Four Tips for Overcoming Fear and Growing Your Confidence as an Artist
Let’s talk about fear. You may be thinking, “Fear, Jessi? This doesn’t seem like a very fun topic!” But let’s be real, fear is something we all face so I think it’s time we normalize talking about it! In this post, I want to share a little bit of my own experience with dealing with fear and imposter syndrome in my art career and some steps I’ve taken to overcome it. Growing your confidence as an artist is an ever-evolving journey and facing your fears head-on is the first step. So let’s boldly face our fears together with these tips for growing your confidence and overcoming fear as an artist!
Overcoming fear has been a theme for myself this year in both my art business, and my life in general. I’ve been noticing a pattern over the years where I continually fall into the comfortable place of doing what I feel is “safe.” But if I stay where I’m safe and comfortable, I never grow. I don’t want to stagnate, so this year I challenged myself to learn how to overcome my fear and be as bold as my painting style!
The first thing that helped me when I took on the challenge of tackling my fear was to learn where the fear comes from. What I found was that we stay in our same routines and our same patterns simply because they feel safe. No matter how much we want to grow, it’s easier to stick to what we’ve always done because it’s tried and true. We know that it has worked out so far, so if we just stay with the same old routines, we are guaranteed to be safe. There is often a deeper fear about what will happen if you try something new because the outcome is unknown. You may find yourself asking questions like “What if I fail? What if it doesn’t work out? How can I guarantee that I will be successful?”
The first step is to acknowledge the fear. It’s natural to be afraid of the unknown and trying new things. My goal in sharing my own challenges with you is so you know that you’re not alone! When you go into it with the mentality that this is a normal feeling, you’ll be even better equipped to overcome your fear and reach the next level!
Even though I’ve been working as an artist and growing my business for years, I still get nervous to try new things. I know that one of the biggest challenges artists face is putting themselves out there. Art is so personal, and it can feel really vulnerable to share your work. But I can tell you with confidence that every time I push myself even a little bit out of my comfort zone, it propels me forward by leaps and bounds.
I have evidence that all of the explosive growth I’ve experienced in my business and my life has come from taking a step outside of what was comfortable. Moving to France and signing on with an art agency are just a couple of examples of steps outside of my comfort zone that completely changed my life for the better!
This year I’ve created my first Skillshare class, taught virtual painting classes, made my first hire, spoke at conferences, and am running multiple live retreats! These are all “firsts” for me which meant that it was outside of what I knew to be safe. But I was able to move forward confidently with all of these things knowing that the best is yet to come and they will lead to even bigger and better things!
Enough about me, let’s talk about you! If you are ready to face your fears head on so that you can start to experience huge growth and changes in your life here are some actionable tips for doing so.
4 Tips for Overcoming Fear & Growing Your Confidence
Write (or paint!) a brave mantra and hang it where you can see it every day.
This will be a beautiful reminder that you are consciously choosing to be brave and bold knowing that it will lead to growth!
Listen to your gut.
When you’re faced with new opportunities, try not to overthink things and listen more to your intuition to decipher if it’s right or worth pursuing. If your gut instinct is telling you to pursue the opportunity, then take that guidance and go for it!
Try to do a few things that scare you per month.
This is a really powerful practice that will help you get used to doing things that scare you, so when you’re faced with those things in your business you will be able to take action more easily. I’ve been doing this regularly, and have even started to seek out doing something that scares me weekly. This can be anything - big or small. For me it could be anything from posting a photo of myself on my Instagram (I still get nervous about this!) or doing a video interview. Even doing things that are unrelated to your business will help you grow. Maybe you don’t know how to swim - take a swimming lesson! If you want to learn to salsa dance but are feeling self-conscious, seek out a local salsa group!
Take action.
All it takes is one step to create momentum towards your growth. We often get caught up in thinking and planning, but the answers are in the doing of the thing it is you want to do. If you take one thing away from this post, just take action! Be bold, take a deep breath, and move confidently outside of your comfort zone. There is so much magic on the other side.
I am so proud of you for taking the steps to overcome your fear and grow your confidence. I’ll be cheering you on as I take big, bold steps alongside you!
xo, Jessi
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