motivation

Alyson Stanfield at her desk

The Art Biz ep. 180: Affirmations for Artists to Keep You Motivated

I believe in the power of daily affirmations. I first used them a number of years ago to increase my income and it worked. My income shot up 40% that year.

I do not believe that reciting affirmations alone will move the needle. You must have the commitment to your goals in the first place and take appropriate action to move forward.

Try them and adapt to your needs.

Video included.

The Art Biz ep. 180: Affirmations for Artists to Keep You Motivated Read

Sarah Z Short collage

The Art Biz ep. 170: 7 Essential Verbs for Artists to Embrace

Action builds confidence, and you need verbs for action.

Look back on how your confidence as an artist has grown over as a result not only of reading about something or hearing about it, but of actually doing it. Making more art. Having more shows. Submitting to more opportunities.

With this in mind, I have 7 verbs to embrace, which you might not normally associate with your art career.

The Art Biz ep. 170: 7 Essential Verbs for Artists to Embrace Read

Questions to Ask When You’re Stuck or Need Motivation

Everything is Googleable these days, right?

If you want to know who painted Las Meninas, Google it and you’ll quickly find it was Diego Velázquez in 1656. From there, you’ll see that it hangs in Room 012 of the Prado and can read about the Infanta Margarita and her mother’s maids-of-honor. You can even click on Room 012 and see the paintings of family members that keep the young princess company in that same gallery.

Not into 17th Century Spanish painting? Other treasures await you on the internet. You can Google how to write your artist statement, how to grow your email list, and how to use Instagram Stories.

It’s easy to find answers. It’s harder to know if the answers are right for you and when you should stop looking for answers outside of yourself.

It can be painful to sit in the unknown and explore what might be possible. But … oh! … the rewards that await you when you do.

When you sit in the question rather than looking for answers, you begin generating additional questions and rephrasing your original question to be more in line with what you are seeking.

In his exceptional book, Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg notes that questions beginning with “Why” help us link hard choices to something we care about. He says, “Make a chore into a meaningful decision, and self-motivation will emerge.”

With that in mind, I’ve outlined a number of situations in which you might need a hefty dose of motivation. Each has a number of questions to help you make progress and a Big Why to ask yourself.

When You’re Not Making Art

One day off is understandable. Two days is acceptable. A week? Probably okay.

An entire month without thinking about or making art is something to be concerned about when you’re trying to gain recognition and earn money from your art.

Ask yourself …

Questions to Ask When You’re Stuck or Need Motivation Read

Deepa Koshaley painting

4 Moves To Ignite The Passion For Your Art Business

Bang! Pop! Pow!

Is that the sound of leftover fireworks I hear? Or is your art business on fire?

I would love to hear that it’s your business on fire – that you are Hot – Hot – Hot for what you have to share with the world.

If you’re only hearing fireworks outside your walls and not inside your body, there are four things you can do, and keep doing, to ignite the passion for your art business.

1. Embrace your role as CEO.

When you decide you want to earn money as an artist, you are no longer just making art. You are building a business.

As soon as you accept your role as CEO of your art business, you will experience a dramatic shift in mindset. You will understand that your talent is bigger than you. It’s the basis for a dialogue you are intended to have with the world.

Along with this comes the responsibility of ensuring that your business is run professionally and profitably.

What’s not to get excited about?

2. Schedule something big – with a deadline.

Every forward-thinking entrepreneur needs something to look forward to, and artists are no different. You want to experience the momentum resulting from snagging a new venue, hosting an open studio, or landing a commission.

Without events and deadlines on your calendar, you risk wasting time on social media and neglecting the hard work in the studio.

Don’t wait for things to happen to you. Create your own

4 Moves To Ignite The Passion For Your Art Business Read

Taking Perfectly Imperfect Action

You know that I’m all about action.

My book, I’d Rather Be in the Studio, is broken up into actions rather than chapters.

While I’m a champion of moving forward, I also slow down to read, research, and learn, which is crucial because my superpower is teaching.

While I could easily bliss out on months of research, the fact is, at some point (not too late in the process), the learning phase must make room for the action phase. No matter how much you research, it doesn’t do you any good until you put that knowledge to work.

I think we stay in information-gathering mode rather than taking action for one of two reasons:

1. We’re afraid to make a mistake (failing), or …

2. We don’t have enough fire in the belly to get moving. We aren’t hungry enough.

Let’s look at these separately and try to move past them.

Embrace Mistakes

You can’t learn simply by reading books and taking classes. The ultimate test of your knowledge comes when you implement.

The only way to grow is to take what you’ve read/heard/seen and put it into action. When you do this, you find out how it applies to your specific situation.

