School vs Passions

[Max_V]

On the deepest level I really just want to become an amazing drawer and draw everyday. It feels amazing to let loose and create amazing projects which I am really proud of. But, There are so many things that make it hard to do this on a daily basis such as, going to school, making homework, etc.

Should I fully go after my passions and let my school work suffer for it or should I keep doing it as I have been, drawing every other day or two days and meanwhile putting a lot of my hours into schoolwork?

I know I should find balance for myself, but it just feels really inauthentic sometimes when I have to study for school but I'm being pulled towards creating and drawing.

[alyra]

2 hours ago, Max_V said:

Should I fully go after my passions and let my school work suffer for it or should I keep doing it as I have been, drawing every other day or two days and meanwhile putting a lot of my hours into schoolwork?

there's no reason why you can't do both. if it is rough for you to have time to draw, then dedicate your next 2 months to making sure you draw for 15 minutes each day. or however long it takes. 

 

 

here is the main points of the strategy I am using to form habits: 

1. identify a keystone habit. this habit is the only one that you focus on - you aren't building any other habits. obviously, if say you need to start brushing your teeth every day but your keystone habit is drawing, you still brush your teeth whenever you remember to, no big deal - but you don't do it with the responsibility of forming a habit. it's not your keystone. your keystone is the one you're using your sense of responsibility to focus on. Nuturally, good habits lead into other good behaviours you wanna do happening - expecially if you focus on a good keystone habit, and allow the other behaviors to happen or not, not stress about them - they aren't your keystone, and the keystone is the one you're focused on each day. 
2. You identify a Cue for the keystone habit. This is something that will easily lead into the habit. For example, if you want to go to the gym, a good cue is on your way home from work, and you find a gym that's nearby. 
3. You determine the minimum you will put into a habit to say to yourself, "I did it today" and the maximum you want to dedicate to it, that it doesn't make sense or interrupts other responsibilities to pass the max. In the gym example, the minimum could be, "drive to the gymn, turn off my car, and remind myself of why this is important" and if you do that three days in a row, but just turn the car back on and drive home - that's fine. you did the minimum. Repitition is more important than quality. repitition forms habits.
4. realistically, things get in the way of each other. we balance a lot of responsibility. repition is more important - if you miss a day, it ain't backsliding, you aren't awful. try again the next day, it's no big deal. after a few months or however long it takes, you'll get so used to doing the habit when your que comes up, that you',ll find yourself doing it without thinking - that is the goal. an it's achieved by doing it so many times, not by dedicating so much effort overall into it. It takes a few years to become a good artist from newbie - and what gets you there is repetition, making art a daily habit. that's what you need. obviuosly you intend to learn each day - but the minimum needed is to do it each day. 

I am paraphrasing from how I am applying this strategy. I learned it from Improvement Pill on youtube - their Tamed course. I believe episode 3 and 5 cover what I'm talking about here - "2 biggest misconceptions" and "how to build your habit". 

 

the habit I'm working on I'll offer as an example. The que I use is more of an abstract one, which works for me because my mind operates a lot easier in abstraction, but the que is "when I am up and ready for the day" - this happens every day without fail, well except days where I'm really in the gutter from depression, which I've been lowing that frequency slowly for a few years now, getting better. The habit is - to do my daily exercise routine. the minimum is to do my neck stretches, as they are imperative, and I can do them anywhere, and they only take a minute - easy to accomplish. the maximum is my full routine and walking for a half hour - 90 minutes in total, sometimes a little longer if I really get into it . this is a habit I've really been wanting to get going for nearly 2 years now, and really want to exercise daily in fact - for as long as I live - it's good. the most important thing is that I do the minumum at least every day - in the two weeks I've been doing this, I've only missed one day - which I could never do such a feat before  and it's such a relief to know, that if I fail to brush my teeth or skip a bath or wear my PJ's all day, those aren't what really matters right now. when I feel completely comfortable with this habit - then I will identify the next habit to focus on. And it's pretty exciting to notice a lot of good behaviors pop up even tho I'm not even trying I only judge the "success" of a day off my keystone habit - tho I guess if I was more responsible, I am unemployed, but if I had a job or school I needed to show up for, they would be part of that success-judgement. "I went to school, and also did my art habit - yes! that is great!" and allow the satisfaction wash over you hehe. 

 

 

 

 

 

uuuuuhhhh... sorry I got carried away with this post 

 

[Joseph Maynor]

Think of it as building up the Education pillar of your Enlightenment journey.  It gives you breadth.  

Edited December 7, 2017 by Joseph Maynor