I was recently asked how I made the shift into becoming an artreprenuer, and I realized I have lots of thoughts to share on this.

Honor your ideas

Anything that has ever been created started with an idea, a passing thought, a curiosity. Whether you believe these ideas come from the Universe, God, or are just cool patterns created by neurons in your brain, your ideas are where the magic starts. Those random thoughts you have in the car or in the shower, those are the ones, little whispers that we often dismiss.

But what if you don’t have any ideas? What if you’re too overwhelmed and stressed for creative ideas to break through?

Give yourself space

Having space to create is essential, and I don’t mean a dedicated desk or a fancy studio. In order for your ideas to flow, you have to have mental space. Let yourself get a little bored.

If your brain is overflowing with to-do lists and doomsday scenarios, write it out! Brain dump on paper until you don’t have another thought in your head, and then watch as new ideas begin to form in the space you’ve made for yourself. Try carving out time in your week, even if it’s just 30 minutes, to dedicate to your creative brain space.

Chase inspiration

Instead of waiting for inspiration to strike, go find it yourself! If you are inspired by nature, go on daily walks. If you like certain colors or styles, surround yourself with them. Listen to your favorite music, read motivating books, curate your social media with creative people doing cool things. We are little sponges absorbing everything around us. Choose what you absorb. 

Be willing to create

This is actually a bigger part of the picture than you might think. We can stifle the best ideas with a little negativity and self doubt. There are so many ways to fail, and we ruminate on all of them. The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, has some great exercises to work through the blocks we create to protect ourselves from the vulnerability of creating, and I highly recommend this book for everyone (even though I still haven’t finished it).

Embrace your gifts

When we begin to create, we suddenly realize it’s all been done before and there is nothing new under the sun. What could I possibly offer? This can be really discouraging until you find the freedom in it. It’s all been done before, but it hasn’t been done by YOU.

What do you love? What are you good at? I took my love of sending mail and my gift of written encouragement, mixed in a little art, and a new thing was born. Have people been writing letters for thousands of years? Yes! But not MY way.

Invest in yourself

Nurture your inner artist. Indulge your creative self! I’m not saying break the bank, but what if you invested in those watercolors you’ve always wanted? What if you took that pottery class? What if you bought the course, booked the retreat, filled the sketchbook? We can get so serious and stingy with ourselves as we grow up, and we forget to entertain our childlike creative selves.

Curate your community

Surround yourself with people who are doing the thing! Whether it’s in person or virtual, find people who are chasing their dreams and ride the wave of their enthusiasm. It’s contagious! If no one around you believes you can do it, find someone who does. Your cheerleaders are waiting for you.

Keep the stakes low

One of the reasons my sticker business got off the ground was because the stakes were pretty low. At the end of the day, it was just a sticker, and if it flopped, it was a learning experience and a chance to pivot. It was the same with my letter subscriptions. I put the idea out into the world, and if no one had been interested, disappointment was the greatest risk, not losing thousands of dollars.

Slow and steady

Along the lines of starting with a low risk idea is, keep it slow and steady! No one launches into their big dream overnight. You aren’t yet the person required for it. It takes the slow and steady climb, the consistency over time, the wisdom gained along the way, to prime you for the BIG thing.

Don’t take yourself too seriously

It’s really not that serious, I promise! We all start at the beginning. You have to make your beginner art if you want to discover your intermediate art. You have to make intermediate art if you want to uncover your best art. You have to honor your baby-sized ideas before you’re ready to try out the bigger ones. Build trust with yourself by trying. If you fail, good! That means you tried something new, and I bet it taught you something.

Being a creative entrepreneur is a balance of putting in the work and dancing with the mystery.

There is synchronicity involved, for sure, but you can’t plan for it. Each seed you invest in your creative journey is planted in hope, and your control of it ends there. You can make the environment right, you can water it and tend the weeds, but ultimately it’s your consistent planting over time that explodes in full color one day, when and exactly how is the beautiful mystery.

Want more?

I talk more about my AddPeace Studio journey in a 45-minute interview with Liz Kohler Brown in The Studio, an online creative community and creative content library (monthly subscription) that I highly recommend. You can try The Studio for free for 7 days if you’d like to watch the interview and check out the rich library of videos. Click the link below for more info.

What Women Create – Liz Kohler Brown