Do you have something that’s been NAGGING you for a long time in your Art?
Do you feel like you are fixing the same things over and over again?
It can be so frustrating, especially when you feel like your attempts are all for nothing.
Whatever hasn’t been working can start to feel:
BROKEN.
And that can be so disheartening when your work is so heart-based, and comes from the deepest part of you.
And honestly, there are only so many hours in a day!
You want to put your focus where you are going to see the greatest return, and yet the same things seem to be plaguing you,
A broken link on your website
Low sales for your Art or events
Miscommunications with your collaborators
Equipment going on the fritz
Low social media engagement
Sometimes, it can feel like you have duck tape holding your Art career and business together.
Because, really you want to be spending your time CREATING.
That’s the joy, right?
So, why do these annoying small things keep distracting you, and taking you off creating your most powerful work and creating raving fans?
Couldn’t they just be permanently FIXED?
I’m a big fan of my drying rack.
I have a lot of dance and yoga clothes that are very happy hanging to dry instead of being burned to death in the NYC economy size dryers at my local laundromat.
When I moved into my sanctuary in Astoria after my divorce, I was actually really excited to buy a new drying rack. This one was more sturdy, it had solid bars, and was a far cry from the rickety wooden one I had had, when I was married.
But, as this drying rack was used every week, it started to weaken.
And soon, I was finding the rack wobble, and the bars coming loose. I felt like I was spending half my time just trying to put it together every week, and picking up random pieces that were falling off.
It was so frustrating! The rack would fall over, and stand at this odd angle……I honestly spent more time just trying to find something to lean it against.
As I knew I was moving, I just assumed,
Well…..I just need it to last a few more months and I will get a new one when I move to NJ in Feb.
And then, two weeks ago, right as I was picking up a screw for the hundredth time from the floor, a NEW thought popped in,
Maybe I just need to tighten the screws on the rack.
I grabbed a phillips head and tightened one screw….and then another, and then another. In fact EVERY screw needed to be tightened.
Five minutes later, I opened the rack and realized it was sturdy
It was solid.
In fact, it was as solid as the first day I bought it.
And all I had to do was take 5 minutes and tighten the screws.
It was that simple.
So, what is that thing that is nagging you in your Art?
What have you been putting duck tape on, doing the “quick fix” for MONTHS or YEARS thinking it will actually get better?
Is it your:
Organization
Pricing
Social Media
Website
Marketing
Scheduling
Cash Flow
Limiting Mindset?
Whatever it is, you know it, because it keeps coming up.
I was so intent on picking up the screws and believing my rack was broken, I wasn’t seeing the answer right in front of my eyes.
My focus was on the wrong place.
And this can plague us in our Art.
It can plague us as we are trying to build a raving fan base.
We can waste AGES on the quick fix, instead of taking the action that will actually give us solid footing, and allow us to use our energy where we want,
ON OUR CRAFT.
And when we waste our time, we really do believe things are broken, when this just isn’t the case. We can feel wobbly and unsure.
We’ve become blind to the solution.
But, if you took a moment and got really quiet, ask yourself,
What needs tightening?
What have you been resisting doing?
The answer is simpler than you think, and will save you hours and days in the long run.
Place your focus on what is going to actually FIX your solution, instead of running after the endless dropping screws.
Stop using the duck tape, and reach out for the help that will give you lasting change and growth in your Art.
Narrow in on that area that needs the most help, and make 2018 the year you truly become Unstoppable.
This is your life, and your work matters.
Photography by: Caitlin Cannon Photography