The Downsides of Being a Creative

If you are a creative or know of one personally, I need you to sit down and understand the life of a creative real’ quick. For a creative, this will be refreshing for you because by the end of this post, you will realize that all the emotions you have been feeling are completely valid and relatable and if you aren’t in the creative field, you will get a glimpse of life behind-the-scenes for creatives and understand why your support means so much to us.

In as much as being a creative is fun because we have the ability to use our thoughts and ideas to create something exceptional, there are some downsides to it that no one ever talks about. However, these downsides can bring us down and build us up too and it all depends on your attitude towards it all. So, let’s right into it…

As a creative, you have to be your own cheerleader and never stop cheerleading. You have to make sure that you support yourself more than anyone else does. Us small creatives are hardly ever recognized and I have noticed something strange about people, they find it way easier to support ‘big’ creatives/brands than those who are just starting off and this is a big reason as to why you have to be there for yourself. Once you stop supporting and believing in yourself, you will start slacking and sooner or later you will feel the need to completely abandon your craft. You absolutely have to be your own stan.

Supporting and motivating yourself 24/7 can be quite draining, also because you will keep finding yourself thinking that you are not good enough and/or you are not making enough progress compared to other people who are doing what you are doing. It’s very common to lose motivation especially when you are consistent and doing the best you can. However, the more you work on your goals, the less motivation you will need as time goes by because whenever you need a little kick to keep moving, you can simply look at how far you’ve come, how much work you have managed to do and that’s enough to get you back on the saddle.

The more you work on your goals, the less motivation you will need as time goes by because whenever you need a little kick to keep moving, you can simply look at how far you’ve come, how much work you have managed to do and that’s enough to get you back on the saddle.

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Also, speaking of motivation, another downside of being a creative is that you have to stop waiting for inspiration. You have to create even when you don’t have much inspiration to draw from (pun sort of intended). I, for instance, have to post on the 5th, 15th and 25th of every month on my blog because I want to stay consistent in content creating but on some days I don’t have the energy to write a blog or I get distracted by a friend wanting to meet up/call, or I’m simply hungover. But despite all these reasons, I get up and type that blog post and publish it. So, it’s all just a matter of pushing yourself even when you don’t feel like moving a finger.

Creatives also do not make much money off their work and that alone is a huge bummer for us and it also goes back to the fact that people aren’t willing to contribute to a small business but would pay 5x more for a well-established brand. It’s a confusing concept that I will look into soon. When you are a creative, you usually have to spend money building up your brand and not make much from it for a long time. Well, this is where love and dedication comes in, when you love what you do, money really won’t matter. I have been running my blog for 3 and a half years now and I pay $300 just to have my blog up and running and since I only started selling presets now, I am making a good $7 a month *inserts smiley face but breaking down inside*.

R E L A T E D | How to Succeed as a Creative

One of the big downsides of being a creative is that you will doubt your craft at any chance you get, even when you are casually taking your regular bathroom breaks, you’ll find yourself sitting there thinking, “Hear me out bro… I have to quit!” and you find yourself listing all the reasons as to why you really should quit but the good news is that you usually come to your senses and realize how great you could be if you just keep going. 

Being a creative is pretty tough that is why we appreciate each and every person who has at least sent out a little shoutout and they have no idea how far that goes. If you are also a creative and you can relate to everything I have mentioned about, I want you to know that you are not alone and you will never be alone, we all have our low and high days. Just continue on the lane that you are on and trust that the universe will reward you for your consistency and dedication. You have absolutely no reason to stop now, stop trying to convince yourself otherwise.