The Thriving Christian Artist
The Thriving Christian Artist
372 5-Minute Mentoring: 7 Reasons Why Artists Fail
“Making it” in the art business isn’t easy. Every day, somebody decides that they’re going to make a go of living off of their art, and every day somebody else gives up on their dream. For every artist who “makes it,” there are probably ten more who don’t.
I don’t say that to discourage you - because it doesn’t have to be that way!
So what’s the difference between those who succeed and those who fail?
There could be a bunch of factors for why some artists fail while others succeed, but I’ve identified seven reasons why artists fail, and that’s what we’re talking about on this episode of 5-Minute Mentoring.
Listen in as I break these reasons down for you so you can make sure to avoid these stumbling blocks in your own art business. If you can avoid them, you’re sure to become the thriving artist God’s calling you to be.
Ready to build a business that helps you thrive spiritually, artistically, and financially? Here are 4 ways I can help:
1️⃣ Join Us in November - Every artist was created by God to create with Him to both experience and release His Light and Life through their creative expression. Join us for a powerful 3-day healing event for artists called the “Unlocking the Heart of the Artist Experience” where you can do just that! Click here to learn more ➡️ https://matttommeymentoring.mykajabi.com/unlocking-2022
2️⃣ Read the Book: Check out my book “How to Price Your Art: Pricing with Confidence for Sales & Profit” on Amazon ➡️ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097XBP733
3️⃣ Create Art and Profit: Discover how to create the art you love while still providing for yourself financially in my “How to Price Your Art” workshop. Get more details here ➡️ https://thrive.matttommeymentoring.com/how-to-price-your-art-evergreen
4️⃣ Ready to truly thrive? Join the Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program to discover how to build your art business and live the abundant life Jesus promised you as an artist in His Kingdom! Click here for details and to enroll! ➡️ https://www.matttommeymentoring.com/artmentor.html
Connect with me online: https://thrive.matttommeymentoring.com/stay-connected
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Have you ever wondered why so many artists fail in the marketplace? I'm going to tell you today here on 5-Minute Mentoring. Have you ever wanted to have someone in your life who you could ask real questions about your art, your business, and even your walk with the Lord? Well, that's exactly what we do every Friday here on 5-Minute Mentoring, where I answer one question from one of my awesome podcast listeners in order to help you start really thriving as the artist you know God created you to be. Well, hey, my friend, I love you. I'm so glad you're here with me today on 5-Minute Mentoring. You know, one of the unfortunate things about doing what I do and mentoring artists and helping people step fully into the calling that God's called them to is that a lot of times people bail on the journey. They don't fulfill everything that God's got for them. They start out with great intentions. They start out doing the stuff and then somewhere along the way, they get picked off by the enemy or they just give up. And they never really step into fully everything that God's called them to. And they experience failure and setback and frustration in their life. And, you know, over the years, having mentored thousands of artists now inside our Created to Thrive artist mentoring program and talking to literally tens of thousands of you on a regular basis here on the podcast, I realize that there are really seven big things that I see all the time that really are big contributing factors to why artists fail. fail. And if you recognize one of these or more of these today in your life, I want you to let it be a wake-up call for you so that you can allow the Lord to point you in the right direction of getting change happening in your life so that you don't experience failure and setback and paralyzation in your journey, but that you can step into everything that God's got for you. So what are the seven things? Well, the first one I would say is lack of clear vision. A lot of times, you know, when people start out with their R and they've maybe been doing it as a hobby for a while. They're like, yeah, I want to be a full-time artist. But they have no idea what that means. They've not really sought the Lord, asking what that looks like for them in their season of life. Maybe they're just listening to a podcast, watching their friends, looking at what other people are doing online and saying, yeah, I want to do that. But they really don't have a clear vision from the Lord. And without that, listen, when the hard times come, without clear vision, it's easy to get frustrated and lose sight of what God's really called you to and kind of get off in left field doing something God never designed you to do. And when you do that, the grace is no longer there and it is not a fun place to be. The second thing kind of goes along with lack of vision is maybe people have vision for their life. Maybe they understand what God wants them to do, but they, number two, don't set boundaries in their life that allow them to really pursue the thing that God's calling to do. That is the time, the money, the resources, the energy, the focus. They're unwilling to set boundaries in their life in order to make the priority of being an artist and being who God's called them to be in the kingdom a real priority. And so without that, life happens, right? Things take over. Other opportunities come along. Everybody else's emergency becomes your emergency. And you just find yourself never really getting around to doing the thing that God's called you to. I talk to these people all the time, well-meaning people who love Jesus, who are great artists even, but who just never continue to never make the decision to actually put the thing that God's called them to do first in their life. And when you don't do that, it gets pushed to the back seat. And rarely do those kind of people step fully into their calling as an artist. And so they experience that failure. Thirdly, a big one, I would say, for a lot of artists, and there's so many different reasons why this happens, but one of them being identity, I think, and knowing who you are in Christ, but burnout. And burnout comes when artists who, you know, maybe they do set boundaries and they're like, I'm going to go for this. I'm going to do it. But they try to do everything at once. They try to do everything. Everybody says online, all the gurus, they're reading all the books going on, all the conferences, listening to all the podcasts. podcast. They're doing, doing, doing, doing, doing, trying to make it happen. And all of a sudden they realize that they're kind of, as we say in the South, like a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest. It can be a real, real hard place to be. You know, you just