and anything like even my own, even my own, you know, course creation because so many artists are so busy competing with one another and being jealous of one another that they’re really missing the boat. This community is the opposite. Like when Sam posted this, everyone cheered. Everyone was like, yay. It means I can do it too. That’s who you want to be around. So if you’re around artists who are competing you or jealous of you or if you’re jealous of them, you got to flip that script and you better do it quick cause it’s not gonna work. Competition kills creativity. It doesn’t, it’s not in this sphere. So awesome. Well I know, my student, the other students are really looking forward to seeing this and I’ll let, I want to hear the next goal and the next goal and the next goal. Cause I know you’re going to hit them. Yeah. Yeah. It’s like I’m a superpower now. I know you’ve got a magic wand. All right. Awesome. Well, thanks so much for taking time out of your day to share and, um, I’ll see you in our Facebook group.

Sam Shennan (18:33):
Yeah. Awesome. Thanks Ann.

Ann Rea (18:35):
All right. Take care.

 

Ann Rea

Ann Rea, Fine Artist & Mentor

Ann Rea is a San Francisco-based fine artist. She created Making Art Making Money, the leading and most reputable business program for fine artists since 2005. Rea’s art and business savvy have been featured on ABC, HGTV, Creative Live, The Good Life Project, in the book Career Renegade by Jonathan Fields, the San Francisco Chronicle, Art Business News, Fortune, and Inc. Magazines. Rea’s artistic talent was commended by her mentor, art icon Wayne Thiebaud. 

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4 Responses

  1. Very inspiring! I’m excited for the day when I can talk about myself and my work in a similar way. So many areas where I recognize or see myself doing and feeling what Sam was describing before enrolling in this class.

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