Hello guys !
If you are an artist, chances are, like me, you already felt the Imposter Syndrome. That you were out of place, that you don’t deserve so much praise or your actual job. Personally, I still think my Lead mistaken me for someone else when hiring me. And I think I am not alone to feel that way.
So here is what I want to discuss about today. Why it matters and give a few solutions to help us manage this feeling that can become overwhelming at times.
Know that this is all in your head.
Yes. We are all biased. How many of you thought that someone is unreachable ? That you can’t talk to that girl or guy ? Or you can’t do it ? How many of you think they don't stand a chance for a job ? They only deserve to make the coffee in a company ?
We believe what we want to believe. We live with our small little voice in our head all day, every day of the week. And that voice is keeping us warm inside our head. With a chocolate mug under the blanket. She wants to keep us safe, she guards the entry of ourselves and whispers to us what she sees happening outside.
And we trust her. She’s part of us ! She can’t fool us. Oh yes she can...For the better good…. The consequences being we do not ask questions, we do not seek feedbacks and we build our walls of preconceived ideas about the world. And that little voice will bring her friends within this world, you know them : Fear, Emotions. They will make decisions of their own.
Perception of ourselves by ourselves vs Reality (Perception of the world by us and perception of us by the world)
Emotions making decisions create a filter between us and the world. We don’t see it as it is but as it seems to be. Someone is grumpy one day ? It might be his personality. We don’t wonder if he had a bad day or anything, we are drown on our own emotion based assumptions.
But this is not the only filter. All of our senses (Sight, Touch, Smell….) gather informations which are processed by our brain. Processed. So there is a loss of datas in order to chose which are the important ones. Our Brain can be our best friend but also our worst foe.
But if we live our lives through filters, how can we improve ? Or get better ? Is it possible on our own ?
I do believe it is not possible alone. As to improve, we need to go past these filters. And we just saw that they are created by our own body !
Ask for feedbacks. Critiques. Questions. Don’t do it alone, go outside and ask people around you what they think, don’t wait to be ready, go for it. Everyone has a sight problem. We see the others better than ourselves. We live in a fog. And when someone says you are good or praises you : Don’t fight it. Accept it.
A great someone said once :
“If you don’t believe in yourself, Believe in those who believe in you !”
People are not stupid, they have their own lives, their own beliefs. And usually they know what they like and what they don’t.
Peer pressure and avoid it by being ourselves.
What you need are people knowing they like your work. Ignore the others. Even if you are the best at what you do, you will still find people who don’t like you. But at the same time you will find people who do enjoy your work. Focus on these ones.
The crowd of people can be daunting at times. Especially when you want to do something on your own, something that you like, different. You can feel pressured from the masses. And nothing is wrong with that, it is written in our survival brain skills. We follow the trend as a need for acceptance. But when that trend doesn’t fulfill you : Do what you want to do.
See, it can be really scary at first. But think about it this way : You are a human being. There are 7 billion of us. Within that number, a percentage thinks the same way as you do. Some feels the same as you do and might even like the same things as you. And as humans, we look to be accepted for who we are. That’s why we look for the trend the closest to our feelings. That’s why we tend to like more one political side over another. And when a new one comes to the arena and is closer to our opinions we jump right in.
So you are not alone. We think we are because that fog is blinding us. So, focus on constructive feedbacks from the right people and ignore the trolls if possible. Just be yourself.
Accepting the hurdles but also the successes
But getting there isn’t easy. There are hurdles, obstacles and when these happens, we must know how to rebalance ourselves, take a step back and reflect on it. But knowing this is temporary. It will be fine as long as we believe in our believers. To be honest, I believe in my future self, because he has done it and he is still alive to look over me. So if the risk isn’t real, then I go for it. There is no reason to duck it and end up with regrets.
Even if the fall is hard and you must take it upon yourself, you must know when to celebrate your successes. If you fulfill an objective, a dream dear to you : Enjoy it to the fullest.
You made it.
Not someone else. Acknowledge the hustle you put it but also thank all the people that helped you on your way or even tried to put you down. You are there today because of them. And in a way, they helped you in your scheme. They helped you but you did the work.
The same way someone will give you the staff to climb the mountain, you still are the one climbing it.
Believe. You are far better than what you think you are. Go for your dreams =)
Feel free to tell me what you think in the comments, how do you overcome the imposter syndrome, how do you look at your art ?
