A guide to

creating a goal map

and shaping your future.

This changed my life and hopefully someone out there can benefit from it as well.

Thanks to Creative Pep Talk Podcast, the book “Steal Like an Artist”, Freelance Manifesto, Friedrich Nietzsche, and all the Simon Sinek TED Talks

This free resource was created by Patrick Dias

This is completely free. If you find it useful, share it with someone else who could benefit from it. Pay it forward if you can.

Have a question? Shoot me a message via instagram @tigerbacon.

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Looks like this.

Skip to the end for final product.

Warning:

This takes work and time to do.

Contents

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1 Identifying your goals and dreaming big p5

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2 What if you don’t have any goals? p12

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3 Understanding your driving force p16

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4 How to create a goal setting map p22

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5 Different ways to use your goal map p30

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6 My own progressive goal map since 2017 p36

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Other Goal Mapping methods!

• 8760 hours by Alex Vermeer / AlexVermeer.com
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/14z4QVJBi20PWGCTBcq7PdqoDakMByL21/view?usp=drivesdk

Thus is the nature of reflecting and strategizing your future by breaking down the abstract into practical steps. So, don’t be too hard on yourself and give it time.

Identifying goals

and dreaming BIG

1 Identifying goals

1a Define your goals

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• Career & Creative goals

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• Career = Freelancing, a new job, etc are a bit more challenging and require more thought and reflection.

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• Creative = skills/techniques, new mediums, theory/principles

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• You can also Life goals such as owning a home, moving to a new country, planning for a baby, learning a new hobby or language, etc.

1b Get ready to Mind Map*

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• Even if you have a clear vision of your goals, doing this activity might help you extract things you hadn’t thought about initially.

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• Sit down with a big piece of paper and a pencil in front of you.

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• Get ready to spend half an hour doing a “mind map” brainstorming exercise for what you envision in your future. Come back to it periodically.

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• This takes time to do because you are brainstorming your life and future.

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• Write down everything that comes to mind with no judgement.

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• Don’t edit yourself, and don’t hold yourself back from writing things down.

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* Follow the Mind Mapping rules in the next few pages to help guide you through this process.

Taking on editorial illustration gigs on the side

Learning real lighting techniques to use in 2D art

Planning for a baby while managing a career shift

A job that feels like i’m making a difference in the world

How to be a better storyteller

Putting together exciting Dungeons and Dragons sessions

Always wanted to try knitting

2a State your purpose and work outwards

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• State your purpose statement in the middle of the sheet and work outwards.

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“Where do I see myself 4 years from now?”

“What do I enjoy doing that I could see myself doing in the future?”

“How can I find purpose in life?”

“What version of myself would make me happier in the future?”

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• Dump everything that comes to mind as it connects to that statement.

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2 Mind mapping rules

2b Mind mapping rules / be a kid

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• Ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up.

What kind of answers do you get?

You want to harness this energy.

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• Try not to put limitations on yourself.

Write down anything and everything that comes to mind.

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• The goal is to not think about what is and isn’t actually possible to achieve, and go against negative thoughts like “this isn’t going to make me money”, “I can’t do this because I have obligations”.

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• Cast non judgement and write what comes to mind!

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“What version of myself would make me happier in the future?”

“What version of myself would make me happier in the future?”

I want to be an amazing artist that is award winning

To travel the world as part of my job

Finding purpose in other ways as I navigate living a childfree life

Being a pillar in my community for activism that resonates with me

To make lots of money to own a home in the city

I want to make work that makes people smile and laugh

2 Mind mapping rules

2d Mind mapping rules / dig deep

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• Career goals are tough so don’t rush it. It takes time to figure it out.

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• Identifying your goals isn’t an easy task, just like understanding what your future looks like is hella hard without a time machine.

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• Try to ask yourself why these goals are important to you.

Understanding this may help you flesh out your goal map later.

Refer to slide 17

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• Understanding why a goal is important to you may also help you identify the paths that may drastically affect the outcome of your journey.

