Finding Direction in Your Artistic or Creative Career (Part 1)
There is no step by step process to being an artist professionally. You can talk to the most successful people in the world, but part of the success is luck. You can latch on to newer trends for promotion like social media, but these trends change just as you get the hang of them. Most creative professionals know this to be true, and often become demoralized because of it. They may question whether it is worth pursuing this career at all, or they may struggle where to focus their energy.
Unfortunately, I have no magical powers (I wish)! I cannot see the future for you, or for the field that you are in. What I can offer though, is a step by step process to help clear this haze of ambivalence you are experiencing. I can guide you to a path that will be more YOU.
1) Acknowledge your feelings are normal
Like many fields, drive is a respected quality. If we do not perceive our peers as having drive, we believe they do not “want it enough” and thus, do not “deserve” it. The problem is, when we get demoralized by failure, when we struggle with depression, or when we see friends in other fields succeeding with relative ease, we begin to lose drive. None of those reasons though suggest anything about how much we want success though. They are normal reactions to difficult situations. We should not fault ourselves for having moments of doubt about our work. It is ok for your job to not be perfect. It is ok to resent it now then. When we have feelings of doubt or disappointment with our career, no matter what it is, we should leave time to assess what it means.
2) Explore where they are coming from
How does one know whether they should pursue the arts or another career? How does one know what directions to follow in their career? It goes back to step one of acknowledging our feelings. We need to look at the big picture. How is my work impacting me? Is it causing me pain regularly? If yes, then we must explore why, and of course see if it is worth trying to address the pain due to work. If the pain or disatisafaction is brief or sporadic, again it is important to identify where the problems are. The smaller the problems often means the smaller the solution, but sometimes is not that easy.
3) Identify your top needs
Whether someone is debating going back to school, pursuing voice over versus camera work, or de leaving their job to become a writer, there has to be a needs assessment. Often times in the entertainment industry, we focus on risk assessment. What is the most risky career options? What is the most high reward? While those may give you insight into financial gain, that does not mean it leads you to happiness. In therapy, we assess what your top needs are. Write them down and use that information to guide you forward. For instance, perhaps you need to financially support a large family. Another need could be artistic expression. A third need could be mental stability, avoiding stress. These needs are clues to happiness.
Join us for part 2 where we will cover three more steps to finding direction in your career!
