The Unimpressive Secret To Artistic Success

Let's talk about success as an artist for a minute. But before we do, I felt like maybe we should manifest some things. I'm not really a big manifester, but let's, you know, see what we can do here.

So let's talk about the unimpressive secret to artistic success, and it might just be a green screen.

I think artistic success is maybe the hardest because it's so elusive. You know, we hit a certain milestone and it's still not enough. And we're just constantly kind of going for the next thing and the next thing and the next thing. And, you know, my experience is when I was younger, a teenager, I just wanted to be in a touring band and, you know, make that work. And I did that. I was really lucky to do that actually, you know, by the end of it, that wasn't really successful for me anymore. I wasn't getting what I thought I needed. And I think that's what makes it so tough for creatives, because we're problem solvers. I say this all the time, like, if we don't have a problem, we'll create one so that we can solve it. And it makes our career paths and our success this kind of moving target that I'm not sure we ever really fully hit. But today, you know, I have some steps here that I believe is going to help make it more of a blessing than a curse. And this is what I've been working on a lot in my own life. And it's really helped me to feel more at peace with like, just the journey and the process, which is what I think is the most important thing. Also, I do have these notes available, so there's a full blown exercise that you can go through. And the link is in the description below. So feel free to check that out. Absolutely free. Just something I wanted to do. All right. In my mind, there are five steps to artistic success. The first thing is knowing what you want. And I often hear people say, when I ask them this question, more money, more freedom, more time. Those are not real answers. You know, I think it's really important to look and say, well, what would more money give you? Well, it would give me more freedom or more time. Okay, well, what would you do with that freedom or time? Which is really step number two, knowing why you want this thing. So don't only understand what you want, but why do you want it? Simon Sinek talks about this in his TED Talk. Start with why. Totally worth checking out. I'm sure many of you have seen it already, but I'd encourage you to kind of do an exercise, and there's one in here. But, you know, at the very simplest, just ask yourself what you want in your best scenario, and then ask, why, like, five times and see where it takes you. See how deep you can get to where you start to have some sort of emotional or visceral reaction. And that's where you start to find the keys, I think, to the kingdom. And the kingdom may or may not look like what's behind us here. I also love that as I'm taping this, like, I have no idea what's behind me.

That makes me laugh. Step number three is take back control. See if what you really want can be fulfilled faster. So let's say you want to sell more of your artwork so that you have more time to create. Like, do you really need to sell more artwork to be able to have more time to create? Or do you just need to set better boundaries and block off time that nobody can disturb you? Or do you need to consider asking for a raise, even if that's a really challenging conversation to have with your boss? What are some things that when you sort of take off these negative goggles that we constantly have on and say, if the possibilities were endless in this scenario, what would I do differently? How would I approach this? How would I tell my best friend to approach this if they were, you know, going through a similar situation? From here, it's just about learning and putting in the work. And, you know, that's easier said than done, right? Resistance is a flipping beast, right? I mean, we hit this every single day, but understanding, like, why we want it will really help us to have a bullseye that we're going for when it comes to doing the work, to find some people that can help learn what you need to learn and just keep doing the work and trust the slow process. You know, we're in a world right now that really talks about just the instant gratitude constantly, like, I can get you your thousand true fans in 30 days, and all this kind of crap. Like, it's total bs, right? You're not going to get a thousand true fans in 30 days. And the more that we normalize that, like, the better off we are. There may be a small, small percentage of people that do that, but let's be real. You're not in that small percentage. I'm not in that small percentage. And the faster that we can just come to grips with that, the more enjoyable the process can be, because we're not expecting something that is, again, outside of our Control. And the fifth thing is just always keeping at the back of your mind, like, you're not entitled to any of it. It's a gift to even try to do this at all. Many of us don't want to be famous or do anything outlandish. You know, we just want to be supported in what we do. We want validation that what we do is worth something. And I just want to tell you right now, it is worth something, right? Even if it's just to you, in this moment, it is worth something. And that is a gift. Like, what do you get from your creative time, from the art that you make, from the songs that you write, from the paintings that you put. Put down, from the doodles that you make? Like, what does that give you? And if we try to chalk that up to a number or a follower count to validate it, we're already behind the eight ball. Like, we're way, way, way in trouble. And I'm not saying that I'm not guilty of this, because I'm totally guilty of this. You know, at least once a week, I get caught up in this place of, I should be further along than I am right now. But I remind myself that I'm not entitled to any of it. And it is a gift to get to try. And there's gonna be days when you feel like you're crawling because. And you will be. But Steven Pressfield says it here, and I love this. I put this in the downloadable. He says, the professional does not take failure or success personally. The professional does not take failure or success personally. These little things, while aren't instantaneous fixes. The more that I embrace this mindset, the more that I slowly start to change over time. And the more I start to change, the more I realize.

You know, I don't really.

I don't really need any of this stuff. I don't need the flashy crap or the. The whatever. I can just have what I have right now and be glad for having it. I can enjoy the process of pursuing this thing and trying to help as many creatives as I possibly can while improving it. Whatever art I want to do and you know, doing these things that. I mean, what a gift to be able to try. Just hope that you find some encouragement today in this. Download this if you want. Go through the exercises. I think you'll find them really valuable. It's a lot deeper than what we've gone through here in this video. And let me know, just drop me an email. Lennonopthestarvingartist.com I'd love to hear what you get from it. Please, just be in touch. I want to hear how we can help you better. Okay. See you in the next one.