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2e Mind mapping rules / create a web

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• Find the connections between things. Doing so will spark other ideas to jot down and it will show you the “biggest dominos” to tackle to reap more rewards.

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• Google “mind mapping examples” if you need more guidance, or send me a message.

2c Mind mapping rules / dream BIG

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• Set ambitious goals. Bigger dreams mean bigger rewards.

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• The harder the goal the better you’ll have to become to achieve it.

We will breakdown it down later so it isn’t impossible to attain.

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• Even if you don’t make those goals you shall still reap a huge return than if you hadn’t set those goals at all.

“What version of myself would make me happier in the future?”

I want to be an amazing artist that is award winning

I didn’t achieve this yet, but I was able to identify and learn new skills that I didn’t know before this goal map was created!

I learned photoshop and feel confident in the program.

“What version of myself would make me happier in the future?”

I want to be an amazing artist that is award winning

To travel the world as part of my job

Finding purpose in other ways as I navigate living a childfree life

Being a pillar in my community for activism that resonates with me

To make lots of money to own a home in the city

I want to make work that makes people smile and laugh

People recognize my style

I use my art to tell stories that need to be told

People see my work and want to work with me

Finding purpose with my art to move community to enact positive change

Going to different places to set up physical art that connects with people

I want to work with my hands so I’m not always stuck in front of a screen

Large happy characters and environments that ppl want to hug and touch

Saving money for my future instead of living pay cheque to pay cheque

Creating a savings and spendings plan

Supporting and investing in stocks and companies that align with my beliefs

Mind Map examples

What if you don’t have any goals

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I don’t know my goals

1 Identifying goals can be challenging

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• That’s completely okay. It’s the equivalent of someone asking “what do you want to do in 3 or 5 years”.

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• It’s a big question, and it may change in time.

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• These methods may help you discover some goals to help you get started on your journey of growth.

2 What have you loved up to this point in life

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“What have you truly loved thus far?

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What has ever uplifted your soul,

what has dominated and delighted it at the same time?

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Assemble these revered objects in a row before you and perhaps they will reveal a law by their nature and their order: �the fundamental law of your very self.

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Compare these objects, see how they complement, enlarge, outdo, transfigure one another; how they form a ladder on whose steps you have been climbing up to yourself so far; for your true self does not lie buried deep within you, but rather rises immeasurably high above you, or at least above what you commonly take to be your I.”

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Friedrich Nietzsche would say that the answers were there the whole time, you just had to notice them.

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I don’t know my goals

3 Use Envy

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• Friedrich Nietzsche, a philosopher from the late 1800’s, wanted to teach us how to “become who we are”, and how to discover and be loyal to our highest potential.

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• One of these methods is to “own up to envy”.

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• “Envy occurs when we lack a desired attribute enjoyed by another.”

Envy in society can be seen as a very negative quality to have, so we hide it away and pretend.

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• Examples of creative envy would be �“I wish I was a freelancer that had free time like Greg.”�“Sarah is able to do what she enjoys as a job and I want that spark.”

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• Nietzsche believes that there is nothing wrong with envy.

What matters is how we handle it.

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• Envy is actually a tool to help us identify what we want in life.

A way to help us reach our higher potential.

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• So think about a time where you might have been envious of other creatives, lifestyles, or a job you wish you had. This might be an indication that you want something similar in your life.

I don’t know my goals

4 Try a lot of things

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• If you don’t know what something is like, it’s hard to come up with a decision just in your mind.

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• It takes time to figure this out, but try not to feel pressured. This is your journey and you’re trying the right path to grow in.

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• If envy and love haven’t helped you yet, opening yourself to this exercise will put you in situations that can bring forth those feelings.

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• This in itself can be a goal, to “find my calling”, to “try a bunch of things that may interest me”.

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• So go out into the world and try a bunch of things to see what sticks.

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• Be a kid again.

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Understanding your

driving force

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aka your why

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1 Understanding your Why

1a What is a driving force, aka the WHY?

