Artistic goals

I ask myself on occasion what my goal is, as an artist.  Do I want to be wealthy (haha), famous, award-winning? Or what?  I always seem to come back to the same answer: I want to produce the best paintings I can and continue to raise the bar so that this year's body of work is better than last year's and next year's will be better still.  To some extent I am able to judge my success based on feedback from my fellow artists, friends, collectors and galleries. But in the long run, I must be my own judge.  I have to be the one who sees room for improvement.  I have to be the one to seek out new skills, new ideas, and new subject matter.  I am the one who has to practice until I get it right.  I have to be the one to take the risk of painting something new or ground-breaking.  And in the end, I have to be the one who likes the result.