5 Ways To Be Kind To Your Creative Self

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It’s common for artists and creative professionals to be their worst critic. As creative individuals we beat ourselves up if our productivity or level of creativity doesn’t match up to our expectations.

Learning how to treat yourself with kindness is essential to your professional development and most importantly in surviving the challenges of pursuing a career in a creative industry.

So, it’s important to practice ways of being compassionate towards yourself. Try integrating some of the following forms of self-compassion into your daily life.


1. Acceptance

Accepting things as they are is a great way to give yourself permission to be exactly where you’re at in your creative process even if that means struggling to maintain motivation or coming up with ideas. In other words, not judging your current situation as good or bad, but that it is what it is.


2. Letting Go of Expectations

Sometimes, we place too rigid or high expectations on ourselves. For instance, some creative professionals have this idea that success means creativity would come easy for them, when in reality, creativity is an ebb and flow process. So, always evaluate if your expectations are reasonable or unpractical and don’t be afraid to modify them in order to be more flexible.


3. Say Kind Words to Yourself

It’s interesting how without question, many of us treat our loved ones, the people we care about with loving-kindness. Yet when it comes to ourselves, we’re not so kind. We are quick to judge and tell ourselves unkind words. Adopting a nurturing and supportive inner voice is a huge part of practicing self-compassion. Become aware of the statements that you tell yourself. Are they nurturing or are they critical? Are they supportive or are they judgmental? Are they kind or are they mean?


4. Focus on the Successes in your Past

When we’re struggling with our creativity, it’s easy to lose sight of our past accomplishments. We begin to define ourselves with struggling. Don’t forget how far you’ve come and what you have accomplished this far. When we forget our strengths, talents and past accomplishments, we judge ourselves negatively versus treating ourselves with kindness.


5. Small Achievements are Equally Deserving

Whether your art is showcased in a local paper versus a national art magazine or you directed a commercial versus a blockbuster, it’s important to give yourself credit for even the small achievements. Even if you haven’t yet arrived at your ultimate goal, your small successes are vital stepping-stones. So, don’t forget to give yourself a pat on the back for even the little accomplishments.

"Give me a hard copy right there." - Blade Runner

 

Typographic print inspired by the movie 'Blade Runner'

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