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• Imagine your goals as the planet’s crust. The surface is always changing, adapting, shaping itself in new ways, but what fuels all of this?

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• It’s the planet’s core, your driving force. Also known as your “Why”, it is what influences your wants and desires, and shapes the goals around you.

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• It’s important to understand your “why” because it is the true reason you do what you do. It is the foundation that determines what you want to aim for in life, and knowing this is invaluable to help you actually stick through it.

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• Even when you’re overwhelmed during this journey or feeling doubt in path/decision/yourself, looking back at your “Why” will remind you what this is for, driving you forward. Hence, why it’s also known as your driving force.

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1b But what if you don’t have a core? Is it that important?

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• Technically you could still work towards your goals without understanding your “why”, but when you feel negative emotions, such as hardship, confusion, which eventually creep up during a journey like this, you may start second guessing yourself or abandoning your goals altogether.

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• To dismiss your “why” is like a planet without an active core. It can become stagnant, dormant, and comfortable. What we need to do instead is energize our cores. Fire it up to be the driving force that brings change and growth into our lives!

1 Understanding your Why

1c Have more than one driving force

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• Having more than one driver is a great way to not limit the type of goals you want to aim for.

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• Each driver revealed goals within a wide spectrum of my life, but looking at it as a whole, they complimented each other very well.

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• Do you find yourself jumping from new project to new goal willy nilly, to the point where you become unsure of yourself and your actions? That’s creative ADHD. It’s normal to want to look at the new shiny thing, but we completely forget about working to finish what we’ve already started.

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• Having more than one driver helps you prioritize which goal should be worked on first based on strategic importance.

1d Methods of uncovering your driving forces

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• If you’re unsure of what your driving force might be, here are two methods that can assist you.

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• It's more than just wanting to be happy and fulfilled in life. Those are just byproducts of what you really desire.

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2 Methods of uncovering your driving forces

Method A be inquisitive like a kid

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• Imagine a kid asks a question. You give them an answer, and then they ask why. You answer that question, and then they ask why again. You go ahead and answer that question and then there it is, another why.

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• This is what we will be doing. By asking repetitive Why’s to your answers we will dig deeper and deeper, and before you know it you’ll find yourself opening up with more vulnerable answers.

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• This exercise works better with a partner, someone who is a good listener, doesn’t judge, and can compile good questions.

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• Can also be done solo, but try not to have bias.

Do it from a third person perspective.

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• Ask open ended questions, and open yourself up to elboration.

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• Imagine this discovery method as an upside down pyramid. We ask a lot of questions that will scratch the surface. Everytime we follow up with “Why?”, the deeper we get.

Eventually we will reach the point of the pyramid.

�Hopefully by the end you uncover an answer that resonates deeply with you, identifying itself as a good reason to why you have the goals you do.

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2 Methods of uncovering your driving forces

Method B designing your life

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• If you could imagine your ideal life, what would it look like?

These can be holistic or individualistic.

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“Wanting to travel more, and working remotely.”

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“A great paying job, in an awesome studio.”

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“Making money off my art, and using my designs to create a stationery brand.”

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“Owning a home, having a family, and being able to support them.”

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“Making money for a new car, a wedding, or honeymoon.”

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“Getting a job at my dream studio.”

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“Wanting get recognized for my work as a director/illustrator/designer.”

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3 Example of my driving forces

My multiple driving forces

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Gain an independent lifestyle�Having own place & making better than stable income

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Earn awards and recognition

ADC Young Guns 2019*

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Use my creative skills to make an impact

Connect with people digitally and in real life, and make work towards causes that move me

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Get jobs that move me�Feel excited and appreciated about the jobs I land

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*I never got an award BUT my map helped me reach the goal of applying and I created 3 new works because of it. When I had downtime in between jobs I looked at my physical copy of these WHYs posted on my wall to remind myself what I could be working on. This is essentially my life compass.

