Stay Motivated Tabletop Warfighter! Be S.M.A.R.T.

Well Tabletop Warfighters, let’s talk about motivation! It is something we have all struggled with from time to time. There have been a lot of studies about motivation, including the “science” behind it, and it can be overwhelming to take it all in, but even more so to drill down on what you can actually do to find motivation and sustain it.  I want to share some ideas and thoughts that I hope will help you get and stay motivated in your hobby goals. 

Stalling out and not making progress in our hobby happens to all of us, and that can be for a number of reasons. So how do we manage that feeling of “am I ever going to achieve this hobby goal?” I have found that there are a few things that have helped me to keep going when it seems that all hope is lost. First, I set clear goals and then I break down my goals into more manageable parts, i.e. get focused and organized about what needs to be achieved to complete the goal.  As part of reaching my subgoals and goals, I find that rewarding myself helps me to stay on track along the way.  Also, community – I cannot stress this enough. Find yourselves a person or group that will support you, encourage you, and walk alongside you as you work towards your hobby goals.  Finally,  always remember to have fun! 

“But Sergeant, where do I start?”  Well, I say let’s get SMART about our goals and that will keep us motivated.  So what does it mean to get SMART about your goals?  “SMART” is an acronym and was created back in 1981 by George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham in their 1981 article “There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management goals and objectives'' - SMART means Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.  Some of you may know about SMART goals and what the terms mean, so lets break them down into terms and ideas that make sense for what we need them for!

First, we need our goal to be specific. Don’t make it vague, it needs to be very detailed or it may be hard to focus on how to get there. An example might be to paint a specific number of models (a squad perhaps), a hero, a terrain piece, or to organize all of our paints so they are easy to find and use. Next, we need to make sure that our goal is measurable – you define what success looks like through quantifiable measurements. You make your specific goal measurable, which allows you to see the progress being made towards your goal.  For example, if your goal is painting a 5-model squad of Orks, painting the faces or painting the weapons on the squad might be one of the ways we can measure how we are moving towards our specific goal of painting the full 5-Ork squad. Tracking your progress is key to keeping your momentum. You will know how you are progressing, and this will push you in the right direction of completing the goal. I find that I always feel some level of achievement when I complete a smaller task within one of my goals.

Now, is your specific goal achievable? You need to look at what it will take to accomplish this goal – time, capacity, resources, constraints.  If we give ourselves the goal to paint an Ork squad containing 10 models, at a parade quality level, with custom bases, and we know it will not really be achievable, with only 2 days to complete the goal, why set ourselves up to fail? The point of creating goals and completing them is to feel a sense of accomplishment which in turn keeps us motivated to keep working on our project to-do list. So, make sure that you are setting a goal that is actually achievable! Next, is it relevant? While getting things done is great, we should make sure that what we’re actively getting done makes sense, especially if we have a long list of projects. For me, I have way too many game systems, some I play and others that I have yet to even look at, but dream of the day that I get to open those boxes I bought years ago so I can build, paint, and play with them.  Does it make sense for me to work on something that I might not use in the near future? Probably not.  So, it’s not really relevant to what is happening with my gaming now.  It makes more sense to complete something that I want to use next week or two for a game. Lastly, we need to put a time constraint on our goal. If you have a deadline, it can be motivating to get it done by a set date. “I want to have this project done by March 15th.” Give yourself a date and plan your steps accordingly!

Now that we know what a SMART goal is, let’s look at two goals and see where they differ. “I want to finish all of my hobby projects before I get to Valhalla.” While wanting to finish all of your projects is a great goal to have, it isn’t really specific, measurable, or relevant in a way that will keep us motivated. It gives us no direction or any way to see where we are in completing that goal. Now, what if the goal is: “I want to have 500 points of Easterlings painted by March 15, 2024 for an event.” This last goal meets all of the requirements for a SMART goal. It is specific, “500 points of Easterlings.” We can break down the goal into many manageable pieces and, for me, is achievable. It is relevant as there is an event coming up to use them in and is time-bound because I put a date on it. So there it is! A SMART goal fit for the hobbyist! Enough of the science stuff and on to more fun things!

There are three other small things that I have found, besides a SMART goal, that are helpful to keep up with motivation; a reward, a supportive community and to just enjoy the process of the hobby journey. 

Every motivator out there wants to get some kind of award for going above and beyond! Everyone has different things that keep them moving and getting a reward motivates some. A day off from work, a bonus or maybe you put in some over time to buy the hobby item you have always dreamed of! These are just a few examples but there are many more. The idea of a reward IS motivating and you should incorporate rewards into your SMART goals.  Give yourself some kind of reward after completing a project. Have a small collection of reward projects for yourself, nothing too crazy that will distract you from your current list but that you really look forward to working on. Now of course this reward idea only works if you actually stick to the process and achieve your goals. If you decide to just get the reward without the work then you’re just building a bad habit. Along with the reward idea, there is nothing better than having a group of people (a community) to share your progress with. You will get encouragement, creative ideas, and just help in general.  I believe that constructive feedback is always a great thing to ask for. You might learn a thing or two from others when asking, which can be very helpful! Following others’ projects can also help to keep you motivated and on track with your projects. 

