I love and thrive in and with competition. I know this about myself and I use any and all competition as much as possible. Mostly I compete with my yesterday, and to make today even better.
For those starting a 30 day challenge, below are a few lessons learned I gleamed from last month's challenge.
Things I wished I knew before starting the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge.
1. Commit: Make up your mind and commit to yourself and others you will finish. Tell your family and friend to help hold you accountable. Facebook friends helped here immensely.
2. Resources: Have your supplies, plus extra, ready to go. A. more panels in different sizes all ready to go. B. Secure more paint than you think you'll need. C. Printed out photos you've always wanted to paint. D. Sets of good, clean brushes.
3. Start small and get ready to grow daily.
4. Have fun: Enjoy the moments and share as much as is comfortable for you.
5. Give yourself every opportunity to succeed. Turn off the TV. Limit social media, turn off the devises. Clean your supplies at the end of the day so that you're ready to go in the morning.
6. Schedule: Get ahead of schedule. When you paint, paint with passion. Paint, paint and paint some more. Have 4-5 paintings going at various stages. Paint 2-3 per day. Some may not work, most will.
7. Don't stop when you're tired. Stop when you're done. Work hard, even when no one is watching.
8. Give yourself rewards at the end of the day, week and month. It doesn't have to cost anything, for me, a quiet moment reading a good book does it.
9. Expect exponential growth in skills and confidence to risk more challenging work.
This 30 day challenge worked well. I think this is something I'll do a few times a year.