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How to create

a goal setting map

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Creating your goal map

1 Fill in the blanks

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• Fill in the boxes on the left hand side. (Where you are currently)

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• Fill in the boxes on the right hand side. (your goals ___ years into the future)

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• Everything in the middle is the timeline to get towards your goals

2022

2026

2022

In school

Living at home

2026

Designer

Living in the city

Travelling

Creating your goal map

1 Fill in the blanks

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• Fill in the boxes on the left hand side. (Where you are currently)

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• Fill in the boxes on the right hand side. (your goals ___ years into the future)

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• Everything in the middle is the timeline to get towards your goals

Creating your goal map

2 Breaking goals into milestones

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• My breaking a big goal up into several milestones or mini goals,

we can make the impossible seem much more plausible and reachable.

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• Think of it like chess. We know what we need to achieve. Now we need to plan and strategize how to make it possible by envisioning what all the possible moves look like to get us there.

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• One such method is a “Workback schedule” aka, “planning your project backwards from a deadline.”

“A Workback Schedule is a useful method that reveals the milestones that a project will have to meet. It forces you to think about what a successful project will look like, and the steps you will have to take to get there.”

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• Listen to these amazing resources

Creative Pep Talk / Ep 114 - 9 Ways to Make 2018 Your Best Year Yet

385 - How to Reverse Engineer What Creative Goal to Focus On Next

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Professional Designer

Create an amazing portfolio

3 strong self initiated pieces

For UI UX work

Climate Change

Identify social and environmental causes I care about, using my passions to fuel creative work

Food Shortages

Social Injustice

Professional Designer

Large abstract goal

Get gigs that make a difference

Develop an illustration style that pairs with my UI UX work

School for UI UX design

Programs to learn

Figma

Concepts to learn

Illustrator

Photoshop

Adobe XD

A great team member and leader

Design Thinking

User Behaviors

Learning more from people affected by these issues. Finding out how design could benefit them.

Learning to present

Better at interacting with people

How to ask open ended questions in interviews

How to find the right people to talk to

Presenting my ideas and creative work

Being an active listener

Communicating with the people in my life to practice

Now become practical milestones

Examples of

goal maps

Short Ideas

- Neil Degrasse Tyson

- Emancipation Day

- Climate Change Poem�

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Developing

My Aesthetic

2022

2023

Full Time

Director

Illo Rep

Get paid:�- to Direct full time

- for my Design Sensibilities

- for my “illustration” look

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Nov, 2022

Directorial Work

NFTs

Combine 2D + 3D look

- World Building

- Human Element / Stories

- Sets in 3D / Handmade / Diorama

- 2D Characters / Cel Animated or Ref’d

- Illustrative / Based on 2D drawn Refs

Chess Checkmates

Humans

Mountz

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Low Fidelity �2D characters, high volume

Create GIFS (advice from agencies)

- Less work, high impact

- Edit together to finish shorts

- Can stay as GIFS if short folds

- Continue to practice direction

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Submit for Recognition

- Vimeo Staff Pick

- Motionographer

- Pictoplasma

- Festival Screening(?)

Complete 2 major shorts

Developing what worked with

missed connections

High Fidelity�3D characters, 1:1s

Blender 3D

Substance / Procreate

Marvelous Designer

Use Mixamo for quickies

Character Illustrator

- Use the momentum from the Google Avatar, Humanity and Dundas Lights characters

Create a lookbook

World Building

Get approached / reach out

Topology / animation

PBR + Lighting Realism

3D looks 2D

Spark AR

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2023

2033

Full-time Lifestyle

Photographer

Created Nov 4th, 2022

Moonlighting

Photography

Working in France

- Establishing a presence in France

- Being repped

- Returning clients

- Surrounded by family and friends

- Be part of a collective / community

Slowly develop my Aesthetic

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Work I want to get paid to do

- Editorial

- Small and Large campaigns

- Social media

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Traveling for shoots

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Savings for my child’s future

- Education

- Day to Day Expenses

- Emergency funds

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Living my best Self-Employed Life

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Making enough to survive

Have my own “Studio”

- Hire a team based on projects

- Connections within the industry

- Physical spaces to rent worldwide

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Meeting other creators abroad and at home

- Find ppl within the industry in France and Toronto

- Connect with them to create rapport

- Find like minded people to collab with

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Find opportunities for Collaboration

- Ask other creatives to collaborate on ideas to help grow your community, and yourself�- Reach into my network to diversify how my work is implemented within other creative industries, like videography, motion graphics, theatre, music, etc.

