I think it would be great if there were an active thread/facebook group/instagram-twitter hashtag of people who are active here and working on improving their artistic skills.
I've been a member of CG Cookie since Oct 2017. Here I am 16 months later and I still have the ambition to get good at blender. I tried to get some of my friends and family into it but that didn't pan out. I've tracked my the time I have spent learning blender for a year. In 2018 I averaged 13.5 hours a month with the high being January at 41 hours, and the low being August with half an hour.
One positive from 2018 was I started attending the gym reguarly, the reason was I joined a class and got a personal trainer who inadvertently introduced me to all the gym regulars. When I thought about taking a day off I knew that so and so would know and ask why I had missed a day and because I had no legitimate reason for skipping I knew I'd feel embarrassed saying "I didn't feel like coming." I think implementing a similar strategy would be effective in increasing my practice time with blender along with fellow CG cookie members.
This year I've started off strong putting in 70 hours so far in January. I want to continue the momentum but I find myself struggling with psychological barriers that minimize/prevent me from working on blender such as today.
From reading various self-help/improvement books and reading about famous successful people one recurring theme is no one does it alone. I on the other hand I have thus far been doing this on my own and i'm not progressing as quickly as I'd like and I know it is because I'm wasted time.
I think a great solution to this would be a specific thread on CG Cookie or say a facebook group and it would also be nice if once a week or so the group would get together for a conference call or live chat to talk about blender and to talk about other stuff so that we build the personal connections that help us get through the barriers that hold us back.
If such a group already exists I would appreciate it if someone could point me in their direction, otherwise I hope I'm not the only one that feels this way.
Are you aware there's a community discord? Maybe you can find some people there to help keep you motivated and share work there. You could also make a Polybook to here to post your work and get some feedback.
Great idea, so everyone who wants, can start to stimulate each-other.
TIP-1: If your learning is not fueled by anything else then pure passion and enthusiasm,
that fact alone can result in some progress fluctuations. Here is a nice motivational story - can be found over here:
Beeple - the website of Mike Winkelmann
TIP-2: Do it for yourself and yourself alone.
No further explanation needed right?
TIP-3: What has helped me, is to set a BIGGER then yourself goal and learn master every aspect of Blender,
Here on CGCookie but also from other places on the Internet. The Web is literally loaded with Free/payware Blender knowledge , communities, website, tutorials, ebooks to help you achieve every single Blender goal you set yourself.
Here is an example of my own motivational story (which I hope, will in-spire you too)
A - My own YF16 Prototype WIP thread on FsDeveloper
B - My own "YF16 building progress show-case" on Flickr
Enjoy the images and motivational story behind it