New Year Resolutions

Happy New Year! We’ve had a lovely few days off for Christmas (well, days off in that some days it wasn’t an all-out paintfest as usual!) and we’re settling down into our new life in 2018. How’s it going for you so far? Have you made any resolutions? Or did you decide this year that you wouldn’t make any?

Where Do We Start?

We found a great book that has inspired us to do some creative resolutions. It’s very easy to make these promises to yourself and then feel really disappointed when you realise you’ve tried to do too much, or you’ve run out of time to fit it all in. The way we’ve approached it is to find something that we can do easily and infrequently! Think about what motivates you; do you like drawing but never find the time? Do you love telling your kids stories and wish you had written them down afterwards? Now may be the time to sit down on a Thursday evening (or any moment when you would normally have a cup of tea and tell everyone else to leave you alone for just five minutes, please!) and make sure you jot these things down. That’s our thought with our “Plot a Week” resolution. Plots come to people all the time, even if you don’t realise it. That story you’re making up about the same pigeon you see on the way to work every day, or that little tale you make up about the couple you spot on the bus most days. Even just at your desk or at work when you make up little stories about making a cup of tea, or your phone ringing. These are all tiny plots, and it doesn’t need to be more than a few lines a week. Maybe you can find a little notebook to write them all in? Everyone enjoys a new notebook and now you’ll have something to fill it with!

Or you could take a totally a different approach. Perhaps you’re really good at keeping things tidy, doing backflips or using a certain app; could your resolution be to show more people how to do these things? It doesn’t need to necessarily be something that benefits you directly, it can be whatever you want it to be. You might want to help out more around the house, brush the dog more or make sure you do all homework as it is set, instead of the day before it’s due! But don’t be hard on yourself if you fail. Acknowledge that you have slipped up and keep on going. The biggest mistake you can make is to let it slip and then just think “oh well, that’s me done this year”. A resolution we’re going to set you, no matter what, is to not quit! Keep it going, if you don’t make it one day make sure you do the next. It’s always harder to get back up when you’ve fallen down, but you can do it! You can even start your resolutions today if you want to, you have a whole year to fit it in. Some people might enjoy keeping a log of the achievements made, so you remember how far you’ve come if you have an “off” day. At the end of the year you will then have a tangible record of the things you have achieved.

Doodle A Day and Plot a Week

We’re focusing on the creative here, seeing as that’s what we do! We’re trying to fit in a doodle a day, which at the moment is focused on our new books, all about the Hectic Hares! This is something we’re working on now, and will be coming soon, so the doodles are mostly of hares doing naughty things and trying to cause havoc! But don’t worry, they do have someone to keep them under control…sort of!

The other resolution we’re working on is a plot a week. As mentioned earlier, this can be as simple as: “A man called George is reunited with his prize horse. George thinks they can go back to racing as before, but the horse has got other ideas”. There you go, one plot! It’s a great one to do, as in a week you could jot down seven plots, one a day, if you’re feeling your brain fire up. If not, it doesn’t matter. The aim is a plot a week, so you can do as little as one or as many as seven, or more! This is a fab resolution to help kick-start the creative flow, or get you out of a writer’s block situation. It doesn’t need to be a plot every time either, if you’re not much of a writer make it an idea of the week, or a project plan of the week. Whatever suits you!

Good Luck!

So there you go, even now you can start your resolutions if you want to. Pick up a pen, a paintbrush, an iPad, a trowel. Start planning and start achieving! If you want to share your hard work then do hop over to our Facebook and post a few pics, or use the hashtag “happydesigner” and “doodleoftheday” on our Instagram to show us what you’ve been up to (even if you aren’t doodling!). Resolutions are easier to keep if we all work together, so make sure you support everyone who says they are trying to stick to theirs, and don’t be afraid to tell people yours so that they can help you out too. Have fun and good luck!