Work thru Word of Mouth

- Find ppl within the industry in France

- Connect with them to create rapport

- Hit up different studio spaces, co working spaces for creatives

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Current

Full-time Job

Composition

Cutting costs to save up for goals

- % of income goes towards travel

- % of incomes goes towards taking time off

Each box along the way to achieving your ultimate goal is considered a milestone achievement / Dream big and even if you don’t achieve the ultimate goal, look at how far you have come

Mini Projects during Vacations / Time Off

- Using vacation time to try mini projects with family and friends

- Meeting other creatives abroad and at home

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Find a Mentor

- Learn more about what it takes to be successful in the industry from them

- Get tips for how to navigate towards your goal

- Insight for how they developed into the industry

Create Opportunity at work

- Request to do some photography work

- Learn from the photographers hired for gigs

- Learn what agencies look for in photographers

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“Steal like an artist” (reference to the book)

- Identify key creatives that are influential to me

- Look into why their work stands out to me

- Reflect on why I’d like to do work like them

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Model Posing

Lighting

Skills to Learn and get good at

Something to steal

Something to steal

Something to steal

Passion Projects

- Identify 1 Passion Project that can get me closer to my goal using what I’ve learned so far

- A project that can push my abilities further, force me to learn

If you want to share your own

msg me so I can add it!

Different ways

to use your goal map

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How to use your goal map

1 Vision board with a plan

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• You’ve already taken the greatest step, which is writing it down.

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• You’ve put it out in the universe and this goal map is the blueprint and reminder that will make them possible to achieve.

2 It is a long game

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• You’ve got these goals, some may be easier than others to achieve, and the most important thing to remember is that this journey will take time.

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• It’s a long game, and every goal you have set forth is made up of multiple mini goals that you discovered from your breakdown.
• Focus on those tasks, taking it one step at a time.

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• A friend once told me that during his trip to Nepal the Sherpas who carried all their luggage along the edge of treacherous icy mountain sides for miles said that the most important thing for doing what they are able to do is to focus on “taking one step at a time”.

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• This will help you focus on the journey vs on where you should be instead.

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• This is why we marked the dates on our goal maps. ___ year journey.

3 Cross things off

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• Make this a habit. Want to cross things off as you accomplish them!

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• Every smaller task and mini goal crossed off in your journey to the big kahuna should be celebrated.

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• Maybe you treat yourself every time something is crossed off.

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• This will help you see the progress you are making, even if sometimes it feels like you aren’t at all.

4 Be like water

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• Don’t be rigid with your journey. You never know what life might throw your way, so collaborate with life.

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• Welcome new experiences, failures, understandings and opportunities.

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• Becoming adaptable is one the most important traits.

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• Update your goal map when things change.

How to use your goal map

5 It’s an adventure journal

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• Treat this like a journal. Whenever something changes in your plans, when you cross things off, do it on a copy of your map.

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• Plan to do a check up quarterly, monthly or yearly where you can go through these changes and progressions.

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• Try to find other individuals to go on this journey with, and create a get together to go through your progressions together.

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6 Thought vs Action

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• Don’t get caught up thinking that you aren’t progressing because you aren’t seeing actions and results.

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• Visualizing and imagining your plan, strategy, success, is just as important as making the move itself.

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• Both are needed to crush your goal, and understanding the dynamic will help you get there.

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• Plan, Visualize, implement, and take it in.

