Finding confidence in your creative business

Finding confidence in your creative business

Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in the creative entrepreneur world for a while, confidence seems to be a word that crops up in daily conversation. Over the weekend, I sat across from a friend who is a brilliant artist chatting about all things business. We discussed creating strategic offerings, pricing, creative partnerships, you name it. And finally, after a while, she asked me a question. How come you don’t have any doubts?

I couldn’t help but laugh because internally, I have doubts daily. I think that’s just a a regular part of doing anything creative. When I first wrote Yeah, maybe, I did it as a challenge for myself. I didn’t care so much about what happened after, I just wanted to see if I could do it. Making the choice to do something Big and Scary is hard enough.

But when you decide to put that creative project that you’ve worked on, whether it’s a book or a painting or an e-course or even a creative service out into the world in exchange for money, I think it’s natural for doubt to fall over you like a warm blanket. Doubt and fear are good friends of the unknown. And when the work that you do is so tethered to your heart, it’s hard not to worry about the what ifs.

What if someone thinks I’m charging too much?
What if they think it’s crap?
What if they think I’m crap?
What if I’m not actually any good?
What if I put in all this work and no one buys it?

I think where the disconnect happens is that people put a lot of stock in their first stab at something. The first price you set for your creative business will not be the last. The first draft you write of a novel will not be what you publish. You’re allowed to try and make mistakes and readjust as you see fit. But you have to start somewhere. You have to try, collect the data, regroup, and try again if necessary.

While I wish I could wave a magic wand and gift you with confidence, I can’t. But what I can do is possibly change your perspective on confidence. For me, I am confident I’ll eventually figure it out. I’m committed to this journey, whatever that entails. (And trust, it’s been a hard, heartbreaking, terrifying, and sometimes downright messy road.) But I have confidence in myself to know I’ll keep trying until I get it right.

I’m a firm believer that confidence comes from the doing. Our minds are scary, scary places y’all. And when we let them, our thoughts of doom and gloom can take on a life of their own, making Everything seem bigger than it really is. But if you’re busy doing, your mind is focused on tangible information and can’t just wander off into its own, terrifying world.

So whatever it is that has you feeling unconfident right now; whether that’s setting your pricing or starting that blog, or writing that book, have confidence that eventually, you’ll get it right. And give yourself permission to mess up.

And as for the fear of what others might think, I’m just going to be painfully blunt here. It’s easy to have opinions, it’s harder to do the work. Keep your head down and just worry about the work that you’re doing. Put your best into it, and good things will come. You cannot and will not make everyone happy. But focus on the good, take nuggets of information from the constructively critical, and leave the rest.

If you’re knee deep in the struggle and need tangible, action-based help, get in touch. I have creative business consulting and coaching sessions available.

The truth about multitasking & why I don’t do it

The truth about multitasking & why I don’t do it

It’s likely true that at some point in your career you’ve boasted about being a fantastic multitasker on a resume or in an interview. I did. It was my number one crowning achievement, or so I thought. My ability to handle all the things at any given moment is what landed me management positions. And it’s still true to this day–I am a fantastic multitasker. I just choose not to do it anymore. Once the truth about multitasking was revealed to me, I quit cold turkey. And today, I’m going to share that perspective shattering truth with you.

But Joey, entrepreneurs have to multitask.

What if I told you that is untrue? What if I told you that multitasking may actually be the reason you still feel unproductive and unfulfilled when you lay your head down at night? Well, that’s what I’m telling you. Multitasking is actually counterintuitive to productivity. While you may feel that every single thing needs your attention at any given moment, you’ll actually find that you’re far more productive when you give one individual task and/or project your undivided, focused attention.

Managing multiple on-going projects simultaneously and multitasking are not the same thing.

Webster’s dictionary defines Multitasking as such; the performance of multiple tasks at one time. Think: answering the phone, finishing off an email, and signing for a package all at the same time.

Handling multiple on-going projects simultaneously means you are able to adequately manage your time to devote focused attention to see each project through to a successful completion.

Multitasking requires split focus. Split focus typically results in careless errors that require you to essentially do the work twice. This is not an efficient use of time, and it is certainly not something worth boasting about on a resume. When this was brought to my attention, I realized that while I could multitask, I didn’t like multitasking. Multitasking is closely related to overwhelm, and tell me–who performs well when they’re overwhelmed? Not me.

Now, managing multiple projects at simultaneously? Sign me up all day long! Many of you are likely obsessively organized people like myself. I nerd out over planners and project management software. I can dissect multiple projects into easy to manage, productive tasks in my sleep. Now that’s something to boast about.

So before you beat yourself up the next time you feel compelled to turn off your phone and simply focus on the task at hand, remind yourself of this little multitasking fact. While it’s great that you’re willing to handle all the things, you don’t have to do them all at once. In fact, it’s better if you don’t.

So take a sigh of relief, and maybe remove multitasking from your resume. 😉

If, as an entrepreneur, you still feel like your business cannot and would not function without multitasking, consider my boundary boss coaching sessions or the boundary boss coaching program. I’ll help you ditch the multitasking compulsion no problem!

