Tag: tips

Conquer your Warhammer backlog with SMART Goals
If you apply SMART goals to your hobby, you can paint more Warhammer minis, achieve more … and therefore be happy 😛

My goal as a hobbyist usually goes like this: “I want to paint more Warhammer”.

The problem is that it’s generic and a big task which can feel overwhelming and unachievable – killing my motivation.

What does ‘paint more miniatures’ mean? …that I want to paint more.

Ok, but when will I have achieved this?…. I don’t know!

Exactly.

What are SMART goals?

You gotta start somewhere..

SMART goals are generally used in a professional environment to set up tasks and achieve targets. The word “SMART” is an acronym, let’s break it down with an example.

S: Specific

A goal needs to be specific. What exactly do you want to achieve? No vague answers! If you want to paint more miniatures, try to specify what you would like to paint. Is it Warhammer? Maybe an indie wargame you wanted to try for a while? An example for me would be:

Example: I want to paint my Gloomspite Gitz army.

M: Measurable

The goal needs to be measured. This way you’ll know when it is achieved. So how are you going to measure your progress? The number of miniatures you want to paint? How many games you want to play a month? Or even how much time you will spend painting a week.

Example: I am going to paint two units of Stabbas to add to my Gloomspite Gitz army.

A: Achievable

Set a realistic goal that can be achieved. Painting a whole army from scratch is counter productive as its such a large task. The goal should be challenging but attainable.

In our example 2 units of Stabbas might be too much, so let’s update it.

Example: I am going to paint one unit of Stabbas to add to my Gloomspite Gitz army.

R: Relevant

Start by asking yourself why you are doing it. Why are you setting the goal?

Maybe you need that unit painted for the next tournament. Or you have a game planned and you want to show off with a fully painted army. Maybe you want to practice a specific army list, or you simply want to have fun!

Example: I am going to paint one unit of Stabbas to add to my Gloomspite Gitz army, because I have a specific list that I want to try out and I don’t want to play with any gray plastic.

T: Time-bound

The goal needs to be achieved by a certain time. Setting a deadline helps with keeping an eye on progress to make sure you finish on time. Having no deadlines, especially for a hobby, means that its easy to let it drift.

When I signed up to a Warhammer tournament I had a hard deadline to get my army painted. I can tell you, that really put me into gear!

Example: I am going to paint one unit of Stabbas in two weeks to add to my Gloomspite Gitz army, because I have a specific list that I want to try out and I don’t want to play with any gray plastic.

Bit by bit the backlog is conquered

SMART goals and the hobby

With the definition of SMART goals out of the way, how can we apply them to Warhammer and miniature painting?

Quantity-based goals

I like to break down the goal by quantity. How many miniatures I will paint, how many games I’ll play. Basically anything that I can count! See above for an example quantity-based SMART goal.

Time-based goals

The first time I used SMART goal in the hobby, I actually used time. I didn’t have a tournament or game to prepare for, I simply wanted to spend more time painting.

“I want to paint my Gloomspite Gitz army for at least 30 minutes two times a week.”

This goal is specific, because the goal is to paint Gitz. It’s measurable, as it’s 30 minutes. It’s achievable, because half an hour is not a long time. It’s also relevant because it’s part of my army collection. And it’s time-bound because the goals has to be completed within the week.

Conclusion – SMART goals and Warhammer hobby

And some great results too!

SMART goals are a really powerful tool at your disposal and you should definitely give it a go. By applying them to your miniature painting hobby, you’ll have no problem smashing through your pile of plastic.

Here’s a quick definition reference for SMART goals:
- S – Specific
- M – Measurable
- A – Achievable
- R – Relevant
- T – Time-bound
And there you have it. SMART goals in the hobby, go forth and paint all your Warhammer! Let me know how it goes!
March 23, 2025
The ONE secret to paint more minis. How to keep your Warhammer motivation
Painting Warhammer is a lot of work. Let’s face it: you have to build the thing, then paint the thing. And that can take a lot of time and energy. Sometimes I find this overwhelming. It’s really hard and it’s way easier to buy more minis. It’s easy for me to lose my Warhammer motivation and it’s difficult to find it again. I want to paint more minis, not buy more minis.

Last week I really wanted to paint something. I had a free evening after work and my wife was looking after the baby. I had the time, I had the space. But I didn’t have the motivation to get started. After much tribulation, I cleared my desk. I set my paint station in order. That alone really made me want to put brush to hand and get painting!

