In my work writing about personal finance and the arts, I talk about mindset shifts a lot. Everything begins with what we think about ourselves and the world, and what we believe about the possibilities for ourselves.
Every action and every decision comes first from what and how we think. So mindset is unquestionably vital, and there are many potential places to transform our thinking that can lead to some very powerful life changes.
Of them all, I believe there is one particular mindset shift, really a paradigm shift, that is foundationally necessary to creating a successful career in the arts. And it all starts with how we even think of “career” when it comes to any creative field – writing, music, acting, painting, etc.
Here’s how I used to think about my own aspirations to be a fiction writer.
I wanted to be a writer my entire life. I have no memory of ever wanting to be anything else. From the moment I first discovered books and stories, I was hooked. Yet whenever any adult would ask me “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and I would tell them “writer,” I would always get the same advice: “You’ll need a day job.”
Now, I have my own take on the time and place for a “day job” in the life of any artist, but the implication of all those well-meaning adults was that “writer” (particularly novelist – I didn’t discover non-fiction writing until I was older) was not really a career choice.
And even though I’m now in my forties, not much has changed. Mention to anyone who isn’t an artist themselves that you want to be some variety of artist, and the standard line of response tends to be: “Don’t quit your day job.”
You can’t choose to be a novelist, actor, or singer the same way you decide to be a doctor or lawyer.
Although you can major in creative writing and even go on to get advanced degrees – like any doctor or lawyer – you can’t then take your fancy MFA and go apply for the job of “novelist” the same as you can apply to a job at a law firm.
No, to be an actor, singer, dancer, or novelist for a living – as your job – you have to spend many long years “starving” while putting your work in front of people and then maybe one day you might just be “discovered.” You’ll get your big break, and then you’ll have made it. You’ll finally get to do that thing you felt all along you were born to be doing.
Maybe. Really, you have just as much chance of winning the lottery, because that’s actually what we’re talking about here – winning the lottery. Or getting struck by lightning.
You want to make your living as a novelist, you say? Better to just forget all about it. Or maybe just pursue it as a hobby. Oh, and don’t quit your day job.
The problem with this whole line of thinking, though, is that it’s backwards. It assumes that the way to make a career in the arts is to wait to get picked.
It assumes your task as an aspiring artist is to wait around, hoping and longing that one day the magical “gatekeepers” will actually pick you. You’ll get a part in a big movie, your album will get picked up by a record label, your novel will be bought by Random House.
(Never mind there’s a whole load of stuff that still has to happen after that for you to achieve a livable income – that’s another blog for another day.)
Although you may put a lot of work and effort into waiting to get picked – going on numerous auditions or submitting an infinite number of query letters – there’s still an underlying assumption that much of it is out of your control. It relies on the “lucky break” idea, that if you can just be in the right place at the right time, you’ll be discovered by the right people.
And this is why, of course, rather than receiving support from friends and family, way too many artists are told their calling is not a real career choice. This is a terrible shame to me, because I firmly believe the world needs art (and, of course, by extension – the artists who make it). And I think too many are discouraged from living their calling, and as a result live a life of regret and leave behind a world that’s never been touched by their art.
So, here’s the paradigm shift. Embarking on a career in the arts should never be about waiting to be picked. It should be about choosing yourself first.
Artists aren’t delusional dreamers who just need to realize they should “go get a job.” Artists are entrepreneurs.
And that’s not to say the entrepreneurial journey isn’t fraught with it’s own trials and perils. But one thing entrepreneurs are known for is not waiting to be chosen. To be entrepreneurial is to do the very opposite – to take your journey into your own hands.
Sometimes that might still mean going out on countless auditions or submitting infinite queries, but it also implies you have choices. Your art career is in your hands – it’s your business with your artistic creation (whatever it might be) as the product.
And it certainly helps that we live in an age when we have so many more options available to us as creative entrepreneurs. We can choose to publish our own books, produce our own movies, or sell our own paintings.
But even if you still decide to go a traditional route – getting your book published by a traditional publisher, for example – just switching your mindset from one of waiting to get picked to choosing yourself (creative entrepreneurship) can radically change things.
I know for myself, had I seen myself from the get-go as an entrepreneur, I would have approached my writing career very differently. And the difference all comes down to strategy. For me, that would have meant actually having one, instead of just waiting around for that magical, mystical “someday.”
Instead of waiting and hoping for lightning to strike, I would have had a plan – a business plan – for my career. It would have involved taking specific steps and steadily growing my career over time, just as one would a business.
But because I created art for so many years inside the old paradigm of waiting to be picked, I wasted many, many years having no plan and no strategy. And I firmly believe strategy is one of those things that can make all the difference.
And this is where it all comes back around to mindset. When you choose yourself first and think of yourself as an artist-entrepreneur, you take your career into your own hands and make decisions and take actions based on getting yourself where you want to go.
There may still be a whole lot of trials and tribulations, but you’re much more likely to become capable of creating an actual career for yourself than if you simply wait to be chosen.
After all, waiting and hoping is not a strategy.
Many artists, myself included, don’t like to spend much time thinking about practical realities like “business,” preferring to spend all our time making art. But understanding yourself as an entrepreneur can mean all the difference between having a dream and turning it into your reality.
