In my creative letter this month I talked about the importance of training every aspect that allows us to live as creatives, artists, freelancers or simply to achieve our dreams.
Many people train only their creativity.
It’s fun, it’s our favourite…
but it’s not enough!!!
That’s why I’ve planned a full-body training programme over the coming months… Now imagine your creativity as a physical body. Put a good leash on it if it refuses to come along and take it to the gym!
Over these months we’ll train:
Attitude, Creativity, Marketing, Accounting and much more…
I want to start from the foundations:
ATTITUDE
is one of the most important muscles: it’s the mental posture you bring into your studio every day and the lens through which you look at the world.
Changing your attitude means no longer waiting for ideal conditions and starting to behave like the artist you want to be, leaving aside fears, anxieties, distractions or negative attitudes.
As you read, you’ll find portraits of people who had character and attitude to spare… so you can get a little inspiration!
LET’S START!
Many of you ask me — and it’s partly why I find myself writing about these topics — how I manage never to lose my creativity, to produce so much and to make work and creating for myself coexist.
And I think the answer is: RHYTHM, MENTAL POSTURE AND CALLING.
I wake up every day without an alarm, as punctual as a Swiss watch: every day my stomach tells me I’m hungry at more or less the same time; I write my journal and do yoga every morning. I go into my studio WITH OR WITHOUT things to do. These are automatic actions that, willingly or not, I’ve switched on in my body and that are part of my routine.
In the end we’re still animals, creatures of habit, and even if you feel that consistency isn’t part of you, it’s really just a muscle: some people are born with it stronger and others have to train it every day. But once it’s switched on, everything starts to move on its own.
Workout: Consistency
We know it usually takes about 21 daysfor an action to become automatic. But why not start with a month and then move on, without any break, to two months?
Doing it this way, your mind will start to put down roots in an attitude, an action or whatever it is… and in the end it will come out naturally.
So I invite you to plan the next 30 days:
- Put on the table everything you have or want to include in your plan: work, hobbies, free time, family, animals, sport, etc.. (you can use FIGMA, it’s free and it’s an infinite sheet for brainstorming)
Writing your whole life down makes it much easier to see it clearly and put it in order.
- Write in your calendar the hours you’ll devote to each of these things.
Whatever is left will be free time.
- Schedule these activities at the same time every day if you can: this will make the work much less hard, because your mind will know that every day, at the same time, you do that activity.
If you can’t, adapt the plan to your timetable and commitments.
What matters: deciding when you’ll work before the day decides for you.
That’s the difference between a lost artist and a professional.
Workout: Personal responsibility
Stop blaming your results on external factors:
- TIME
- The algorithm
- Luck
- The market
- Clients
Instead, ask yourself:
“What can I do to change the situation?”
This turns your attitude from passive to active.
If you don’t have this mindset yet, set yourself a challenge like I did, one that brings you closer to your dream (read more here).
I know there are only so many hours in a day. Some people have children, animals, family, responsibilities, a job, etc. But even just the good habit of getting up early suddenly gives you 3 or 4 extra hours every day.
HERE’S WHAT MY DAYS LOOK LIKE:I wake up every day between 5 and 6. During those hours I focus on mind and body: I write a journal and do yoga for about an hour. The rest of the time, until the rest of the world wakes up (around 9), I spend on computer work: newsletter, invoices, emails, paperwork or personal drawings.
At 8:30 I take my dog for a walk of about 30 minutes to an hour and then… to work! Until 5 I work and nothing else (with a lunch break in between: fuelling the body is essential!). Whether I have commissions or not, because in the end my life is made of goals I want to reach, events I want to take part in, etc. So production is constantly needed.
Then, a walk with my dog and relaxing in my new bathtub! yuhuuuhhhh!!
It’s just about finding your own way of finding the time.
Workout: Professional identity
♡Manifest your intention: write in capital letters on post-its, in your journal and on your mirror at home the artist you want to be and how you want to be.
The big change comes when you stop seeing yourself as:
“a person who tries to make art”
and start seeing yourself as:
“an artist who builds her own work”
- Show up at your studio every day, even without inspiration or work to do
- Start seeing “having no work to do” as an OPPORTUNITY to start working on YOUR PROJECTS
BE YOUR OWN BOSS
–Don’t answer the phone during your working hours.
-Learn to say no to friends who distract you and to set boundaries with the people you live with, making it clear that your office is at home and it’s as if you were at work. These are sacred hours of creation when nobody should disturb you.
-Find a way to stay focused: work in your studio, not on the sofa or in places full of distractions, only in your creative space. I use podcasts, music and series I already know so I don’t get distracted and keep my attention on what I’m doing.
Even if you work from home and you’re a freelancer, not having a boss doesn’t mean doing whatever you want.
Changing this mindset completely changes the results.
One last tip, and no less important: be curious.
Curious like when you were a child and got passionate about something. Remember what it was like? It became your great passion. Suddenly you only wanted toys from that collection, you only talked about that, you only thought about that.
Becoming the artist you want to be is exactly the same: it’s an inner calling that tends to take over your thoughts and your dreams.
Look for visual inspiration, listen to people who have managed to build a great career, make a wish list, study, compare yourself, learn… and go for it.
Because in the end, that’s what it’s all about.
Yes, it may sound trite, but if you died tomorrow, could you say you had given your all to your dream?
Here are some resources — books, podcasts and things that inspire me every day:
PODCASTS: Mel Robbins podcast, Jay Shetty podcast, Rick Rubin, Robert Greene
ILUSTRACIÓN EN YOUTUBE :the illustrator guide, Kelsey Rodriguez, Brooke Cormier, Chris Piascik
BOOKS: “Mastery” – Robert Greene, “The Artist’s Way” – Julia Cameron
Illustration by @borillustrations
Inspired by the vintage tarot card Strength. A gentle embrace between human and lion reflects the idea that real strength comes from patience, compassion, and inner balance.
I hope these words help you
change your rhythm and your attitude.
I’ll write to you in a month
CIAO♡