So what do I do when I lose my hobby mojo? In this article I’ll try to explain my method. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to implement! I call it the Paint The Boot method.

Motivation is a lie

The first thing to understand and keep in mind is that motivation is a trap. Motivation is a fickle lady. See, you can’t really rely on it when you need it, because it’s not always there.

It’s an emotion that tends to always run away the moment you have time to hobby! It happens to me all the time. Picture this.

It’s a Sunday afternoon, I’m free from chores and I can do whatever I want. Result? I just watch TV all afternoon. When evening comes around, I’m frustrated. I haven’t done anything meaningful with the time I was given. Yes, well said Gandalf. I was waiting for motivation to arrive and do some hobbying, but it never showed up.

How to keep your Warhammer motivation up?

Cheeky photo of my collection, too much Warhammer?

The secret here is that you can create motivation yourself instead. No need to wait around – just go and do it. The phrase that I really like to remind myself is this one:

Activation comes before motivation.

That’s right, you have to kick yourself into gear first, then motivation will arrive!

My trick for this is to limit my expectation to only do one very small thing. I call this the “Paint The Boot” method.

The “Paint The Boot” method and how it can help you paint more minis

The name of the method should already tell you all that you need to know. Just Paint The Boot!

By setting my expectations low, I can just focus on one small thing which is really easy to achieve. This way I’ll get my dopamine hit as soon as I finish painting the thing I set to paint. This kickstarts the motivation I need to carry on!

For me, this looks like painting one boot on one miniature. I sit myself to the desk, then force myself to paint this one boot. After that’s done, I want to go ahead and paint the other boot. Then I’ll finish the trousers. And so on…

And just like that my 10 minutes painting session becomes a 2-hours one!

Adapt the Paint the Boot method to your needs

A little peak at (part of !) my backlog, will I paint all the minis?

Now, the method states to Paint A Boot. However, you don’t have to be so restrictive with this method. You can adapt it to better suits your needs. In fact, you don’t even have to paint anything. As long as you sit down and do something with your hobby, you are winning already.

Here are a few example variations of my method and how I like to change it up to keep me motivated and paint more minis:
- Tidy up the hobby space. This is a great one if you are feel sluggish. It helps a lot when feeling burnt down as you don’t have to paint anything. Just make your hobby space nice and tidy.
- Build a model. Again, this is a great one to get a break from painting. I really enjoy building minis because I don’t really need to think about it, I just do it.
- Prime minis. I like this one because it really quick! if you have a spray can you can do it in no time. Personally I enjoy using my airbrush for this because, like building miniatures, you don’t really have to think. It’s just one colour!
- Build list for your army. This one is awesome because it hypes me up to get a whole army ready to go.
- Play a game. Nothing better than rolling dice and smash your friends with a fully painted collection. This will absolutely make you want to get to the painting desk!
As you can see you can adapt and change it up as you like. Let me know how you adapt this method to your needs. Always happy to hear how others keep their Warhammer motivation.

Bring back your Warhammer motivation and paint more minis!

So remember, the key here is to nudge yourself to start. This will create a landslide motivation loop that will keep you going without even realising it! You’ll even finish your entire army this way.

What about you? Do you agree with my Paint The Boot method? Maybe you have another way to overcome the lack of hobby motivation? Let me know in the comments! Until next time

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November 26, 2024
How to be consistent with Warhammer
We all love painting minis. We all love buying them as well. So with a mountain of minis slowly growing in the comfort of your home, how can you be consistent with painting on a regular basis?

In this article I’ll go through my thought process on how to be consistent and I will show you what I have found that works for me. So strap in, grab a warm beverage and enjoy. I’m about to change your life.*

* Please note this blog may not change your life.

How to be consistent – my mindset

It’s true, it is hard work sometimes. I consistently failed at being consistent with painting my minis. Year on year I would tell myself “ok, this is it, 2 hours of painting a day”. And then fail. Ok let’s try something else: “30 minutes a day then!”. Guess what. I would keep that up for a week at best and then quickly end up in a slump and not touch the brush for months. Then January would come around, and with that new resolutions and dreams.

You get the gist. What I’m saying is that I would go down too deep too early. Most importantly I was expecting too much of myself.

