Have you ever wanted to work with a coach on your creative career but felt you weren’t ready? That’s exactly the time you should!
Chances are, your creative career coach has seen it all…
Let’s get straight to the heart of the matter. If you need a career coach it’s because you need help. And sometimes that means you see weaknesses in your creative practice or creative career strategy that embarrass you. You may think that a creative career coach – one who’s successful, knowledgeable and experienced (otherwise why would you choose to work with them?) – is going to look down on you for making what you might consider basic mistakes. Nothing could be further from the truth.
A good coach doesn’t judge
And the reason they don’t is that they’ve been there themselves. I know I have! Few of us get all the advice we need at the right time. And chances are, your creative career coach has learnt through making their own mistakes – some of them just as ‘basic’ or even far more ‘stupid’ than you might consider your own weaknesses to be. But the truth is there are no ‘stupid’ mistakes if you learn from them. And that’s something that coaches know very well.
The other thing about a good coach is that they are on your side! And what a relief that is, when you’re in a competitive environment… They are trained to ‘meet you where you are’ and not to judge. In fact, we coaches come to sessions excited to work on whatever will help our clients the most, whatever that is, and whatever they need.
A good coach will work to your pace and with your circumstances
That ‘meeting the client where they are’ is really important. A good coach will take things at your own pace. They will support you to make the changes that will have the most impact rather than asking you to follow a standard formula. They’ll listen to the root causes of the issues that are tripping you up and help you dig down into the soil of your psyche to uproot them for good. They’ll use their insights and experience to make tailor-made suggestions, and sit with you when you need to be still and feel what the next right step is.
Are you ‘unready’ or just the teeniest bit scared?
But none of that can happen if you’re not just a little bit brave. You will need to be willing to be honest about your weaknesses, sticking points and be willing to feel into why you have them. But if you do, a good coach has the chance to support you. To give you a gentle, confidential space in which to explore what’s going wrong and the key to setting it right. A good coach feels like a partner in crime!
Working with a creative career coach is an investment in yourself
Many creative people are encouraged to invest in training, degrees or materials. Many will skip meals rather than skimp on these. But they often forget that they themselves are the most important tool they’ll ever work with. Because art comes from YOU. From your imagination, from your feeling, from your wellbeing. So investing in the quality you can bring to your work and your career strategy is probably the best value-for-money investment you can make. Over time, coaching can transform what you’re capable of as an artist – lifting you into a completely different league. That’s worth more than any tool or training…
If you’d like to find out more about creative career coaching, try a free 30-minute consultation with me. Contact me to set up a time.