Yes, you’re going to make mistakes. A lot of them. Mistake-making is part of the process.

But you won’t fail. You’ll only fail if

Taking Perfectly Imperfect Action Read

Where Motivation Comes From

I want to help you expand your art business and grow your art career.

Each of my blog posts, class lessons, or live events is carefully designed to help you get one step closer to your dream.

In these formats, I can teach you:

  • What strategies you could be using to promote your art.
  • Why these strategies are helpful.
  • How to implement strategies.
  • About artists who are getting good results by using these strategies.

Still, as much as I would like, I cannot teach you how to get motivated to do the work.

I’d go so far as to say that I can’t teach you anything if you are not motivated.

I can give you information, but that information is no good if it is merely collected – put on a shelf in hopes that it will somehow magically work just because you paid for it.

I can write motivational articles or respond with positive feedback if you comment on my blog or Facebook page, but I cannot give you the motivation to take action.

Motivation must come from within you.

If you aren’t motivated to do the work, it doesn’t matter how many books you read or classes you take. You’re throwing your money away if

Where Motivation Comes From Read

Sandra Duran Wilson painting with lotus

How Do You Motivate Yourself to Finish a Project? (Curious Monday)

We all have projects that are part of our lives for longer than originally intended. The more we avoid them, the more monstrous they become.

Procrastination is in charge.

Today’s question …

How do you motivate yourself to finish up a project that has been hanging around the studio too long?

Or

How to you face a project that you committed to, but no longer have any interest in?

How Do You Motivate Yourself to Finish a Project? (Curious Monday) Read

©2012 Michelle Paine, Pilgrimage: St. Peter’s. Oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches. Used with permission.

Lessons From The Past Year

It’s hard to keep up with weekly emails about your art business, so I thought I’d point out some things that you might have missed or forgotten about this past year.

These are 12 valuable actions, from 12 different Art Biz Blog posts in 2015, to help you grow your art career while staying sane.

Marketing Your Art

1. Reduce the Boring Factor: Add Variety to Your Marketing Message

Why it’s on the list: Please, for the love of Pete, read this before you send another email.

Your art exhibition, class, workshop, or event has so many facets that there is no reason to send the same emails and social media posts for your promotions. They get a little stale after a while.

I have some ideas for you.

Lessons From The Past Year Read

Zone of Genius

Dwelling In Your Zone of Genius

There comes a point in every artist’s (every entrepreneur’s) business where you can’t grow without hiring someone.

It might be a paid intern, your kid, a website helper, or a bookkeeper, but you need the extra hands if you want to expand.

Who do you hire?

What will they do?

Your primary focus as an artist is on making art. That’s when you are in what Gay Hendricks calls your “Zone of Genius.” In his book, The Big Leap, Hendricks writes:

In your Zone of Genius, though the time you spend there produces great financial abundance, you do not feel that you are expending effort to produce it. In your Zone of Genius, work doesn’t feel like work.

I’m certain you know what that feels like. Bliss.

Your goal is to take those tasks off your plate that aren’t in your Zone of Genius – the tasks that keep you from making your best work. It’s the art you produce in the studio that nobody else could do.

For example, you might be competent at updating your WordPress template, but it’s not your best work. It takes you away from your best work.

Consider how lovely life would be if you could dwell in your Zone of Genius most of the time. How would that feel?

Dwelling In Your Zone of Genius Read

Are you making these mistakes in your art career?

8 of the Biggest Mistakes Artists Make in their Art Careers

You might be making mistakes in your art business that are holding you back from big growth.

Mistakes aren’t bad, and I don’t want you to feel like you have to be perfect in everything you do because seeking perfection is a sure way to be paralyzed by fear. We have to make mistakes in order to learn and to grow.

Mistakes are only detrimental if you keep repeating them without learning and correcting your ways.

Are you making any of these mistakes?

1. Not knowing where you want to go with your career.

I’m not talking about the need to have a specific plan, but I’ve noticed how few artists, especially when they’re just starting out, don’t “get” that running a business is serious stuff. You’re no longer making art for pure pleasure.

Everything changes when you start asking for money in return for your talents. For some artists, it changes for the better and you’re fired up to get your art out there. Other artists can’t stomach the pressure and lose all interest in making art. They can’t seem to get into the studio.

8 of the Biggest Mistakes Artists Make in their Art Careers Read

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Your Artist Mailing List: Rethinking + Assessing

Get a transcript of episode 182 of The Art Biz (Rethinking Mailing Lists for Artists) followed by a 3-page worksheet to evaluate the overall health and usage of the 3 types of artist lists.

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You’ll also receive my regular news for your art business.

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