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How to use your goal map

8 Breaking goals down to tangible activities by Holly Szczypka

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• Similar to the biggest domino, lessons from the ONE Thing, you can break down your milestone goals into even smaller tangible activities.

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• These could exist as daily activities or even short project sprints.

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7 The biggest domino

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• Read the book The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results to understand how chipping at your biggest domino everyday, no matter how long, can have lasting effects.

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• Imagine these milestones as dominos. Which domino would create the biggest wave when it is knockdown?

9 Make your milestones able to stand alone

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• Meaning, if you don’t get to complete that large passion project that is beyond your expertise right now, you still come out of it with something to show.

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For example:

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If at anytime you stop progression towards that large goal, at least you are left with something that can stand alone and live in your portfolio, etc.

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Short Film about ______

Illustrated scenes from the short

A comic strip / book / sketches about the story

Writing a short story or poem about _______

How to use your goal map

10 As a compass

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• If you find yourself:
• lost
• with downtime
• unsure of your next steps
• lost again
• anxious
• unsatisfied
• LOST AGAIN

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• Then come back to your Goal Map & WHYs so that you can be pointed back towards the right direction.

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• Many times during this journey I’ve felt aimless, especially coming out of a big or long freelance gig. Thankfully reaching back for this compass got me back on track on my journey, and I was able to utilize that downtime effectively.

How to use your goal map

Here is my progressive

goal map since 2017

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Character Dev

Composition�Story Writing�Illustration Aesthetic

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Research + Dev�Artists To “Steal From”

Shorts

Ocean City

Denise, Her Stories

Travis’ Story

​

Illustration

Tactile

Supplier

Freelancer

2017

2019

Director

Supplier

Working Abroad

Animating in “Modern” Cel

- AE Shape Layers / Holds

- Photoshop Comfortability

- Animate CC

- C4D (Next Season)

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- Traditional Doodling

- Follow my “Kid Instincts”

Storytelling With A

Purpose

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Recognition

&

Awards

​

Collaborate

With Jeanette

& Friends

Review 2016 research list from markets

- Animal Derby

- Enamel Pins

- What else?

Christmas 2018

- Prints

- Pins

- Toys

- Illustrated Book?

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​

​

Online

&

Stores

​

​

Christmas 2017

​

​

​

Marketing

- Portfolio

- Biz Cards

Curate a “Handshake” List

Freelance Cheat Sheet

How to Outreach

Push Word of Mouth

Establishing a Look

from practice for boutique illustration and animation

Continue to approach “other” freelance as a reg talent to make it Primary Source of Income

Find

A Mentor

Work Vacations

in Montreal + London.

Do “handshakes” & make connections abroad

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July 24, 2017

Character Dev

Composition�Story Writing�Illustration Aesthetic

​

Research + Dev�Artists To “Steal From”

Shorts

Ocean City

Denise, Her Stories

Travis’ Story

​

Illustration

Sharing

Supplier

Freelancer

2017

2019

Director

Supplier

Working Abroad

Animating in “Modern” Cel

- AE Shape Layers / Holds

- Photoshop Comfortability

- Animate CC

- C4D (Next Season)

​

- Traditional Doodling

- Follow my “Kid Instincts”

Storytelling With A

Purpose

​

Recognition

&

Awards

​

Tips on Freelancing and Business Professionalism

Review 2016 research list from markets

- Animal Derby

- Enamel Pins

- What else?

Holiday 2018

- Prints

- Pins

- Toys

- Illustrated Book?

​

​

​

Online

&

Stores

​

​

Holiday 2017

Maker Festival & Market

​

​

​

Marketing

- Portfolio

- Biz Cards

Curate a “Handshake” List

Freelance Cheat Sheet

How to Outreach

Push Word of Mouth

Establishing a Look

from practice for boutique illustration and animation

Continue to approach “other” freelance as a reg talent to make it Primary Source of Income

Find

A Mentor

Work Vacations

in Montreal + London.

