Thanks for stopping by April. I’m not sure there is an easy answer to your question, but for whatever it’s worth, I can share a few ideas with you. To me the way that “creative goals” differ from “professional goals” is that creative goals are more a measurement of progression in your art. That trial and error type of growth that comes from experience. I’m not sure that it’s necessarily something that can be measured, which is one way that they may differ from professional goals. To me professional goals would be something like landing a certain job, selling a piece of your work, publishing a book, getting 1,000 followers on Twitter, or whatever. These all can be measured, which is why we like them. We can see what we’ve done and then we can check it off our goal list. Creative goals aren’t really like that, however, because we can’t ever really finish them. We are constantly evolving as creative artists, we are constantly learning new things and new techniques, and we are not the same person we were yesterday. So have we changed? Of course. Can you accurately measure that and put it on a resume? Probably not.

Creative growth, unlike professional goals, is a type of internal growth. It’s kind like spiritual growth. How do you accurately measure spiritual growth? For example a musician may be able to accurately play the notes on the page and still miss the spirit of the piece. It’s a subtle difference but it’s there. They may be able to teach you the skills and techniques of your art, but they cannot necessarily teach you how to connect with your art and empathize with your audience. That is the x-factor in art and it is also what separates the good from the great. I suppose you could say that your professional goals are mile markers along the way — signposts of your progress on your creative journey. They are not necessarily the same thing, but they are a reflection and a validation of your creative goals.

Hope that helps :)