If you haven’t yet signed up for my free four-part video training series. Do it now. This training will not be up for long.

I was blown away by some of the comments posted under the first of four free training videos.

“Starving Artist” What a shameful destructive slur!

What is the antidote to this? It’s simple. Business savvy.

It’s time to take back our power. Selling art is just another business. Big business. I want you to get your piece of that fat pie.

Read what a few artists said about the first training.

For me the term starving artist makes me feel like a victim, as though I have no control over my life as an artist, as though I’m at the mercy of the collective consciousness about what it means to be an artist, as though I have to wait for whoever the authorities are to give me the honor of being a “real artist.”

The term degrades self -esteem and puts us all in the victim category.

We need to start looking at ourselves differently.

The “starving artist” belief began for me as a young child… I was always told by my parents that I was very creative and talented, but when I talked about becoming an artist when I grew up, they would say things like “oh you don’t want to do that, artists starve” or ” you can’t be an artist – only a few ever make it and the rest starve”.

By the age of 12, these comments took away all of the dreams I had with regards to choosing art as a career.

My self-esteem took a big hit and I believed I would never be good enough to make it as an artist.

After years of many, many different jobs I finally studied and became an interior designer. My next goal is to become a full time artist – assuming I can release my ingrained fears and go for it! Looking forward to all of your videos… they are very inspiring!

Stunning. Thank you.

It was incredibly kind of you to come back and create this video.

I’m so stuck as a photographer grappling with the whole notion of value. I was recently forced, by a business-minded friend, to really write out my fixed costs for photography workshops I run for women.

Then she made me tell my client a real price … not a starving artist’s price.

The client was rapt. I was quite surprised.

Your video is so timely.

You see, I had completely bought into the starving artist idea, sometimes I arrive home with 10euro in my pocket after traveling in Italy, working … happy just to have been out.

I read something lately that said, ‘Love yourself … for the sake of your better future.’

I’m very curious. How has the meme of the “Starving Artist” impacted you? Please share below.

Artists, you have two choices, fear or love.

Choose love. Deliberately choose love or fear will just help itself to your life.

Listen closely to Jim Carrey. He says it far better than I can type it within the limited space of this rectangle.

He clearly understands his creative purpose, his “why”, and his mission, his “what”.

Carrey is very clear on what problem there is in the world that he believes is really worth solving.

Because he has dedicated his life to this mission he is a success.

Rather than read my words, just listen for yourself. Well worth it.

I have a tendency to work way too hard.

When I have a goal I lock onto that target and I sometimes I forget to give it a rest.

I really enjoy my work and I appreciate it so very much because I used to have to drag myself to work when I had a job in corporate America.

I dreaded when my alarm sounded each morning.

Feeling washed in dread is not the best way to start every work day.

Getting The MAKING Art Making MONEY Semester launched is my current target.

And I won’t release it until its right.

Because it’s almost there, I’m working on it day and night.

So a dear friend recently remarked, “Even a boxer sits in the corner and rests in between rounds.”

Somehow her logic landed.

What did I do? I took a break. I got a massage and I enjoyed a barbecue with my friends.

I remembered that I need to breath and enjoy the journey. Otherwise, what’s the point?

Meaningful work is fantastic.

But work is not everything.

It needs to be balanced with fun and relaxation.

Why am I going on about this with you dear reader?

Because so many artists who I know work really hard. Sometimes too hard.

Artists are some of the hardest working people I know.

But many get caught in the trap of working hard doing things the same broken way rather than working smart and looking for an easier route.

One way you can discover that easier route is to get some distance.

So embrace your inner lazy loaf.

Your imagination and the quality of your life is enhanced by doing nothing.

I invite you to put down your work and open up to the fertile void.

When was the last time you took a meaningful break?

What did it do for you?

Please share in the comments below.

Tune into my interview with Daniel Barrett, CEO of Rubicon Artist Development, Music Producer from Austin, TX, affectionately known to me as “Grammy Dan.”

Grammy Dan’s sales increased 395% within four years of our working together and he went on to write a book called The Remembering Process with famed personal development author Joe Vitale.

The credit goes to him. Because he wanted it, he learned to focus, and he worked hard.

Grammy Dan didn’t just skate towards success. He had to get past a number of hurdles. I asked him to share his top three challenges.

Challenge 1. “I didn’t know what to do with money. It felt like a burden.”

Grammy Dan didn’t understand how to manage money.

So he educated himself. He read lots books and got counsel.

Importantly he earned how to spend money on things that made money. Like coaching.

The big take away. He learned difference between spending and investing.

Challenge 2. “Lacked a belief in myself.”

Grammy Dan explains that certain level of doubt is productive but only if it is balanced with self-celebration.

He explains that he has learned to think better about himself.

Still a tough critic of his work because he wants to strive for excellence but he has removed the venom.

This is something that many perfectionist leaning artists could benefit from.

“Celebrate your wins.”

Challenge 3. “Scatter. Not focused.”

Grammy Dan admits that he was all over the place.

What helped him build the habit of focus were his weekly email check-ins with me.

These check-ins forced him to make small agreements with himself with accountability.

Keeping smaller agreements helps you keep bigger commitments resulting in a stronger belief in yourself.

He notes that artists believe that there is no method to building a creative enterprise, but there is.

“The first thing that is holding so many artists back is entertaining the same unproductive thoughts and resulting actions.” Too many artists are engaging in self-flagellation and they think that they have to go it alone. Try some thing new.”

When I asked Grammy Dan to offer one piece of parting advice. He stated clearly.

• “Get help.”
•  “The more help I get the more money I make.”
• “You can’t do it alone.”
• “There is no one who is successful who is solitary in the efforts.”
• “Study with someone who it already doing it.”
• Watch what you say to yourself and to others. “Your language will predict your future.”

Maybe you can identify with some of Grammy’s Dan’s challenges?

What is your top challenge right now? Please share below.

I am a recovering perfectionist.

Perfectionism is a misguided attempt to avoid failure and to gain approval.

Why do we want perfect? Because we all want love and respect.

I wanted “perfect” at as a child so that I would be “good” in the eyes of two very critical parents.

I wanted even more “perfect” in art school in an attempt to escape art critiques unscathed.

Why is perfectionism so very misguided?

Because:

1. Perfect does not exist
2. No on but you really cares about your perfect, they don’t even notice
3. Perfect kills creativity
4. Perfect crushes your confidence
5. Perfect is incredibility inefficient, nothing gets done and that is stressful and only disappointing

Here are 10 ways perfectionism hurt me.

1. It delayed my success and happiness. Even though wanted to start a business for a long time, I waited because I believed that I had to have “all of the information.” Which I never had and I still don’t.
2. Perfectionism caused me to work too long and hard eating up limited time and valuable energy.
3. Perfectionism torqued a clear view of my art. If I did not achieve the fussy vision in my head of what I was striving for, I would destroy art that was actually really good.
4. Perfectionism fueled my debilitating anxiety and all of the health consequences that anxiety triggers.
5. Perfectionism made other people around me uncomfortable because they where not sure that they could meet my impossible standards.
6. Perfectionism made me uptight instead of enjoying opportunities to just relax.
7. Perfectionism preventing me from experimenting, blocking progress.
8. Instead of embracing accidents and letting creativity flow, my perfectionism choked my creativity and I felt the sting of failure harder.
9. Perfectionism made me feel as if I was always failing and it clouded the reality that I was actually progressing.
10. Perfectionism killed my confidence. Why? “Confidence is being willing to fail in front of others.” Craig Swanson, Co Founder of Creative Live