Creative Confidence: How To Survive A Crisis In Creative Confidence

Confidence can be the most influential and powerful element of all in what we creative, how often we create, and how bravely we create.

When our self-confidence is high, creating comes freely and abundantly, gushing like a waterfall in the Spring thaw.

We create every moment we can, and our creative work is bold, daring, experimental, each project building on the momentum and success of the previous one.

This confidence in our creativity can’t help but spill over into the rest of our creative life. So we walk with a bounce in our step, feel more sociable, more lovable, more capable, more alive.

All of this stems from having a high level of self-confidence.

Without strong confidence in our creativity, it’s a somewhat different picture.

We can’t get going on any project without feeling everything we do – every sentence, brushstroke, note, stitch or dance step – is weak, off kilter, lacklustre, uninspired.

Because our confidence has more holes in than an old man’s vest, we become super critical of every last detail.

Instead of gliding through the inevitable quirks, tangents and bumps that occur along the road naturally when we create, we’re brought to a sharp stop by the slightest sign that all is not flowing perfectly.

So we create less and less, and shrink further and further back into ourselves, afraid even of creating the things we usually find as easy as breathing...

In short, what starts as feeling uncreative and a bit stuck can quickly develop into a major crisis of creative confidence.

So what can we do? How can we overcome this crisis and even start to get that confidence back?

Here’s a proven 5 step plan for getting back YOUR creative confidence when a crisis hits:

1. Don’t panic. All of us in our creative lives experience ebbs and flows, highs and lows. They don’t last. That said, we’re not helpless slaves to some unknown force, there are specific, effective actions we can take to get us back on track when all seems to be hopeless and in disarray.

2. Know your creative strengths. We can’t be brilliant at everything we do, there are some things we do better than other things. By identifying our creative strengths, we can then focus on these during times when our confidence is lower, and they will help pull us through more quickly and surely.

3. Learn confidence from others. Think about people who you consider confident in life, creatively or otherwise. What are the their key “Components of Confidence”, the factors common to all confident people? How do they communicate, act and behave? What’s their mental attitude, their outlook? What do they believe about themselves? How can you start to take on these traits and habits yourself?

4. Practice being confident. Once you realise what your strengths are, and what confidence in others looks, sounds and feels like, practice, practice, practice. Confidence doesn’t just appear from nowhere, it’s a skill, an attitude, and a way of being that we can improve by finding what works specifically for increasing our confidence, then doing it more and more.

5. Take small, steady steps. If you’re confidence is low, then it’s maybe not the best time to take on the biggest and most complex creative project of your life. Start a small, specific project and don’t attach a fixed outcome to it, just enjoy creating and see how it develops. Then build on what you enjoy with a new, slightly more ambitious project.

Remember, having confidence isn’t like buying a ticket in the Confidence Lottery and then crossing your fingers and hoping your ticket wins the big prize.

Confidence is something you can learn, practice and develop, then during those times when you feel your creativity is getting a little stuck, you can draw on that confidence to pull you through.

:: Share Your Experience ::

When have you experienced a crisis of confidence, and what have done to help yourself through it more easily?

Click the comments link below to share your ideas, comments and experiences.