How to Actually DO THE THING
Note: This post was originally written as a transcript for a video. There may be some minor grammatical errors.
Hello future friends, my name is Leigh, I’m an artist, and designer, and creative guidance counselor, and I have this brain that just like never shuts up, it’s just constantly going. I’m pretty much always thinking about 100 different things at the same time. And today I’m thinking about — how to actually start a creative venture like starting a photography business, writing a book, or launching an art business online.
So before I dive into my super valuable list of thoughts, I want to preface this by explaining who I am and where I’m coming from. I am a person that has done a lot of seemingly big scary things in my life. I’ve started multiple creative businesses, I’ve quit stable jobs impulsively, and this year I moved to a completely new city far away from all my friends and family. My life has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs, but I have no regrets because I’m happier now than I’ve ever been. And it’s because I believed it was possible to change my life. These are the kinds of things that other people might think about doing, or talk about doing, but they somehow never actually get around to doing it. And I’ve always felt this strange mix of frustration and disappointment when I hear my friends and family talk about wanting to start a podcast, or start a DIY business, quit their soul-sucking job, or do more freelance creative work — but then they never actually do it. I can feel their excitement when they talk about their ideas, but something is keeping them from actually taking action. And I sometimes have these conversations where they kinda seem to look at me like I’m somehow “different”.
So I really started thinking about that, because I wanted to get to the core — what is it about me, and other creatives like me, that allows us to actually go after the things we want? To actually create the things we envision and “follow our dreams”. And so I came up with this list of 10 intentional thoughts that have allowed me to live a more creatively fulfilling life. In no particular order, these are some tips to help you actually start doing the creative things that you say you want to do.
Decide if you actually even want to do it.
Listen, this one is a bit blunt but some people need to hear it. If you’re not going to actually do the creative thing you say you want to do, then maaaaybe stop talking about it. I’m saying this with no judgement or superiority. You don’t have to follow your dreams. But I suggest you decide if you’re not going to. You have that power. Stop pining for what « could be » if you’re not actually interested in doing the work involved trying to get the life you want. You need to really be introspective and get real with yourself. Again, no judgement. Do you like the idea of being creative full-time more than the actual reality of it? I think a lot of people have this really romantic idea of freedom and being your own boss or whatever, and it is pretty cool being self-employed, but it’s also kinda hard, it’s still work, and it’s probably not for everyone. Ask yourself, can you be satisfied and grateful with the life you already have? Are there other smaller changes you can make to help you feel more creative? I know for me, I actually tried the whole “regular life” thing, because for a long time, I was kind of obsessed with the idea of being normal. Which, like, why? But I discovered that I actually just can’t function in that world. I’m too much of a weirdo, I’m completely incompatible with that whole “normal” lifestyle. But like I said, I’m a weirdo, I know that there are people out there who can find happiness with a 9-5 job and a normal life, and just channel their creativity into like an occasional DIY project. If you’re one of those people, embrace it. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s beautiful. And honestly, you’re kinda lucky. I know that creative entrepreneurship as a path to “freedom” is kinda trendy at the moment, but it’s really not going to save you from your feelings of unhappiness if you don’t deal with that dissatisfaction first. It’s not useful to pine for a “more creative life” if you’re not actually going to do anything. You have control over your life, it doesn’t just happen to you. I know that sometimes it can feel like you’re a victim of your circumstances, but there is ALWAYS something that you can do to change things.
Identify your fears.
