Are you an "I'm gonna" artist or an "I did" artist? (Updated 2026)

One of the things I’ve learned about myself over the years is I can create all kinds of stuff that never sees the light of day e.g. it sits in my house, on my computer, in storage, or only as a half-completed creative project. I think it's one of the vices of being a creative. We have so many ideas and projects we're gonna publish, gonna paint, gonna film, or gonna present to the world that we forget the most important thing: TO ACTUALLY DO IT! It's always a thing of this year, next month, or in 2027. Those who are creative like myself can fully relate to the multiple projects laying around that were supposed to be finished, supposed to be published, supposed to be made, supposed to be ( fill in the blank).

Then I read a book that changed how I approach my creative projects.

About fifteen years ago, I purchased a phenomenal book called The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. The idea of being an entrepreneur with my career and doing it all in only four hours a week fascinated me. While I realized the idea of four hours per week did not fit my creative career logistically, the book presented a way in which I could complete things; things I was gonna do. Up until I read Ferris' book, I was the "I'm gonna" type of artist. I had some publishing success as a writer, but it didn't really click for me until I read Ferris' book. That's when my mindset on creating changed.

I was still a creative. Still living in an organized mess. Still loving my unconventional mind. Still working on projects. Except, I was now completing them. I was actively engaging myself in my creative career and not being an "I'm gonna" bystander.

In The Four Hour Work Week, Tim Ferris strongly encourages goal setting and completion. He emphasizes much more in this book of entrepreneurship; however, the one that really stuck with me was setting goals. Not just any goals. Effective goals. Goals that will get my projects from idea to creation to finished in the public eye. Ferris breaks the goals into increments: 12 month and 6 month. I have twelve month and six month goals. In particular, I prefer working in six month increments. These goals are flexible, though, depending on the project. Sometimes, projects require more time than six months and flexibility is a key component. Flexible doesn't mean I leave my projects to collect dust, though. Flexible means they get pushed back another month or two to finish them.

So, what does this mean for me as a writer? Better yet, what does it look like?

Since reading and rereading Ferris' book a number of times, and applying the goal concept to my life, I have actively published every year in some way, shape, or form since 2011. Fifteen years of pounding the metaphorical and literal pavement. Am I famous? No. I think if any artist is only an artist for the fame aspect, then they're seriously missing the key point of what art is here to do. Rather, I'm more interested in saying "Yes, I published my 2nd edition of my poetry collection in 2020."..."Yes, I was published in the poetry book Mirrored Voices in 2016." ..."Yes, I was published in The Remembered Arts Journal in 2017." ... "Yes, I was published in Creative Wisconsin Magazine Spring 2026." I am now an "I did" artist rather than an "I'm gonna" artist.

Getting to that point wasn't easy for me. It took, and still takes, a lot of commitment on my part. While I am more of a write on the fly type of writer rather than a get up and write every day writer, I still need to make a commitment to my craft. All of my projects also fall under my overall career goal as a writer. My 12-month committed goal to myself is to be published once every year. The word published is also fluid. I look at it as all of my creative projects. If I have one creative projects published, accepted, displayed, etc, I have achieved my yearly creative goal. Then, under that yearly goal umbrella lies all my six month goals which will help me achieve that outcome.

For example, I am currently working on my next poetry project slated for publication in 2027. I need to create at least 20-25 poems for that project plus include visual art which means setting time aside (around my many schedules) to work on poems, editing, formatting, and getting visual art permission. In addition to my next poetry collection, I am also working on film projects, actively submitting my writing to lit journals, writing and recording songs, and submitting screenplays as well as poetry on film projects to film festivals/contests. I have multiple projects I am working on like any creative does. I'm adding the extra step of putting my work out there. I'm submitting my work on a regular basis - again, around my schedules - to achieve my yearly goal of being published at least once. To do this, I had to make a choice, though. Either I was going to be able to say, "I'm a published writer." or I wasn't. The choice rested, and always does rest, in my own hands. It is important to mention here that being published or not being published is not a moral or ethical issue. Sometimes, humans like to add moral or ethical standards to things that a neither moral nor ethical. It is a personal choice to be a writer who is published or a writer who writes for themselves. A writer who is published is not morally or ethically superior to the writer who isn't published. Likewise, a writer who chooses not to publish is not morally or ethically superior to a writer who is published. Rather than get dogmatic on things like this, it is far more important to focus on your end goal. Ultimately, my encouragement to all writers, to all creatives is to take that next step, especially if you want it.

Here is my challenge to you

For those who keep saying that they want their writing to be published, I have a challenge for you. Where do you sit in your artistry? Are you an "I'm gonna" artist, or an "I did" artist? It's an important decision to make because only one of them allows you to say, "I am a published_____" or "I did_______".

Source: Ferriss, T. (2009). 4-hour workweek, expanded and updated: Expanded and updated, with over 100 new pages of cutting-edge content. Random House US.