How to Grow in the Creative Profession When You Feel Like You've Reached a Ceiling
Miscellaneous / / April 13, 2023
There are at least four ways.
How to understand that you are standing still
It seems that the representatives of the free professions, deprived of the burden of a rigid schedule and endless reports, are the envy of all office workers. But on the other side of such a life is an irregular schedule and the need to regularly release fresh creative. And he can be difficult. Time for vacation? Or has the muse already gone into it and is not going to return? Most likely, this is a creative crisis, and it happens not only with bohemian artists. This state has specific signs:
- Mistakes at work have become more frequent. And colleagues and management pay attention to them.
- There is no motivation to create something new. It seems that everything ingenious has long been invented.
- I constantly want to procrastinate. The brain throws up a million reasons not to sit down to work.
- Does not leave the feeling of depression. As a result, you create nothing and constantly blame yourself for it.
It also happens vice versa. There is a lot of energy and ideas, but it is not clear where to apply them. Perhaps at work no one appreciates your talent, or you have to work within a strictly defined framework. In such a situation, the motivation to become better and achieve new goals, most likely, will not appear.
Where to direct creativity
So, you are at an impasse. The good news is that it can be overcome. Experts recommend do not throw creativity, and if the main work has ceased to please at all, then switch to something new. Here are a few options.
1. Online platforms
It can even be a blog in which you show yourself as a cool specialist. A well-developed personal brand is useful not only for creativity, but also for financial situation. A person whose talent is known only to a few friends will quickly agree to a boring job. A popular influencer in his niche can afford to wait for interesting and expensive projects, while earning money on advertising.
At first, it may seem that in a state of crisis there is no time for creating content. What to talk about with the audience if the resources are already at zero and all you want is to go to a remote village and never be online again? The topic of content is important, but you should not get hung up only on it. Get ready for your first post. For this:
- Decide on the format. Videos, podcasts, longreads, a page on an industry platform - any of these options will have to be figured out.
- Choose a genre. You might want to go into expert opinion, do feature reviews, or dive into humor.
- Find a suitable site. For example, "VKontakte" - the most popular social network in Russia: 80% of the population uses it at least once a month. It sounds cool, but if you ignore those who came to listen to music, get stuck in online games and look through memes, it becomes clear that analytical articles about the media market may not come here. It is better to redirect them to less reach, but more relevant sites.
2. Community
There are professional communities among both home confectioners and theater directors. It is useful to meet with them from time to time to exchange ideas and get support.
Education can help with this as well. Feel free to attend workshops or participate in webinars. If you have a “creative idol”, it makes sense to sign up for courses or ask for an internship. The reverse situation is also capable of spurring creativity. Scientists from China have experiment. They observed training of employees by more experienced colleagues at 15 different enterprises. It turned out that mentoring improves the creative activity of teachers. So, if fate gives you a chance to share your professional experience, do not miss it.
Another way to join the community and make yourself known is industry competitions. They can chat with colleagues, and sometimes win money. For example, now it's acceptance of applications for the next season of the ArtMaster championship. The prize fund is 23.7 million rubles. Designers, clip makers, composers, directors, sound designers, artists, cameramen, make-up artists and a dozen more representatives of different professions are invited to compete.
3. Business
There is a stereotype that creative people are not able to solve serious issues. But statistics prove otherwise. For example, the volume of world exports of creative goods and services exceeds 1.5 billion dollars a year. Creative industries are called the drivers of the economy because they create jobs and bring in a lot of income. Starting your own business is one of the logical stages of creative development. Especially when work for hire does not give either the desired level of implementation, or pleasant numbers on the bank account.
The first steps in business should start with the concept of the future brand. To do this, you need to answer three simple questions in as much detail as possible:
- What is missing in the market?
- What will the product or service be like?
- Who is the potential client?
Then you have to think through the details and dive into business planning. This is a difficult but necessary step. And it doesn’t matter what exactly you are going to open: a tiny craft soap company or a huge recording studio. You will have to figure out how income differs from revenue, what is marginality and break-even point, which business model is right for you.
4. Related industries
Vertical growth does not appeal to everyone. The choreographer may not like the role of the owner of his own dance school, simply because most time will have to do routine things: pay rent, calculate salaries, look for new clients. In a string of organizational issues, the creative fuse is likely to go out. In this case, it is worth trying to expand competencies.
Let's say that at your main job you create advertising layouts. At first, you offer bold ideas, try to follow global trends, but after a while you inevitably become an ordinary master of reading briefs and making changes. The field of advertising still attracts you, but it has already become crowded in your specialty. Try switching to related ones, such as product design, copywriting, SMM. When you feel a little more confident in your new field, start building a portfolio. Who knows, maybe this is the beginning of an unexpected turn in your professional path.