I also invite you to subscribe to my mailing list if you want to have future exclusive articles (in the making =)).
Thank you Steemians for the support ! You know this means the world to me and keeps me motivated to write and share my thoughts and experiences with you ! If you have any subjects in mind you would want me to talk about, share it in the comments as well !
Last thing : I plan on doing 1 article every 2 weeks on Thursday evening (Hanoi time) ! Thank you again !
Cheers !!
Yes I agree on everything you said. We all become what we think so if we think lowly of ourselves then we will be lowly indeed. We must be able to change our thinking even if at first the positive thing we think of ourselves is not true and we may not believe it but saying it to ourselves and thinking it more often may somehow help use to be able it to change our outlook in life moving forward.
I'm not familiar with the imposter syndrome for artists but if we stop comparing ourselves to other artists we will be able to appreciate our own art and others too. :D
Yes you're right ! But it is not easy task when someone wants to work in the videogame industry and discovers Artstation, it's normal to compare ourselves to these great artists and feel overwhelmed by their talent. But there is also a possibility to find ourselves with a group of like minded people to grow at our own pace with our own world.
I mean, not being tainted by the fads but really doing what's inside us, I think this is very difficult.
How do you do to not compare yourself to other artists ?
Thank you for your comment ! Cheers !
Hey dude! What a great article.. this is the stuff i have been missing on Steemit lately.. stupid work! :D
Really well written man.. I love it!
I personally always keep to myself in search of criticism first.. Especially when it comes to work and study.. What do I like or dislike about it.. what couldve been done better.. when I established that for myself i feel free to ask what others think..
I have also learned to not take everyones critique or opinion for the same value. .. as mean as it sounds :D
If someone who clearly has a lesser understanding of a certain subject or is not on the same level.. I will not weigh that critique the same as an equal or from someone that is on a much higher level..
Though even that person that I consider to be 'further'/higher can still be wrong in my eyes.
Other than that.. a rule i usually go by is.. be uncomfortable..
It sounds so lame but i hope you understand what i mean.
When you study.. dont do the same stuff always.. when you work.. dont make everything in the same style.. mix it up,, learn,, look, observe, reproduce, change, adapt all that stuff that makes you think twice before you put a stroke down helps you so much in getting better and developing yourself as an artist.. as well as a person.
That whole approach you take on your work will leak into the way you make decisions in your personal life too.. which.. if it makes you grow an artist.. it might also grow you as a person :D
--/ end life lessons!
Cheers !
Yeaaaaye !!
I've seen you've been quite busy lately as well !! Thank you for the support man !
This is a really good point I forgot about, You're right in always keeping a critical eye with the feedbacks you receive. It is very important to be aware of that, but I guess there is always a way to test it out and see if it works by yourself =D I tend to be really skeptical about this as well and at some point I don't know if it's skepticism or ego talking, like 10 years ago when a pro told me to work on my values and anatomy :" naaaah he doesn't know what he's talking about"... haha... Ego is so bad....
Oh ! About that being uncomfortable, I get your point, but also think that we need to get uncomfortable until we feel good and then move on. otherwise it's like we just jump from skill to skill and never learn as well, what do you think ?
ALso lately a friend sent me this :
to help visualize the different steps to efficient learning. It's mindblowing haha And it reminds me what you are saying by changing it and adapting what you learn.
Thank you so much for your comment, it is really interesting ! To think twice before putting down the stroke is something that comes back often from great artists, like, think before, take it slow... But I find this very difficult to put in practice effectively haha... But strangely enough sometimes I feel it when I'm in the flow, like on some parts of the drawing I tend to think first and visualize as well but it is yet not easy task.
How did you learn to think first, did it come to you naturally ? =D
Cheers Beek !
Beautifully written, thank you! I can totally relate to your post. The ego is telling us stories about how we should feel and behave based on limiting believes whe obtained during our life and childhood. In my opinion overcoming these believes and obstacles is only possible by cultivating awareness, self-compassion and curiosity. It's a process and it takes practice.
Hello ! Thank you for the kind words !
Yep, but to cultivate awareness you first need to see through all the fog first, and be aware that you need to develop that skill. A lot of artists are drawing what they think is their style, their worlds while in fact, it is someone else's world or style.
When you have this style for very long, it can be difficult to reflect on it and find what is your "true self" in a way. ( I sound kinda woo woo but I hope it makes sense haha)
Really cool advice, thank you !