When someone posted on the Another Girl at Play Discussion List that they had just gone freelance and were in need of some advice, I had a small offering. I think it’s valid advice for anyone and something that I believe works based on experience. So here’s what I shared with her:
While the formula for success is simple (belief + action = success), it’s the following up that is often hard. So many people get caught up in their fears or in limiting themselves with their beliefs that they are not able to do anything and therefore can’t get anywhere. Instead of taking their beliefs and moving forward with action, they run on the same treadmill propelled by self-sabatoge, excuses, fears, bad beliefs. These people generally have lots of great ideas but little to show for it. They need to step off the treadmill, think about their beliefs and then follow up with action. But the trick is not to just believing anything and doing everything but instead really understanding your beliefs (both personal and professional) and taking actions that match. That is why it is so important to really take the time to really understand what you believe about yourself, your work, and your life.
Ask yourself, what do you believe is your value? What do you believe you are entitled to? What do you believe you can accomplish? What do you believe you can do? What do you believe your future holds? What to you believe is your benefit to others? What do you believe is in you that needs to come out? And your beliefs need to come from your core, your gut, your soul and not from what you’ve read, have been told by your family or media or the part of the brain that makes you rationalise away what your heart is saying. It is important to note that beliefs are very, very different than wants. You can want something but if you don’t truly believe it, no amount of action can manifest it. And ideas are very, very different than action. If you have lots of great thoughts but take not even one little action, you’ll always be standing in the same place. So always be very careful and conscious about what you believe and the actions you take. If you don’t believe you can do more than struggle, guess what, that’s what you’ll manifest. If you believe artists starve, you will manifest that. If you don’t believe you can do anything, you won’t.
Be mindful of the language you use; instead of staying, “I’ll never have an art career like so and so” say “I’m going to have a great career that I’m working on right now”. Also, don’t ever play yourself or abilities down. I find a lot of artists almost apologise for what they’re doing or their talents so people don’t “hate” them. These same artists are almost always struggling and tend to feel guilty for a life they’ve worked very hard for. It is very important to stand up for yourself because if you keep yourself down, no one will want to help you stand up. Don’t undersell yourself. Really define your worth. Be conscious of who you are, what you’re doing, where you want to go long term. And by taking action accordingly, things will fall into place. You don’t have to have all the answers or money right now or with each step but you do have to have a strong belief system and the desire for action.
The one last thing I would offer is to enjoy your work as you can but if you find down the line it turns out not to be what you thought or it isn’t working the way you want to not get stuck on a path just because you think you have to. Success is also based on happiness and so sometimes one has to be flexible in their ideas to keep achieving success instead of holding tight to something that’s not working. If you start out as a artist that works from home but one day decide you’d rather teach art to school children or you begin as a writer and then want to become a photographer, do it. Don’t stick to a title, habit or idea that no longer works. Art and soul are so connected and both should constantly evolve so let them affect each other. Change is not only OK, it’s natural and important.
