"DO WHAT OTHERS AREN'T DOING"
When a mentor said these words to me I wrote them at the top of my page in huge letters. This simple sentence that may have been a throw away changed my life. It was a complete reimagining of what I do, how I do it and who I am.
I was stuck for so many years. I thought I simply did not have the proper procedures in place for my business to grow but I continued to follow a path that was paved for someone else. This made things murky and the only way I was able to make money was by consuming others content and recreating it.
Lets dive into being a consumer vs. creator.
How does our brain trick us into thinking we are a creator. What is a true creator?
Our brain loves to play a little trick on us. I call it the "false creativity paradigm". It sounds fancy but stick with me. Most people will emulate a piece of work, give it a small or large change and then their brain says "look what we created!." But what did you subconsciously do? Here is what your steps may have looked like: you picked out a product or piece of work you liked. You then may have asked yourself, "will my customers order this product?" YES OR NO. "Can I make X amount of money if I make this product?" YES OR NO. (If you are looking to churn out reproduced product after product to create your income, this is an ok model) If you are trying to create a new identity as an artist you will always be constrained by these yes or no questions. When you follow this model, are you a consumer or a creator? Physically, yes, you created an item. You took the time to give it tweaks, you went to your studio or basement and you sharpened your skills by using your hands. But to truly become a creator you need to be honest with yourself, was your artwork inspired by your consumption of another persons work and path? or did your artwork come from the path of your true self.
How can we create our path as an artist? and my real life experience.
When I realized the work I was putting out was influenced by other makers I literally stopped consumption at the source. I deleted all social media, Pinterest, unsubscribed from other artists and makers newsletters. This gave me no choice of outside consumption. I had to sit with myself and this is where the magic happened.
I sat and closed my eyes and envisioned what my life would be like as an artist. I had no idea what that art even looked like and it did not matter at this point. I envisioned my work in galleries, I envisioned what country I was in, what I was wearing, who was at the gallery. I went so deeply that I envisioned myself packing up my art and getting it ready for freight to the gallery. By visualizing my ideal path I was now consuming my very own creation.
The incredible thing about our subconsciousness is that it has a hard time recognizing what is real and what is not. That is why humans are so vulnerable to negative thoughts and feeling that can cause blocks in our life. But if that is the case, the opposite must be true. Can we envision the life we are worthy of and subconsciously program ourselves to remove the limiting beliefs and follow our own path?
At the end of my two weeks of no outside consumption and visualizing, my path was clear and open. The path that I use to follow felt like it had a pivot at every step. I could now implement real action and plans that align with this path, my path.