Limiting Beliefs I Faced as a Creative
Hey you,
How has your 2025 been so far?
Lately, I've been busy. The good kind of busy. Things are finally "clicking" into place. Money is coming in. I have stability. My Instagram is growing steadily again.
(It stopped growing for like 8 dreadful months).
That being said, I want to share my experience with limiting beliefs.
A few years ago, I increasingly became more envious of having creative careers. I'm not even talking about filthy rich artists. Just people who were able to make money creating their art. I'm a creative person with creative skill sets. Why couldn't I do it? One tiny issue. I didn't have anything to show for it. I learned graphic design, photography, videography, directing and much more.
But if someone asked me "Can you show me a project?" I'd be flustered. I had a bunch of random abstract projects. But nothing that would impress a new stranger. If I wanted to get paid as a creative, I had to prove to others I can be creative. The cliché saying "You are your biggest critic" is a cliché for a reason. It's completely true.
I magnetized my issues more than anyone else on this planet could. But I couldn't give up (because that would spiritually crush me), my only option would be to challenge the limiting beliefs that filled my head.
Here are them along with my current day responses.
No one would buy my work.
Generally speaking, if people like your work, they'll be interested in buying your work. If other people are doing it, so can you. Personally speaking, I've been asked several times to release a book to which I'm currently working on. And my digital product, endless story ideas have helped other writers.
(Be on the lookout for the book btw)
No one cares or would care about my work.
I create because it's enjoyable. I never knew people cared about my work until I shared it. You never know what will and will not click with people until you try.
I'm not good enough to be pro
You don't have to be perfect to be a pro. You need a decent level of skill and being comfortable with sharing your work. Also, connecting with people.
I'll never be like my hero
I had the realization it's better to be yourself than to be a carbon copy of someone else. My goal is to be the best version of me, not a Temu David Fincher lol.
I can't get better results because I don't have better gear.
Most of the time, you don't need expensive gear to level up your skills. I've been a victim thinking buying something would fix my skill set issues. That's not the case. My go-to method of learning is to keep failing over and over until it works.
I'm unoriginal.
I don't believe any creative ideas are 100% original. Not even my own. Not even my creative heroes who I look up to and so on. But that’s not a bad thing. Once I realized this, it felt liberating to share work that didn't seem super original.
It has to be perfect before I can share it.
It doesn't have to be. Art is subjective. Meaning everyone's definition of perfection is subjective. I realized perfection just slowed me down. I think it's best to strive for good results as opposed to perfection.
I need to be motivated to start.
It's unlikely I'm going to be motivated 24/7. As a working creative, I had to be able to produce results – no matter how I'm feeling. The trick is to do whatever it is you do so often, it feels like second nature.
Growing my social media account feels impossible.
I had several failed accounts before my current one actually took off. "Beginner hell" is a real thing and it leads to burnout and frustration. The good news is, it's not actually impossible. Again, if other people can do it, so can you. It's just experimenting until something works.
That’s all for now.
Until next time,
–Kevin
