Do you think Picasso, Dali or Rembrandt set their goals every year?..day? Hard to imagine Mozart's quill leaping across music sheets because he felt a need to achieve a gold star in his planner. Are goals then silly for artists? This is fodder for a PHD thesis "Art as a goal". I imagine most of us think of creativity and mark making as a way of being. The art flows from our inner being. Well Anthony Trollope the Great English Novelist got into a heap of trouble when he revealed in his autobiography that he set a goal of 3000 words before lunch. Each day. The 19th century English reading public was appalled at the workman-like approach. Art was to be "inspired" and "come naturally". How pedestrian to set a word count.
And yet the great Masters of the Renaissance churned out Sarofim and cherubins in sweatshops as apprentices. Part of the training. Part of the 10,000 hours if you will.
The greatest Master of them all - Rubens. His paintings are full of energy and panache. Museums throughout the world display acres and acres of Rubens paintings. From genetically challenged royalty to tubby matrons to sublime alter pieces. That man churned it out. Though he had a LOT of help. He had a workshop, and he was the ultimate step in an otherwise crowded assembly line. Rubens had to have had goals. The shop foreman must have been under intense pressure to keep the line moving. And the result? Acres and acres of beauty. No happy little trees for him his art is for the ages. But it was "assembled". And Rubens got rich,
So back to the world we know...I point you finally to this list by an artist I admire:
7 Artistic Goals You Can Set (and Achieve) ! | Angela Fehr Watercolour
I especially like number 4. Fail. The one and only goal an artist needs in 2021. Fail. Exceed your reach and learn from those failures. Get better.
Good luck.