All creativity begins with a plan or an idea. You must have an aim or a goal before you become creative. Talent tends to remain dormant until you build a fire under your creative potential with the motivations arising out of a big goal - or hope.
    Without this goal, ideas and feelings remain diffuse; you will use guesswork, lack purpose in seeing, be less perceptive, and generally miss the "bits" in experience, which your imagination uses in innovating and in the formulation of ideas.
    Planning and developing a goal broadens the visual experience and directs you into those areas that are useful to meet that goal. In this you may learn useful skills in seeing, idea development and brain furnishing.
    All creativity is goal-oriented; you set your own price tags on your efforts by your goal plan. Until you plan, your creative effort will be second best.

Setting your goals in photography isn't all that difficult.

1. Decide what you would really like to do.

2. Determine your objective and actually visualize it in your mind. Picture what you want and the kind of person you want to become. 

3. Get the facts. Get all the facts about what will be required to attain the objective you've determined upon and visualized. The more information you can get on the subject the better.

4. Analyze, evaluate, and group those facts. Try to put them in the logical order of importance of accomplishment. For example, if a person wanted to become a brain surgeon, he wouldn't just start opening up heads; he'd start with a school. Make sure your goal is practical for you. 

5. Set a timetable for the accomplishment of your objective and try to stick to it. Don't let people throw you off the track, or tell you you're wrong. You should know what's right for you...what's right for others is their business.   

6. Next, begin!! Don't just keep talking about it. Do it!! And understand that the time will really never be perfect to start, so start as soon as you're ready.

Be sure your entire plan is written out - a regular blueprint to follow -and you can check, from time to time, to see how you're doing by comparing your progress with your blueprint. 

Finally, stay with it!! Keep your goal firmly fixed in your mind, have faith that you can reach it... and reach it you will.

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