01 - Commit to
Something Scary
A lot has happened in
my life over the past few months, but I'm used to being busy so on the surface
my day-to-day activities didn't appear to be anything out of the
ordinary.
But, I had noticed
changes. I'd been spending fewer hours working each day, fewer days each week.
Initially, I
attributed the shift in my work schedule to trying to live a more balanced
life. But, after some honest analysis, I realized that many of the things on my
"to do" list where things that required me to go outside my comfort
zone.
There were phone calls
and follow ups that I was putting off. I needed to contact and get in touch
with some people I didn't know well, and speak with others who work in areas of
the art world I'm less familiar with.
Furthermore, many of
the "to dos" I'd been avoiding revolved around making decisions and
commitments about events or activities that will take place 6 or 10 months even
years from now.
As crazy as it sounds,
I found I was avoiding, worrying about, or putting off the things I should be
doing because I was afraid, or unsure if I would be up to the
task.
What a waste of
energy! Fortunately it's a problem with an easy solution - commitment
followed by action.
Are there things in
your art practice you could be doing to move your business forward? Well,
here's the easy solution, rest assured, if you do nothing, it is guaranteed
that nothing will happen and your dreams will simply remain as dreams.
Just do it. Commit to something big, something new or
even scary, something you might not be ready for, and get ready and bear in
mind the words of Herman Melville, (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American
novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. “It is better to fail in originality than to
succeed in imitation”
It doesn't matter what
the commitment is but boils down to one thing, to take a step outside of your comfort zone:
- to approach 3 new galleries over the next
month,
- to book a stand at an art fair or open
your studio an extra weekend this year,
- to start a blog or newsletter,
- to start a new series of work, or
focus on a new style or technique,
- to teach a new class, give a talk or write an article
It doesn't matter what
you commit to, just that you commit - and take action toward making it happen.
- Write down your decision and tell others
about it.
- Schedule time in your diary to research
galleries, fairs or events, then chose one and apply.
- Register a Blog and start familiarizing
yourself with the format,
- Layout a newsletter or start writing
content,
- Outline a workshop or topic you are
interested in speaking or writing about.
You don't need to know
all the details, or even what the end result will look like, just commit and
get started.
Everything
else will take care of itself.
