We’ve been talking a lot about the skills and traits we all need to run a creative business.  We’ve talked about planning, setting goals, and courting our ideal collectors.  We’ve talked about the entrepreneurial spirit, what it takes to be a freelancer, and how to keep ourselves motivated and productive while often working alone.  But what we haven’t addressed, is the elephant in the room.  At the base of many of our artistic careers is a whole lot of fear, and self-doubt.  And often, we don’t even know why….

Today I’d like to talk a bit about self knowledge.  I’m not talking about some sort of spiritual quest, though you’re certainly free to take it there if you like.  For millennia, religious traditions have used meditation and prayer to look inward, so we know that works well.  But what I’m proposing today is that we find some strategies to self-reflect on our businesses, and on ourselves as business owners.