4 Signs you need a Creative Coach
Are you on the struggle bus?
Are you feeling uninspired? Burnt out? In a rut? Maybe you dream of one day having the time and energy to pursue your hobbies and creative ideas - only to get demotivated. Here are some signs you might benefit from having a Creative Coach on your side.
1. You keep telling people you’re “writing a book”
You’ve got this great idea for a novel, and you dream of living the life of a writer. Waking up in the morning whenever you roll out of bed, fresh and full of ideas. Jotting down story ideas in your notebook with your morning coffee and spending the rest of the day spilling ideas out of your head onto the page. The problem is, you keep telling people (and yourself) that you’re writing a book and you haven’t even started. You get home from your day job and all you want to do is relax. When will you ever find the time?
2. Your days lack structure and meaning
You wake up and immediately look at your phone. The doomscroll has taken control of your attention span and reduced it to the attention span of a hyperactive squirrel. Your day lacks structure, and each day blends into the next one. You crave the feeling you get after you do something creative, and wish you had a creative ritual to look forward to each day.
3. Your inner-critic is a bully
You dream about one day being a “real artist”, whatever that means. Your inner critic reenforces your imposter syndrome, telling you you can’t be an artist until you reach some kind of imaginary threshold. You like to paint or draw, but you’re constantly comparing yourself to others. You want to improve your artistic skills but aren’t sure how to accomplish it beyond just continuing to bang your head against the wall.
4. You have big ideas but no idea how to start
You know you have great ideas, but they’re so big and ambitious you can’t figure out where to begin. You collect ideas but never work on them, building a taller and taller stack of shame. You struggle with breaking down problems into smaller actionable goals, and get overwhelmed by all the possibilities.
If any of this resonates with you, you might benefit from having a Creative Coach on your side. Art and creativity is the antidote to burnout, and a lot of people think that the creative impulse is something that should just come naturally to them. We often get frustrated when it doesn’t show up, and sometimes we get so discouraged we just stop trying. Sometimes we tell ourselves that we need to wait for inspiration to strike, that if we don’t create something good on the first try then we just don’t have the talent or that we can’t call ourselves an “artist” until we make money from it. Sometimes all we need is someone to tell us that these things are common ways artists discourage themselves. Building a creative practice is a slow process but it’s the best way to reconnect with our creative selves. Working with a Creative Coach can help you discover what truly motivates you, and how you can discover your authentic voice.
I’ve been working with people as a coach for a few years now and it’s remarkable how transformative this process can be. It feels obvious when you first realize that all it takes is self-examination, to take a look at what you’re currently doing and asking yourself if it’s serving you, your values and your authenticity. Many people have just never sat down with anyone to talk about this. The answer is within them, they just haven’t been asked the right questions. A Creative Coach can help!
