Plans vs. Hopes

You plan to start a business.
You hope it'll be wildly successful.

You plan to paint a picture.
You hope a famous curator adds it to a stunning collection.

You plan to write a book.
You hope it'll end up on the New York Times best seller list.

You plan to make necklaces.
You hope a buyer from Neiman Marcus adds them to its jewelry department.

You plan to take a photo.
You hope you get awards for it.

Friends, I've been reminded that we are only able to control our plans, not our hopes. Plans are entirely dependent on our efforts, diligence, and chutzpah. And hope? Well, hope is an aspiration for the future, completely out of our control.

So often as creatives we measure our progress against our hopes. (Why aren't I wildly successful? Why haven't I ended on the New York Times best seller list?) But we cannot control an editor's decisions to pass on our work, nor can we control people buying our handmade necklaces. Yet we beat ourselves up when we don't live up to our hopes.

We berate our efforts because they didn't live up to our imagination.

Please remember: you are responsible to do the work. That's it. Celebrate your accomplishments and finishing what you set out to do. You painted the picture? Good. You wrote the book? Good. You finished what you set out to do…now it's time to continue pushing forward and creating. Hope is a beautiful thing, but don't let your hopes damper the reality of accomplishing what you set out to do.