Professional or Amateur?

The other day I stumbled across a quote that stopped my reading in its tracks. It made such an impression on me that I had to jot it down so I could come back to it later. Now, after reading it again, I made myself take a step back and examine my artistic life and my pursuit of the things that would help me achieve my artistic goals. What is this quote that caused such a stir in me? It said:

"Professionals do things on a schedule, and amateurs do things when it's easy for them or when they feel inspired or motivated to do it." - James Clear

Ouch! Barring health issues, I can see that I have fallen more into the amateur category as I have let my feelings of being inspired (or not) dictate when I would work. Doing that makes it easy to get distracted by errands needing run, family needs taken care of, chores needing done, books to read... I could go on and on. That's not to say that I shouldn't do any of those things, but sometimes some of them can be delegated. I could still do ALL of those things if I felt the need. I just need to be more intentional about how I spend my time. So, to help me get into the habit of thinking and acting more like a professional, I am setting a goal to make a schedule and map out an allotment of time for each "priority" that I need to accomplish in that day, including studio time.

So, I am thankful for coming across that quote. I am thankful that it caused me to reassess where I am and what I'm doing. I'm thankful for getting back on track to being professional.