can't keep up. There's too much to do. That's why you got to know the right things to do in the right timing. And you learn that by being in community, by walking with an experienced mentor, by learning to listen to the voice of the Lord. You build a business that works for you in the season of life that you're in, not, you know, go all bore and, you know, full bore and try to do everything all at one time. You do that and that leads to burnout. And it can also lead, number four, to overwhelm. You know, overwhelm a lot of times comes in people's lives when they don't have a plan, when they don't have a purpose, when they don't have a pathway to follow. They're just trying to kind of play it by ear and do the best that they know how, and they just continue to get overwhelmed and And usually overwhelm is the path to burnout. If you continue on overwhelm and in overwhelm for months and even years, eventually that will lead to burnout. Or if it doesn't, it leads to this kind of workaholic, make it happen kind of personality that really is a repellent, honestly, to walking with and flowing with the Holy Spirit and experiencing the joy and fulfillment that he wants you to have in your life and art and business. You know, one of the big things that I see with a lot of artists that cause them to fail is loneliness. You know, most of us do not live in communities where there are tons of artists, where there is incredible community. And there's, oh, just so many artists around us that love Jesus and are encouraged in our calling and that sort of thing. Unless we're intentional, unless you and I are intentional about developing authentic relationships with other artists who love the Lord, who are, you know, committing their businesses to Him, who are sharing the journey along the way, it can be a real lonely place. I know that. I just moved, you know, for 13 years, we lived in Asheville, North Carolina. Incredible, incredible vibrant, creative community. We've made a lifestyle choice to move to East Texas. We're in a rural area. We love it. We are closer to family, lots of great things. But all the artist friends and all the creative community that we've had for so long are not here. And so I'm having to be more and more intentional about developing those relationships in order to combat one of the biggest strategies the enemy uses, which is loneliness. In fact, we see this all the time in the mentoring process. program. So many artists, maybe this is their first time that they've ever been a part of a community of artists who love the Lord and who are walking together and sharing the journey. It's a huge, huge game changer. Without it, loneliness can be a big, big reason that people fail and fail to hit the mark and continue the journey that God's got them on. Number next, I would say cash flow. Let's just be honest. Cash flow is a big, big reason why people fail. In fact, I'm always teaching in the mentoring program that the number one difference between a hobbyist and emerging artist and a full-time professional artist in whatever you want to do, whether that's having your own studio and gallery or just supplementing your income on a regular basis or whatever it may be, the number one differentiator is not talent, is not skill, is not the favor of God. The main differentiator is cash flow. And when you are not able, an artist is not Amen. Amen. That is a real, real downer for artists. It's a real barrier because unless you can do that, you're always in guessing mode going, am I going to get paid? Am I not going to get paid? Am I going to sell a piece? Am I not going to sell a piece? You know, that's one of the most fun things I love teaching in the mentoring program is how to develop multiple streams of income so that you're never more than two or three weeks from getting paid all year long, no matter what the economy is doing, no matter what the seasonality is doing, no matter whether you're selling in person or online or teaching or whatever it is, you can develop regular cash flow. But without that, it stops a lot of artists in their tracks. And the dream of becoming an artist gets pushed to the side. And again, you just kind of feel like, eh, I'm not good enough. I'm not this enough. The enemy's right there to beat you up. The last thing I would say is uniqueness or lack of uniqueness rather. A lot of times artists have spent all these years developing what I call masterful competency in their artistic techniques. They can paint, they can weave, they can sculpt, they can write music, they can do whatever, but they're not doing it in a way that is unique enough and they're not presenting themselves to the marketplace in a way that's unique enough that will draw attention and set them apart from the rest. Now, you may be saying, well, if it's God's will, if he wants me to do it, then God will have to do it. Yeah, here's what the Bible says. In his heart, a man plans his way and the Lord orders his steps. See, I believe that as we press into the uniqueness and the design of God in our life, as we press into the involving him and inviting him into our creative process on a regular basis, there is a uniqueness that begins to develop, to begin to set you apart. And it's that, when that gets set out into the marketplace, that's what the Holy Spirit, I see it all the time, that's where the Holy Spirit really begins to blow on and move over and in and through. But if you're just resting on your skill and wondering, why is nobody buying my stuff? It's probably because you've not pushed into uniqueness yet, either in the way that you create, what you create, or how you're presenting it to the marketplace. And without that, it's difficult to develop regular cash flow, it's difficult to set yourself apart, and it can be a big, big reason that people fail. So listen, lack of clear vision, boundaries, burnout, overwhelm, loneliness, cash flow, lack of uniqueness, all these things are reasons why our artists fail. But here's what I want to say, my friend. You don't have to let that be your journey. That does not have to be your story. In fact, the reason I believe you're listening to this podcast is because you don't want that to be your story. You're trying to figure this thing out. Listen, we'd love to continue to partner with you in this journey, not just here on the podcast. This is just highlight reels, if you will. There's so much more that I'd love to teach you inside the Mentoring program. Check it out if you're not a part already. You can find all the information about Created to Thrive right here in the show notes. And we would love to link arms with you and help to walk you into everything that God has for you spiritually, artistically, and in your business, all from a kingdom perspective, all from learning to walk with him. All right. I love you, my friend. Thank you for investing your time. Thank you for being an artist who's on the journey, who's loving Jesus, who's going after everything he's got for you. in your life. Remember, until next time, you were created to thrive. Bye.