Recently I’ve been receiving a number of very personal emails from Artists Who THRIVE readers who are struggling with depression, anxiety, and or a disability.
I am not a life coach, nor am I a therapist, so I’m in no position to offer council on these matters.
It’s clear that some of these frustrated artists believe that selling their art will give them some significant relief from their personal pain.
I have great compassion for theses artists because I too suffered from anxiety and depression years ago.
Although I’m not a life coach, I do speak from credible experience when I say that launching a business, an extraordinarily competitive art business, is not the place these folks should start.
Why? Because running a competitive business, particularly when you have no, or little, relevant experience, is at times extraordinarily trying. Ask any entrepreneur.
So if you find yourself in an emotional, physiological, or physically compromised condition, then launching a competitive art business is not your priority.
I’m open enough to share that I have invested thousands of dollars and energy in therapy, workshops, and coaching to ready my mind and my resolve before I launched my enterprise.
Some of my personal work was useless and some of it was fantastic. But the cumulative investment in myself put me in a place where I could succeed in business, despite the odds.
Running a business is not a sprint; it is a very long sweaty marathon.
You need to train, build muscle, and up your discipline before you can run this kind of race. And you’ll need a clear head, emotional fortitude, and last but not least, support.
This is a race that is filled with rejection, cash flow challenges, and serious competition, just to name a few hurdles.
If you have read press that makes my journey look easy, let me disabuse you of that notion. It was, and at times it still is, very challenging.
So as I often remark, “Don’t put the cart before the horse.”
And listen to Warren Buffet, “The best investment you can make is in yourself.”
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