I self-helped myself into a robot

I self-helped myself into a robot

Oh, hi. It’s been a minute, huh? I guess I have some explaining to do. That’s kind of the whole point of this post, if I’m being honest. Self-help books made me stop blogging. Okay, that’s dramatic. But…it’s actually kind of the truth.

I was once a relatively balanced person who always prioritized the things that made me feel like myself. Reading, spending time with friends, watching TV, painting my nails, you name it. But, somewhere along the way, I decided I wasn’t good enough.

My life wasn’t good enough.
I wasn’t smart enough.
…productive enough.
…challenging myself enough.

So, I did what I do best. I started seeking information. Learning, growing, changing. When this is done right, when it’s done in a healthy way, it can be incredible. But for me? It was the start of an ugly addiction.

I could always be better, learn more, perfect.

And soon, I edged out all the things that once made me me to be a better version of a me who doesn’t make time for anything other than better.

I forfeited enjoyment.

I structured myself into a dull box full of inadequate feelings that only encouraged my perfection addiction.

I’ll admit it, the fear of starting a business is what sent me down the self-help rabbit hole. I was so afraid that someone was going to expose me for what I really was: someone who was just figuring it all out one day at a time. As a business owner, that freaked me out. Not knowing was unacceptable to me. I had to have all the answers. Everything had to be perfect! I’d spend hours absorbing new information and learning new skills only to then turn around and deliver new creative for the biz. That would have been enough, maybe even healthy. Learning and using new skills is a great thing.

But then I’d spend hours, sometimes days obsessing over it. That’s when the negative self talk would creep in. I could have done that better. Maybe I should have approached it like this person. OMG this business is offering the same services and they must be better than us and I should just give up. 

So then I’d turn to self-help.

Freaking out as an entrepreneur is NORMAL. I knew this! So I turned to all those people like me, those brave little creatives, for some sound advice.

Find confidence!
Always do your best!
It’s okay to fail, that means you’re trying!
Always be learning.
Hustle. Hustle. HUSTLE!
Sacrfice. Sacrfice. Sacrifice.
CYCLE REPEAT.

 

Full, but empty.

I’d hustle from the moment my eyes opened until the second my head hit the pillow. If I couldn’t give something my best, it got scrapped. If something wasn’t serving the overall purpose of reaching my goals, it got scrapped. If something could be defined as a waste of time, gone it went.

I stopped reading books for fun. My manuscript sat untouched. This blog grew cobwebs. I stopped being Joey because Joey wasn’t good enough.

My life was so full. I was doing big, exciting, risky things often. And don’t get me wrong–that makes me feel so alive! But somewhere along the way, I drained myself of my creativity and personality. I was a slave to perfection.

[ctt template=”8″ link=”6×110″ via=”no” ]My head felt full, but my heart was empty.[/ctt]

 It’s ok to chase your dreams. In fact, do it! Fill your head with what you need to know and constantly be learning. Just don’t let any of that strip you of the person you once were.

As bloggers fell off the bandwagon over the years, I always claimed that would never be me because writing is just part of who I am. Now, I get that I own and run a business that has me writing literally all day. But this space, these words? They’re mine, all mine. And without it, without them, I slowly started to disappear.

My business is hugely important to me. And I will always want it to be the best it can be. But I have to remember that it was this little space that even made that business possible. All of my dream-come-true moments root back to blogging.

Over the last few years, I’ve put entirely too much pressure on this space. I forced it into something it was never meant to be: a job. I love the opportunities blogging brings my way, and I’ll always be down for a fun collaboration. But this space was never intended to be just that: a money maker.

Self-help taught me I could do anything but paralyzed me into silence.

So I’m brushing off the cobwebs and setting out to reclaim my voice.

::clears throat::
Hi, I’m Joey.

 

 

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Business Catch Up & The Nail Files: Revlon Naughty

Business Catch Up & The Nail Files: Revlon Naughty

Current Mani: Revlon Naughty

I once read somewhere that entrepreneur means living a few years like most people won’t so you can live the rest of your life like most people can’t. That’s a pretty accurate description. The sacrifice is real, my friends. And if anyone tries to tell you it’s not, they’re lying to you. Building a business from the ground up is amazing and rewarding and wonderfully terrifying.

We are finally entering into our sweet spot. One year ago today, I purchased the www.blisscs.com domain completely unsure and unaware of what the year would hold. Remember, I’d done this before and it was a mistake.

I’ll only buy it for a year, I told Myra who wasn’t my business partner yet at the time. That way if it crashes and burns, I’m only out $1.77.

So, here we are one year later, I’m so happy and proud that we have to renew our domain. We’re running a full-blown functional business. Praise be to God!

It seems silly to me now as I sit here to write this that I let anxiety win this week. I worried instead of praising God for seeing us through this the last year. The perseverance and stamina required to bring us to this point was a gift. So for that, I will be forever grateful.

In case you’re just here for the nails, here you go.