Creative Confidence and Trust (Gems from Growth Studio Week) – EP 294

With Growth Studio Week in full swing, I thought it would be good to share some gems from our already incredible time together! On this episode, I’m going to talk about the power of creative confidence, how awareness helps us build our self-confidence, and how everything is built on trust.

Outline of This Episode

  • [0:47] Developing creative confidence and the power of group coaching
  • [7:31] Trusting yourself and killing the comparison monster
  • [12:19] The road ahead for Growth Studio Week and why your work matters

Awareness is the key to confidence

Creative confidence comes from having a rock-solid belief in yourself, who you are as a person, and who you are as an artist. Many artists mistakenly believe you can only have that kind of confidence if it is given to you. They think it comes from achievement or someone else’s permission. The good news and the bad news about confidence is it’s an inside job. It can only come from you. No one else can give it to you. The most powerful way we can influence our feelings of self-confidence is through awareness. We have to be mindful of the stories we tell ourselves and question our limiting beliefs and the assumptions we make about how things work in the world. When thoughts like these run unchecked in our minds, we become unproductive. Our minds are so focused on all the reasons we can’t that we don’t take action toward anything. Creative confidence kills the self-doubt that keeps us from achieving our goals.

Save your comparisons for your canvas

As great as self-confidence feels in your art studio developing it requires trust. You can’t have one without the other. Theodore Roosevelt once said that comparison is the thief of joy. This certainly rings true for artists! Comparison is a major roadblock that keeps artists from cultivating trust in themselves. If we’re constantly judging ourselves by the work of others, we will never grow into our own unique identity as an artist. Save your comparisons for your canvas. Compare and contrast color, value, line, saturation, hues, shapes, and brushstrokes. THAT is the only thing you should be comparing. Don’t compare yourself to other artists. It’s not relevant to what is on your canvas. Don’t compare yourself to the story you have in your head about where you should be. It’s one thing to have aspirations and goals, but not when you weaponize them against yourself.

We’re all in this together

One of the best ways I’ve developed trust and creative confidence in my art practice is through group coaching. When you are alone in your studio, it’s really easy to lose perspective and let limiting beliefs win. We all share so many of the same challenges because we have so many similarities in how we were taught to think about art. We inherit many of the same ideas about our capacity to create and whether or not it’s possible to “make it” as an artist. However, I’ve found that being surrounded by other artists who day after day, week after week, display intense drive and focus in working on themselves and their craft has redefined what I thought was possible for my own art journey. If you want to learn more about the group coaching offered through Growth Studio, listen to this episode and click the links below!

Resources Mentioned on this episode

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Get better results in your studio Today.

When you feel confident about your work and you are solid in your self concept as an artist, you stop worrying about how long the painting takes, or when you will “make it.” Instead, you focus on what you know is working. You allow time for your process to unwind. You let go of all the chatter. This is what you will create for yourself in Growth Studio - the unwavering belief in yourself as an artist so that you make art that matters to you. Click here to join.


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