There are lots of videos on youtube on the matter… but not many struck a cord with me. One which did, and is one of my favourites, is Eons of Battle one where they talk about dealing with burnout.

So where do I stand now?

Motivation is not enough.

You heard that right folks. Motivation is a myth. I have lost track of all the times I said to myself “I’m not feeling it today, maybe tomorrow”.

The result being that I wouldn’t do any hobby for months. Last time I stopped, I didn’t do anything for almost six months. And don’t get me started on how hard it was to get back into it! Why is that? Because my motivation was b*llsh*t, pardon my French.

Bottom line: don’t wait for motivation to come to you. It might never do.

But passion, man

The hobby is always full of people with passion. Passion equals motivation for many, but not everybody. Sometimes passion is also thought essential in places like your workplace and your job:

“AAA looking for passionate ice cream scoopers!” “Are you passionate about photocopying books all day?” “Join our most passionate packaging peas team!” “Are you passionate about making other people passionate?” Give me a break.

Ok, rant over. What I’m saying is that passion is not enough for everyone, not even in our hobby. I have spent months waiting for passion to kick in. Fair to say it didn’t work. If anything, the more I was waiting the less inclined I was about doing anything.

How to be consistent – The “Do Something” law

Nike says it all the time: “Just do it”. And I kind of hate it. It’s such a superficial way to force someone to keep it up, whatever that is. But as much as I hate the advert, it’s kind of true. After you have planned how to paint a whole army, it’s time to get cracking, but how to be consistent at it?

In his “Subtle art of not Giving a F*ck” book (I highly recommend a read!) the author Mark Manson comes up with the Do Something law.

The idea behind the Do Something Law is that when you feel stuck, or don’t know where to start, at least do something. So for instance if you don’t quite know how to paint this ork boy, perhaps start looking at some basing material for example.

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Activation comes before Motivation

Therefore, if it’s something you enjoy, just start even if you are not feeling it. Use my Paint The Boot method, build one mini. Just spill a bunch of argrax wash on the table if you have to!

You’ll see that even just the act of setting up your painting station will stir something up in your belly, filling you up with that fuzzy warm feeling of being back. You got this.

And so here comes the ultimate truth:

Activation comes before motivation.

How does it work? Here is a real life example:
- Me: “meh, not feeling it today, it’s been a long day in work and I’m tired”
- Other me: “ok cool, that’s fair enough mate”
- Me: “let me sit on my ass all evening”
- Other Me again: “yea sure, but we could do a little bit of painting right?” *Goes upstairs*
- Me: *sits at hobby desk*
- Me: “alright Other Me, well played. I’m here now, might as well grab a brush”
- Other Me: “yea I know, right? Let’s paint the teeth on this Squig, why don’t we?”
- Me: “sure why not, I’m here after all”
- Few hours later
- Me: “dude that’s awesome, the teeth are looking dope. Might try the base next!”
- Other Me: “yea mate, well done”
- Fin.
So essentially, as much as possible try to get the ball rolling even with the smallest of tasks, and it’ll kickstart motivation – just try it out!

Don’t skip twice

Yep, try not to skip a session twice. And with it I mean don’t let too much time pass between hobby sessions.

I don’t know about you, but if I go for a big chunk of time without hobbying, then the “idea” of it becomes a burden, and I get stressed. It’s almost like it becomes this scary thing that is impossible to do. The more time that passes, the more difficult an activity it becomes.

For this reason, I try not to let too much time pass between sessions. This way the “hobby monster” stops growing in my head and it is simpler to get started each time. Hence the don’t skip twice rule.

It is obvious that life will get in the way, so of course don’t beat yourself up if something comes up and you can’t hobby. Just remember this and come back to it whenever you get the chance – maybe paint a tooth?

So as much as possible, don’t let too much time pass between your painting sessions. But don’t be harsh on yourself if you skip for whatever reason. Next time go sit down, grab a brush and off you go.

How to be consistent in the hobby – Conclusion

And so there you have it. That’s my secret method. If you are asking yourself how to be consistent, just remember this:

Activation comes before motivation.

Just Do Something.

Don’t skip twice.

This entails to just get going even when you are not feeling it, because the drive will kick in as soon as you start 🙂 as a matter of fact I just did some painting before sitting down to write this and I really wasn’t in the mood for it.

Please let me know in the comments how you are consistent with your hobby, I’d be thrilled to read your thoughts and process!

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December 9, 2022