I think it can be helpful to provide actual words for your fears so that they aren’t just sitting in your head as a vague sense of unease and anxiety. Putting your negative thoughts into words is one of the first steps towards stripping them of their power. Because once you have them actually laid out like that, it’s easier to realize that they’re usually not that big a deal. You’re probably not going to die if you finally start selling your art online. But I’m scared. What if I fail? I don’t want to be embarrassed. What if I mess up? What if I’m not good enough? What if no one likes my work? A lot of the time, for me at least, fear shows up as “what if” questions Like, what if I start this Youtube channel and no one watches my videos. And once I’ve identified that fear, from there, I can continue the conversation with myself. Like, ok, what if I do start this youtube channel and no one watches my videos? What then? Was it a waste of time? No, not really because I got to create and share something that was true to me, and now it’s out there, and I trust that whoever needs to hear it will discover it in divine time. If the worst possible outcome is that I spent a couple hours making videos, and no one cared, that’s honestly fine. Worrying about things like this is so fascinating to me because in a way, it’s like you believe that you can predict the future, and you’re choosing to predict a bad outcome. If you want to believe that you can predict the future, why not imagine the best timeline instead? I choose to believe that this video is going to help whoever needs it. I think for a lot of people, they don’t even fully realize how much they’re allowing fear to hold power over their lives. Fear is so interesting, because it can FEEL so powerful, it can feel overwhelming, but at the end of the day, it can’t actually do anything. A lot of people hold themselves back because they’re scared of a negative feeling. But feelings are just vibrations in your body. This is probably the most important thought that helped me to be more brave and creative in my life. There’s literally nothing that you can feel that you can’t handle. As far as I know, an emotion cannot kill you. So short of actual death, the worst possible outcome is that you’ll feel some variation of bad. Embarrassment, rejection, disappointment. Ok, and? Listen don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say those feelings don’t suck. They can really hurt. But you will benefit from building up your tolerance for negative emotion. Listen, I’m a highly sensitive, deeply emotional person >I’m a Cancer< and I’ve felt embarrassment, rejection, disappointment, frustration, resentment, depression, anxiety, shame and probably at least two more emotions, and yet I didn’t die. Do we need to bring back the “did you die tho” meme? How does this video only have 1.7million views this is so iconic to me. More people need to watch this video. Wait keep watching my video, but then after this, you should watch this other one.
Develop a healthy tolerance for “failure”.
First of all, there’s no such thing as failure. Only experiments and lessons. That’s just a fact. The only way you can fail at something is by quitting without having learned anything. That’s why I can confidently say I’ve never failed at anything — except maybe grade 12 math. I’m pretty sure I failed that class but my teacher took pity on me so I could graduate. [What are vectors?] Listen, you’re gonna make mistakes. Make them. And learn from them. It’s ok, it’s not like you only get one chance. Actually this is a really important thing to understand. Life is not like school. You can and will make lots of mistakes, and it won’t affect your grade. At all. You get to keep trying.
Accept that it will probably be bad at first.
Any time you’re putting your creativity out into the world for the first time, it’s probably going to be bad and cringey and embarrassing at first. That’s normal. That’s just the price of being creative. You’re inspired by other creative expressions, and you can imagine something amazing in your head, but when you start off there’s always a difference between what you’re capable of and what you want your creative thing to be. In the words of Ira Glass, “For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.” And that quote really resonates with me, personally, because I’m still disappointed by almost everything I make. But that’s no reason to not make it. As Jake the Dog from Adventure Time said, “Sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something” Listen, literally no one is watching you that closely. They probably won’t even notice your mistakes, and even if they do, they’re definitely going to forget about it in 2 minutes.
Recognize the value of your inherently unique work.
One perspective shift that helps me when I’m creating something new is to stop thinking about my damn self. My fear. My worries. My limitations. Me, me, me. Instead, I like to start thinking about all the people out there that are literally looking for the thing I want to create. There’s not enough creativity out there, ok? I know it can sometimes feel like, “ All these other people are already out there doing the thing, i’m too late, the market is saturated, they’re all so much better than me. Listen, your brain gives you these thoughts, because not taking action is what keeps you feeling safe. But these thoughts are not true. There are millions of people on this plan— wait [ how many people earth] - 7.5 BILLION? Yikes, wow ok. [How much is a billion.] WOW OK. How many people have internet. Interesting. So apparently there are over 7.5 BILLION people on this planet. 4.6 billion have access to the internet. You really think all of them are done looking for new books or music, or art? No! Imagine if Beyonce never made her music because there were already people out there making pop songs. Can you imagine? And it doesn’t even have to be at that large a scale. Don’t let that intimidate you. Your work doesn’t have to be groundbreaking to be valuable. Imagine your favourite podcast. I know for me, if my favourite podcasters got stuck in doubt about starting their projects, I would be an entirely different person. I am not exaggerating. I’d probably still be working a job I hate, and complaining about my life. Or I’d be dead. Not to be dramatic, but it’s true.
