What is My Personal Clarity of Purpose?

by Greg Vineyard –

Well, another calendar year is wrapping-up – it seems like just yesterday I was standing in line to see the first Star Wars movie, and now so much time has passed that both Han Solo and I have AARP cards.

As time – in any universe real or imagined – marches on, we’ve hit that collective zone of pondering what a fresh year may hold for each of us.

Of course, the term “resolution” has several different meanings, depending on whom you ask. In addition to our annual societal exercise about wishes, dreams, reality and denial, for graphic artists and printers this word evokes viewing and reproduction efficiency of files at various sizes for varying final uses. Raw files, pixels, lines-per-inch, dots-per-inch and more. For arbitrators, it’s about bringing a discussion to a final agreement between parties. And then it can also be about accepting the terms, whether or not everything went their way.

And, after hauling out the ginormous Webster’s one more time this year, one can add that there are also definitions related to legislative voting, music, optics and medicine. Whew! But, then again, it is the heaviest dictionary in the world because it contains so many words. (For example, under “lifting weights”, all one sees is … a picture of this very dictionary.) Mostly, though, the general populace associates “resolution” with personal resolve as we greet each New Year.

In my world, I am determined to See, Hear, Feel, Explore and Create more. And this is not just in my art world. Thinking about these topics and how I am living within them also helps in my personal and working life areas, too. Even an office spreadsheet can be a masterpiece – or at the very least a document one is super-satisfied with – if I keep in mind its purpose and usefulness.

If it’s for internal project tracking, it doesn’t need to be pretty. If customers are going to see it, it must transform their lives. OK, kidding – but it does need to instill confidence on multiple fronts.

Some questions one can ask in relation to seeking one’s personal clarity of purpose:

What percentage of what I’m doing today do I LIKE to do? Do I know WHY I like certain things?

Do I have meaningful activities in my life that both balance-against and inform other areas of my life? What are a couple key topics that might fit this concept?

What are some well-supported, consistent themes about which I feel a gut-level solidity? Am I engaged with these topics, or are they currently just on a To Do List?

Do I adapt and learn as the world and my personal situations change? What could I be more open to?

These are just initial prompts – most folks have their own variations of these types of questions to help with some serious personal musing. And there’s lots of coaching out there for folks who want professional questions to help them drill-down some more. It took me years to fully realize how much I enjoy business and teams, even though it has been a large part of my working career since the very first internship.

I think folks can learn core things about themselves much earlier than I have, as there are more tools available now than ever for self-reflection and self-improvement.

While many opt to not actively write down resolutions in a formal way, the related exercise of goal-setting can be a useful activity anytime throughout the year. What do you hope to do in your art and working life? What do you wish to become to yourself and to others before this topic officially rolls around again at this time next year?

Many of the definitions of “resolution” conceptually overlap a bit, outlining our opportunities for clarity on several levels, This results in not only more aesthetic pursuits, but also more efficiency everywhere, thanks to developing a precision of intention a bit more tailored to our individual journeys.

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year – and a clear, smooth resolution process all year!