Do “handshakes” & make connections abroad

​

Aug 03, 2017

Character Dev

Composition�Story Writing�Illustration Aesthetic

​

Research + Dev�Artists To “Steal From”

Shorts

Ocean City

Denise, Her Stories

Travis’ Story

​

Illustration

Sharing

Supplier

Freelancer

2017

2019

Director

Working Abroad

Animating in “Modern” Cel

- AE Shape Layers / Holds

- Photoshop Comfortability

- Animate CC

- C4D (Next Season)

​

- Explore style via Procreate

- Follow my “Kid Instincts”

Storytelling With A

Purpose

​

Recognition

&

Awards

​

Tips on Freelancing and Business Professionalism

Review 2016 research list from markets

- Pins

(hijab)

- Posters

Warrior women

Kickstarter

- Hijab Pins, 2nd edition

- Poster Series

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​

​

Marketing

- Portfolio

- Biz Cards

Curate a “Handshake” List

Freelance Cheat Sheet

How to Outreach

Push Word of Mouth

Establishing a Look

from practice for boutique illustration and animation

Continue to approach “other” freelance as a reg talent to make it Primary Source of Income

Find

A Mentor

Work Vacations

in Montreal + London.

Do “handshakes” & make connections abroad

​

Nov 05, 2017

Experiential Workshop

Team up with Hayden to share knowledge and connect with other creatives.

Sharing &

Experiential

Various Experiential

-Possible ideas to continue with more workshops

- Collaborate with OKppl on events

​

Character Dev

Composition�Story Writing�Illustration Aesthetic

​

Research + Dev�Artists To “Steal From”

Shorts

Connectivity

Missed Connections

Travis’ Story

​

Illustration

Sharing

Artist &

Supplier

Freelancer

2018

2019

Director

Working Abroad

Animating in “Modern” Cel

- AE Shape Layers / Holds

- Photoshop Comfortability

- Animate CC / Rough Animator

- C4D (Next Season)

- Mixed Media / Collage / Tactile

​

- Explore style via Procreate

- Follow my “Kid Instincts”

Storytelling With A

Purpose

​

Recognition

&

Awards

​

Tips on Freelancing and Business Professionalism

Kickstarter

- Hijab Pins, 2nd edition

- Poster Series

​

​

​

Curate a “Handshake” List

Freelance Cheat Sheet

How to Outreach

Push Word of Mouth

Establishing a Look

from practice for boutique illustration and animation

Continue to approach “other” freelance as a reg talent to make it Primary Source of Income

Find

A Mentor

Work Vacations

in Montreal, New York & London.

Do “handshakes” & make connections abroad

​

Jun 27, 2018

Skillshare

Goal Mapping

Other Technical and Biz related subjects

Sharing

Supplementary Income

- To allow time off to work on finishing shorts.

- To fund shorts.

Approach

High End

Production Studios

Rounded work to finally compete!

Art made from

C4D, PS, Mixed Media

Short Ideas

- Missed Connections

- Covid Dating

- Reddit Posts

- Customer Reviews

​

Developing

My Aesthetic

Freelancer

2021

2023

Full Time

Director

Working Abroad

Animating in “Modern” Cel

- AE Shape Layers / Holds

- Photoshop Comfortability

- Animate CC / Rough Animator

- C4D

- Using IRL materials / digital but tactile

- Blender for mixing 2D + 3D

​

Get paid:�- to Direct full time

- for my Design Sensibilities

- for my “illustration” look

​

​

- Curate a “Handshake” List

- Freelance Cheat Sheet

- How to Outreach

- Push Word of Mouth

Continue to approach “other” freelance as a reg talent to make it Primary Source of Income

Work Vacations

- Montreal�- New York�- London

- Do “handshakes” & make connections abroad

​

Dec 17, 2020

Directorial Work

Sharing

Combine 2D + 3D look

- World Building

- Human Element / Stories

- Sets in 3D / Handmade / Diorama

- 2D Characters / Cel Animated or Ref’d

- Illustrative / Based on 2D drawn Refs

Tips on Freelancing, Goal Mapping,�Biz Practices

Creating these for IG, but to really develop my aesthetic.

