How to Avoid Sabotaging Your Creative Work
(seven-minute read)
I’ve been lucky enough to live and work amongst creative change-makers, thought-leaders, and social-justice activists for several years now. My friends and colleagues are dedicated to being better. They keep themselves informed and spend their lives relentlessly chasing goodness. This community breathes inspiration and empowerment… so why, when it comes to our careers, are we so likely to self-sabotage?
As kids, we’re taught that the sciences and humanities will be important no matter what we do, unlike the arts. Imagination is seen as something to grow out of; adults don’t play with paints, sewing kits or words that rhyme, except perhaps if they’re ladies with hobbies. But this infantilisation and feminisation of creative work is harming our pursuit of social justice.
The gender pay gap is no secret, so it’s no surprise that when a job is categorised as women’s work, it is undervalued, but when a job is seen as child’s play, it is no longer seen as work at all. When society perceives you as expendable, it’s hard to have faith in your capabilities, and easy to bring yourself down.
So, how can we avoid self-sabotage in our creative pursuits?
1) Un-Pigeonhole Yourself
As a copyeditor and a childish adult, I’m surrounded by people who like to create. We tend to call these people ‘creatives’ as though they are born with paintbrush in hand and destined for lives of play whilst the non-creatives buckle down and do the ‘real’ work.
In using this label, we fail ourselves to begin with. Using this language tells your brain that you are an unchangeable, unidimensional thing. Gradually, your brain begins to define you as a ‘creative’ and entrench the belief that those in a creative field require no logic, science, or business know-how, and those pursuing logic, science, and business require no creativity.
You should expect to make a living using your creative skills, but not your creative skills alone. A creative career is the same as any other career – it requires a multitude of skills and needs to be nurtured in order to flourish.
2) Stop Waiting for Your Big Break
Most actors, painters, writers, fashion designers, architects, musicians and dancers are familiar with the idea of the ‘Big Break’. Your Big Break happens when you stumble across the right employer who is willing to give you your dream career. This absurd idea (that those working in a creative field can try as hard as they like but really are just waiting to get lucky) is a trap.
Yes, some people fall on their feet – and privilege plays a huge role in how likely you are to ‘get lucky’ – but is this not true in any job market? If you want to be a successful salesperson, you’re more likely to climb the ladder if you put in the hours, network, keep learning, are a white dude, etc. Equally, if you want to be a successful actor, you are more likely to make it big if you put in the hours, network, keep learning, are a white dude, etc.
Do not fall into the Big Break trap. Waiting for your Big Break might mean ignoring smaller opportunities which are really the first rungs of the ladder.
3) Remember Your Worth
Unfortunately, many of us have been convinced by the idea that creative work is women’s work, or even child’s play, and therefore expendable. In turn, we’ve begun to undervalue our own work, which allows others to do the same.
But creativity is not expendable. To create means to cause something to exist that did not before. When we consider this definition, we understand how important creativity is to changemaking. The world needs change, and change requires creativity. Creative workers are often made to feel that they should think themselves lucky; they get to do what they love and can be expected to sacrifice financial stability for that privilege. But creative work is vital to enabling systemic change, and we should not feel guilty for wanting and expecting to make a living from that.