Top 3 inappropriate places to look for advice
I noticed all of us have a tendency to look for advice in inappropriate places, especially when it comes to money. Allow me to show you what I mean.
By Shallalla
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about money. Talk about scary! Conflicting beliefs, illogical conclusions derived from sources that could be called at best “not helpful,” and in all honesty simply damaging.
Well, at least I am not alone! My clients and my artist friends seem to be on the same page. You chose to be an artist, now you have to lie in your bed with that saggy mattress and those worn-out covers.
I noticed all of us have a tendency to look for advice in inappropriate places, especially when it comes to money. Allow me to show you what I mean.
#1 Inappropriate place to look for advice: Fairy tales
Do you happen to know The Star-Money? It’s a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. A little girl loses her parents and all her worldly possessions. “At last she had nothing else but the clothes she was wearing and a little bit of bread in her hand which some charitable soul had given her.”
As she wanders around, she gives away the bread and even her clothes. So now she’s standing there, naked, freezing, hungry. And what happens? Money starts falling from the sky! And all of a sudden she’s wearing a new shirt, “which was of the very finest linen. Then she gathered together the money into this, and was rich all the days of her life.” *sigh*
This is exactly how a lot of creative people behave. We give everything away for free and are somehow waiting for the sky to open up and shower us with money. I am guilty of this as well. Give, give, give until it starts to rain money.
I don’t know about you, but I am tired of waiting for uncontrollable outside forces to come to my rescue.
Does reading this make you uncomfortable? Great! That means you suffer from “the star-money” syndrome as well. A lot of us do.
“If you build it, they will come.” Awwww… isn’t that just every artist’s dream? Guided by divine inspiration, creating something simply because you have to, and your work magnetically and magically draws an audience to it. It’s just so good, people need to have it. All your hard work pays off, the people who said you were crazy and things will never work out actually stand in line to apologize for their error in judgment. Time for the credits.
So here's my #2 of inappropriate places to look for advice: the movies.
In “Field of Dreams” “Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella is inspired by a voice he can’t ignore to pursue a dream he can hardly believe. Supported by his wife, Ray begins the quest by turning his ordinary cornfield into a place where dreams can come true.” [Thank you, imdb.com]
First of all, the actual quote is “If you build it, he will come.” He as in one person. But because it’s so encouraging, inspiring, motivating and so on, we exchanged the singular with the optimistic “they” and bet our lives on it. At least I did.
When I went bankrupt with my video production company a couple of years ago, I had lots of angry talks with that divine inspiration. I had built it, with a lot of time, energy and money. I had done my part. But they didn’t show up.*
(*”It” was a transmedia story platform. “They” were (or would have been) the enthusiastic viewers who want more, more, more. [Have you listened to the new Billy Idol song already? I’m a fan!])
I’ve heard a lot of creators lament the impossible-to-solve chicken-egg-dilemma of product or audience. What do I need first?
It took me a couple of (broke and broken) years to finally understand: YOU NEED AN AUDIENCE FIRST!!! No matter what you do, and no matter what you call your customer base – audience, fans, clients, tribe, crowd etc. – that’s where you have to start.
Does that mean you can’t build fields of dreams?
No, it doesn’t. It means that you ask them which kind of sports they like and what the perfect playing field for that would look like. Then you build it. And they will stay. And bring their friends.
Have you heard the story of the man who’s searching for his lost keys on the street? A stranger stops to help him.
“Are you sure this is where you dropped them?” she asks.
“No,” the man replies and points at the street lamp above him. “But at least I can see something here.”
That's my #3 of inappropriate places to look for advice.
Don’t search where you can see; search where you’re most likely to find what you’re looking for. Too obvious? Well, allow me to ask you this:
Have you ever asked your friend, who is as single as you, for dating advice? Someone who doesn’t make a living from their passion for career advice? Someone who’s not living the life you want for life advice? Why would you do that?
We do it because it’s easy. We do it because that’s the kind of advice that is available to us. It usually comes from people close to us.
I remember quite well the first time I dared to say out loud that I was going to be an artist. My friends laughed at me. My teachers said, “Get a real job and be creative on the side.” My parents said, “Artists are crazy, egotistic people who never have enough money.”
I know today – three decades later – what I should have said then:
“I need to talk to someone who has better beliefs about money and art!”
How about we talk to an artist who’s earned over $2.5 million with his paintings? Maybe we can find another artist, someone who lives in her own home and whose friends were like, “You’re an artist! How can you afford to buy a house?” Let’s find out how she did that! Maybe we can find a musician who taught himself how to overcome the dreadful mind-trap of the sell-out rock star.
And while we’re at it, let’s find a couple of mindset mentors and financial coaches to get tools to clear the cobwebs in our heads around money.
That’s exactly what I did for a couple of weeks. I interviewed over a dozen terrific people and every single conversation held its own epiphany.
You already know that I am all about sharing good things. So it is with a heart full of joy that I packed all of this up into an event called:
Starving to Thriving – Artists Rocking Their Money Mindset To Create Healthy Finances.
One whole week of getting in the trenches of your mind with the goal of allowing yourself to break negative thought patterns around wealth.
The event is over, but you can still access the content. The best thing is, the interviews are available as audio files, so you can listen to them wherever you want, while driving, washing the dishes, while you’re on the treadmill, etc.
What will you get out of these interviews?
* An understanding of your beliefs around money.
* How to change these patterns by radically re-framing your thoughts.
* How to actually make an income as an artist.
* Strategies that are tried and tested to help you move your art and your life forward RIGHT NOW.
A word of warning: This content could be fatal to your money blocks!
Check out the splendid Aftershow Offer.
Let’s meet on the wealthier side. I cant wait to see you there!
Much love,
Shallalla