Why Are Artists Afraid To Be Themselves?

I heard a psychologist recently tell an anecdote about zebras and how zebras are camouflaged. And he's like, but, you know, if you go to, you know, the plains in Africa and try not to sing a toto song, then, you know, the lions are the ones that seem like they're actually camouflaged because they're in the grass, they're the same color, same color tone. And the zebra is just like white and black stripes. Like, how can this creature be considered camouflage? And then he goes on to explain that they really camouflage against themselves. And these scientists were out doing a study on zebras, and what they would do is look at their notepad to take down some data, and then look up at the herd and look back down and then realize, like, was that even the one that I was trying, you know, like, I don't even know if I'm looking at the right one anymore. And so to remedy this problem, they would put a red dot on the back of their haunches or tag their ear like we do cattle. And what they realized very quickly is that these were the zebras that were killed and eaten by the lions first. These are the ones that died. And so we use this as a metaphor for creatives and how we're so afraid to stick out. Because when we stick out, there's a chance for somebody to take a shot at us, right? There's a chance for somebody to come at us and call us out for our differences. I see social media and I see the way things are going, and there's a lot of really cool stuff out there, but there's also a lot of really bland.

Just same kind of stuff. And I understand it, like, we're all copying to try and figure out how to do it right instead of trusting the process, like our influence, trying to use that influence to build something. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not arguing against that as a thing. But what I also then see is when somebody gets some sort of success, quote, unquote, success, AKA vanity metrics, more views, more subscribers or whatever from this thing kind of blending in with everybody, they think that was right. They think that was the right thing to do. And then six months, a year later, they're frustrated because it's not what they actually want to make. It's not what they stand for. It's not what they believe in. It's all just because we're afraid to stick out. We're afraid to do it wrong. We're afraid that somebody's going to judge us. And you know what?

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer here, but somebody's going to judge you. It's going to happen, right? Somebody's judging you right now for not doing it. Somebody's judging you because you've done it, and it makes them mad. Right? But what we know is that when we say what we believe and we show up as our authentic selves, we attract the right people. It may not be as big of an audience, but I guarantee it's going to be the right one. And when it comes to building a creative practice that makes you some money, gets you a fan base, any of these kinds of things.

Why are we focused so much on the bigger. On being like everybody else and not on just doing our thing and doing it in an interesting way and getting better at communication and getting better at telling our story and getting better at understanding how people think. So we can use those strategies to our advantage as opposed to just copying what everybody else is doing and then getting locked into some sort of vicious cycle of making things that we don't really care about making. Now, that isn't everybody. So I don't want to lump everybody in, but I do want to say that this is something that I think about a lot, and it's manifested itself in me somewhat. I'll be releasing a guided meditation video, if I haven't already. And that's really scary for me because I'm like, but this isn't about meditation. But I'm like, meditation is about me. It's about so much for me, spirituality and the idea that. That I believe that you are called to be a creative person. Like, I think that your intent as a human being here on earth is to serve somebody well with the thing that you're good at. Like, truly, I believe that the fear then creeps in when it's like, okay, but I'm going to stand out in the wrong way. I'm going to stand out in a way where somebody takes a shot at me. I'm going to stand out in the way where not enough people pay attention. I'm gonna stand out in a way that really ends up embarrassing me in some way, shape or form. I told my coach the other day that it's like, it's like, I'm carrying this weight on my back, and I'm like, could somebody help me with this? And then when they're like, yeah, and they try to take the stone off my back, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. Just put me in a wagon and Push me. I'll still hold the stone, but you just push me, right? It's this analogy of I don't want to let go of the weight. I just want somebody to, like, figure out how to roll me with it. And it doesn't work. It just doesn't work that way. So I never end up letting go, and these things that I want to do never end up seeing the light of day the way that I would hope. I think that's my first step is, like, looking for support that allows me to do the things that I need to do, that allows me to.

See outside of myself and start to trust the gut instinct that this idea is very me and it's okay for me to go after that, it's okay for me to stand out a little bit. It's okay for me to have a tag on my ear and a red dot on my haunches, which I'm not showing you my haunches on YouTube. I can promise you that. And let me know in the comments below what are you working on right now? I want to know what it is in your creative endeavors that you've been afraid to work on. And I know that this is asking a lot because you're going to have to think about it, and that's not the nature of what we do when it comes to YouTube. We want to just ignore it and move on to the next video. But I want to press in a little bit and say, if you're watching this and you're actually thinking about what I'm saying, let me know what you're afraid of doing this year, but that you're going to try to do anyway. So one of the ways that you can start to stand out in the right way is to have your person in mind. So I would highly recommend that you go watch this video here where I talk about what I would love to see more artists do before they make their first thousand true fans. And if you put these things in mind, I think it's really going to make a difference in how you move forward in your creative endeavors and start to build even a small business that's simple, that you love, and that serves other people and yourself. So I'll see you over in that video.