Many of us begin our creative careers as young adults. We might have received praise for our work and (more rarely) been encouraged to make a career out of it. That positive feedback might have led us to hope or believe that we’d soon be able to earn money through our creative work. Not just earn money, but make a living.

Pop! That’s the sound you hear when the world doesn’t immediately respond with affirmation that you’ve chosen the right path. After the pop! comes the long silence. As the years go by, you might wonder if you’ll ever make a living from your work.

This then becomes a hinge moment. Some of us quit to do something that earns us a living (whether or not they find it more fulfilling). Those of us who don’t quit, who push through and make the commitment to keep creating for years or decades, have a moment of realization: it’s not going to be easy. It’s going to take a ridiculous amount of work.

How do you navigate this mindset shift? In the words of a friend of musician Caleb Cordes: “You can’t beat yourself up for not winning the lottery.”

Bonus: Here in the GU Clubhouse, we begin to conceptualize our next experiment: How to build out your personal capacity to do and achieve more.

Questions for Listeners:

(Hop on over to the segment web page to leave us your answers.)

* Is admitting defeat underrated?

* Did you go through a mindset shift where you recognized how hard this is but pushed ahead anyway?

* What could get you to quit and do something else?

Links of Interest:

The Creative Independent: Caleb Cordes Interview with Tyler Bussey

https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/musician-caleb-cordes-sinai-vessel-on-money-and-creative-work/

Tyler Bussey on Substack — TYTY Industries

Sinai Vessel/Caleb Cordes

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