Remember that you’re going to die.
No really, acknowledge that fact. REMEMBER IT. I know this is tough, but too many of you haven’t really faced your mortality. You’re out there waiting years before allowing yourself to do the things you dream about, as if you have time! You are not going to live forever. Why are you spending your time not doing the things you want to do? Why are you spending time trying to impress people you don’t even like? Why are you spending time being unsatisfied with your life?
Define success for yourself.
Assess your goals and align them to what YOU actually value. Do you value money? Peace? Freedom? Recognition? 100 thousand followers? What is YOUR definition of success? Make sure that it’s really YOURS and not someone else’s. This can be hard to discern. It might take some time if you’ve never really thought about it before. I spent a lot of time in my past, trying to achieve someone else’s idea of success. But eventually, I realized I was using arbitrary metrics to create goals that I didn’t even actually care about. Now, I feel successful whenever I get to indulge in anything creative, regardless of the outcome. Creativity is just so much fun for me — it’s its own reward. And that’s why it’s one of the pillars for how I define success for myself. What do you value? What would help you feel successful?
Create more than you consume.
I’ve seen this line a bit on social media which is THE MOST ironic thing, because I’m about to tell you to unsubscribe from everything [except my channel] We all know Instagram is literally the worst and actually detrimental to our health, and yet we stay mindlessly scrolling. Why do we do this to ourselves? A lot of people have too many unfiltered influences in their lives. Unsubscribe from everything and be intentional about what you re-subscribe to. You need to be way more strict about what sources you’re allowing to condition your mind. You might think it’s not that serious, just a way to relax or “stay connected” but it actually is so important that you’re mindful about your media and social media consumption. Our brains are just not designed to handle all these modern inputs. Our monkey brains don’t fully comprehend the things we know to be true like, “instagram is just a highlight reel” “no ones life is like that all the time” we might say these things, but our brains unfortunately just don’t have the capacity to fully install that information without a bit of help Listen, our brains can’t even fully comprehend the fact that every single account on social media is an entirely unique and different person, with their own individual lives, and unique perspective. You’ll see commentary like “Twitter is mad about this” as if Twitter is just one guy and not 400 million different people. We only have space in our monkey brains to actually conceptualize a few hundred people and anything beyond that is just a vague amorphous mob. This is an actual thing, look up Dunbars number. This is why scrolling through social media can so easily make you feel like “everyone” is so much more successful than you. So what’s the solution? C’mon you know this. Spend less time mindlessly consuming media that doesn’t even make you feel good. Curate your influences intentionally. And create more than you consume.
Don’t get stuck in “I don’t know.”
Don’t get caught up in “not knowing” how to do something. Most things aren’t that difficult to figure out. It’s not useful to keep imagining things as “too hard”. Things aren’t as hard to figure out as you think they are. Especially the « tech-y » stuff. I taught myself how to use CSS in one day and now I can do fun stuff on my website whenever I want to. I had absolutely no background experience with coding and I’m not some kind of genius, ok. I’m an art school dropout. Alright, I should give myself some credit, I am quite smart actually, and I’m really good at teaching myself things. But guess what, you can learn things too. Stop imagining yourself as not smart enough or not “tech-savvy” or not “educated” enough or whatever. I kinda have a bone to pick with how traditional education sets us up to think this way, but that’s a topic for another day. What I want to tell you now is that a lot of things that you “don’t know” are not that hard. You don’t need to spend all your time getting certifications, doing research and learning about every single thing before you even start. That’s often a form of procrastination. You probably already know enough to get started and whatever you don’t know you can figure out along the way. And you can learn from people you trust that are genuinely interested in helping you. Like me. [subscribe]
Believe that you can do hard things.
Sooooo some things actually are quite difficult. Yup I’m totally gonna flip the vibe of the previous point. Yes, ok, I acknowledge that some things are in fact hard. But that’s ok. Let some things be a challenge. Allow it. But don’t let that stop you. We can do hard things.