Finally, have fun…sounds simple right? But, I think often when our projects back up we don’t feel like having fun and it feels much more like dread.  Always remember to have fun with your projects. Yes, sometimes it can feel like work and for some it might actually be, but just think back to why you have this hobby. Enjoy the process of learning new things and ways to improve during your hobby time. Find what works for you to keep you motivated and stick to it. What I am sharing with you is how I tend to look at ways to keep motivated. While I am not always the best at crossing off my project list, I still know what works for me. So, find your motivation and stick to it!

If you got this far…THANK YOU! I have one final thing to leave you with and it’s a BINGO. I set myself up a BINGO card of small goals that I want to achieve this year. It’s free and available for download in my store. It was super easy and pretty straightforward to make. I know there’s a bunch out there but you too can make your own with some goals that you have for the year and cross them off as you go. Crossing off a list can be very motivating and satisfying! If you decide to go with “The Sergeants BINGO,” please tag me in your work as I would love to see your progress!

Stay motivated Tabletop Warfighter! 

Take charge of your gray, carry on with your projects today!

Does a New Year, Really Mean a New Army?

Well Tabletop Warfighters, we are a few weeks into 2024, and, as hobbyists, we all know what that means! It’s time to forget about last year’s unfinished projects and start on our New Year New Army project…or is it? For some of us, probably many of us, when the year comes to a close, the list of unfinished projects tends to be much much longer than our list of completed projects – what we sometimes call “the shelf of shame.”  But, then comes those game companies with new games, new models, new armies, and if you’re like me you want it all.  I get it.  But here’s the thing, your unfinished projects, even if called the “shelf of shame”, are still new, unbuilt, and unplayed.  And, I think we can all satisfy that urge to want all the new hotness by taking the time to dig into those unfinished projects.  Heck, you may even find some treasures you even forgot you had.  So let put a pause on keeping up with what James Workshop has to offer and see what we already have to offer ourselves! Let’s set some new goals and achieve them together.

First, we need to get organized.  I always seem to be the one that keeps tabs open in my head as to what I have on my “to do” list, and there always seem to be just a few projects on my list. However, once I write my list out, I am sure to learn that my list is longer than I imagined. But, once I write it out, I will get to know what I really have on my list that needs to get done -- and that is always a great starting point.

Ok, now that we have our list, we need to prioritize what projects need to get done first or what is most important to you to get done.  This is simply your personal preference. Maybe there is some league play coming up and you want to finish one of your project armies for it.  Or maybe your friends have finally decided to get into the game you’ve been dying to play, or maybe you’re close to finishing up an army and you can knock it out to feel that satisfying sense of accomplishment… “Yes, I did it!” And now that we have our list, we get to work. We will look at tracking and organizing these projects in more depth in the near future. The goal for now is to go through those unfinished projects, find all those hidden gems, get that list organized and start to knock out each project one by one – and I will be right there with you. 

Let’s be real, we all know we are going to get some new stuff – we love the hobby and it’s too hard not to.  You’re probably saying, “wait Sergeant, you just said we shouldn’t buy new stuff and focus on what we have.” True, I did say that. I’m just trying to say that instead of going crazy and buying every army for every game being played at my friendly local game store, if I am to get into a new game, it will only be one army and the aim is to have enough to play an average game. THEN, once the backlog is more manageable, adding a few things here and there for existing games isn’t a problem. The key is getting to a point where our plate isn’t too full.  So, let’s get some stuff done and get it to the table and play!! 

Some of you might be saying, “but Sergeant, I want to collect everything that comes out!” Yeah, me too, believe me, I want it all.  For example, when Marvel Crisis Protocol came out, I bought everything! I mean everything! Every new pack of heroes that came out I was buying and I loved it. So, can you buy everything? Sure! Should you? That depends on how much you want to add to your laundry list of unfinished projects. If you are trying to stop the cycle, only get a few things that you know you want to play and then if you want to complete the collection only add the extras when you find the time to complete them. When it comes to games that have a set release schedule or are more character favored, I try to only get the box of models that I have some attachment to or feel that I would have the most fun playing. If you’re a completist like me then that can be a tough challenge to stop the impulse buying – but it can be done!!

For example, when Star Wars Shatterpoint was announced, I told myself I was not going to get into it – I already had a bunch of different games and models to attend to.  But, I did a demo game and found it fun and interesting. Now, did I go “all in”? No.  I collected a few of the expansions that I thought were cool and be fun to play and I was committed to only getting boxes that I knew I would be building AND playing – no extras, no “all in”.  It made things much more manageable.  And that’s the goal!! So, fear not, it is possible to stop the binge buying cycle so you can get your projects to a more manageable level. So, let’s knock out some of these projects in the pipeline and make things more manageable and less overwhelming – let’s not flood our hobby time and make it more stressful.  Let’s get some projects done and enjoy that other part of the hobby…PLAYING!!  

The overall idea for this year, and really every other year, is that you can be just as happy, as a PFC buying his first car on an 18% interest loan, with the projects that you already have planned to do. You don’t have to keep up with every single game or released miniature, or keep up with the James Workshop across the gaming table from you. Let’s clear out the backlog and enjoy what we have!! And here’s another bonus, we get to keep some money in our pockets instead of giving it away all year to gaming companies. 

Stay motivated Tabletop Warfighter!

Take charge of your gray, carry on with your projects today!