Identify 1-3 of the most successful, enjoyable and/or fulfilling projects you’ve been a part of in your life. These don’t have to be art-related and you determine what “successful”, “enjoyable” and/or "fulfilling" means to you.
Reflect on each project and answer the following questions for each:
What made it so successful/enjoyable/fulfilling?
Who/what was involved?
What made you decide to do it in the first place?
What were the challenges and how did you choose to handle them?
What were the outcomes?
What did you learn from the experience?
Now list 1-3 of the least successful, least enjoyable and/or least fulfilling projects you’ve been a part of. These also do not have to be art-related.
Reflect on each project and answer the following questions for each:
What made this project so unsuccessful/un-enjoyable/un-fulfilling?
What/Who was involved?
What made you decide to do the project to begin with?
What were the challenges and how did you choose to handle them?
What were the outcomes?
What did you learn from the experience?
Compare and contrast your reflections on the fulfilling projects with those of the unfulfilling ones. How are they different? Notice any trends or patterns?
Use these reflections to come up with your criteria. It’s usually helpful to create “If” statements. For example, if you notice that you chose many of your un-successful projects, solely because they paid well, or if they were problematic because there was never any contract between the parties involved, then your criteria for refusal could be:
“If I’m JUST doing it for the money”or
“If the other parties involved are unwilling to have/sign a contract”
Most projects won’t hit every criteria and many will have a combination of reasons to accept and refuse. It’s all about weighing these against one another.
It’s also important to note that this criteria will change as you, your career, and your priorities do.
Finally, there will always be exceptions - projects that hit every criteria for success and yet still end up a hot mess, and projects with a bunch of red flags that still, somehow, end up working out. But I have found over time that having some criteria has allowed me to be more focused, effective and happy about what you are doing.