Create GIFS

- Less work, high impact

- Edit together to finish shorts

- Can stay as GIFS if short folds

- Continue to practice direction

​

Submit for Recognition

- ADC Young Guns 2020

- Vimeo Staff Pick

- Motionographer

- Pictoplasma

- Festival Screening(?)

- Gain “general work” through recognition

- Get an in with other cool studios, finally

​

Find A Mentor

- Strange Beast (producers)

- Other Directors(?)

Complete 2 major shorts

Developing what worked with

missed connections

Short Ideas

- Luke Reece “Rose”

- Emancipation Day�Aba Amuquandoh

​

​

Developing

My Aesthetic

2022

2023

Full Time

Director

Illo Rep

Get paid:�- to Direct full time

- for my Design Sensibilities

- for my “illustration” look

​

​

Nov 30, 2021

Directorial Work

NFTs

Combine 2D + 3D look

- World Building

- Human Element / Stories

- Sets in 3D / Handmade / Diorama

- 2D Characters / Cel Animated or Ref’d

- Illustrative / Based on 2D drawn Refs

Chess

Mountz

​

Low Fidelity �2D characters, high volume

Create GIFS (Strange Beast advice)

- Less work, high impact

- Edit together to finish shorts

- Can stay as GIFS if short folds

- Continue to practice direction

​

Submit for Recognition

- Vimeo Staff Pick

- Motionographer

- Pictoplasma

- Festival Screening(?)

Complete 2 major shorts

Developing what worked with

missed connections

High Fidelity�3D characters, 1:1s

Blender 3D

Spark AR

Marvelous Designer

Use Mixamo for quickies

Character Illustrator

- Use the momentum from the Google Avatar, Humanity and Dundas Lights characters

Create a lookbook

World Building

Get approached / reach out

Topology & animation

PBR + Lighting Realism

3D looks 2D

Short Ideas

- Neil Degrasse Tyson

- Emancipation Day�Aba Amuquandoh

​

​

Developing

My Aesthetic

2022

2023

Full Time

Director

Illo Rep

Get paid:�- to Direct full time

- for my Design Sensibilities

- for my “illustration” look

​

​

Nov, 2022

Directorial Work

Illustration

Combine 2D + 3D look

- World Building

- Human Element / Stories

- Sets in 3D / Handmade / Diorama

- 2D Characters / Cel Animated or Ref’d

- Illustrative / Based on 2D drawn Refs

Chess Checkmates

Humans

Mountz

​

Low Fidelity �2D characters, high volume

Create GIFS (Strange Beast advice)

- Less work, high impact

- Edit together to finish shorts

- Can stay as GIFS if short folds

- Continue to practice direction

​

Submit for Recognition

- Vimeo Staff Pick

- Motionographer

- Pictoplasma

- Festival Screening(?)

Complete 2 major shorts

Developing what worked with

missed connections

High Fidelity�3D characters, 1:1s

Blender 3D

Substance / Procreate

Marvelous Designer

Use Mixamo for quickies

Character Illustrator

- Use the momentum from the Google Avatar, Humanity and Dundas Lights characters

Create a lookbook

World Building

Get approached / reach out

Topology / animation

PBR + Lighting Realism

3D looks 2D

Spark AR

​

Hope this has been

helpful, and good luck

on your journey!

​

Love, Patrick Dias

And if you have any advice, feedback, thoughts and additions

you think would help others shoot me a message!

I’d love to add your knowledge and expertise to open-source our collective growth.

Guestbook

Leave a note for future you, for other travellers, curious eyes, or just for the fun of it.

​

Just right-click on the page and hit “comment”.

v 1.1

• Holly Szczypka - addition of breaking goals into tangible activities on a really short scale, either with daily activities, or even short project sprints.
• Leanne Macaspac - Identifying error in mind mapping sequence that is now fixed. Don’t mind map before reading all rules.