How to stand out in a new creative industry when you want to change fields.

You’re incredible at what you do and what you’re known for. The creative field you’re in probably feels as comfortable as an old pair of slippers too.

It’s familiar. It’s safe. You know people who know people. And you’ve built a reputation and legacy there that precedes you. Hats off to you. Sounds lush to anyone on the outside looking in, wanting what you have, right?

But when you come to realise that you don’t want that, when you know you want (and increasingly need with each passing day) more creative fulfilment from your work in a different creative field, the challenge inherently within that, is three-fold;

1. You know your field so well, your comfort-blanket feels alluring AF and creating change can feel insurmountable

2. You know your field so well, it makes you believe you’re an inadequate, incapable newbie anywhere outside of said field

3. You know your field so well, you’ve convinced yourself that’s only way you’re able to make good money

…and therefore, being able to ‘stand out’ for all the right reasons in a new creative field feels like an imaginary world away.

If that sounds like you, you’ve stumbled across the right article my friend. Because this is exactly what I help people like you with.

Let’s begin!

1. Your comfort blanket feels alluring AF

Of course it does :) because it provides you with what seems to be safety, predictability and familiarity, and everything staying exactly as it is. No risk. No danger. Just routine and mundanity thank you please.

When you’re all tucked into said blanket, you’re following the subconscious program that you’ve [knowingly and/or unknowingly] created for yourself. And when I say ‘program’, I mean your personalised, internal belief system that tells you what is true for you, what is possible for you, and how the world works.

We each have our own, and yours is unique to you, your lived experience, and what’s been passed down to you generationally.

The idea of challenging that program and taking tangible steps towards evolving in your creative career or business in spite of it, doesn’t just feel unfathomable because of the uncomfortable fear of change it brings up, but it also feels like a ridiculous notion because it likely feels foolish, juvenile and unrealistic.

If this resonates with you, let me just reassure you – it makes complete sense that your desire to finally create from your heart for you (over creating from your head for others), absolutely feels like a nonsense pipe-dream at the start – because that’s exactly what your subconscious has told you to feel about it, and why your comfort blanket is so damn cosy! Safety, predictability, familiarity remember?

But what I want to invite you to consider, is how different your life might look and feel, if you popped the blanket down for just a moment, and viewed it through a slightly different lens. A lens where you can perhaps see that, hang on, this blanket is actually weighted. A lens where you might also notice, that when you’re under this weighted blanket, you can’t freely create, you can’t freely move, you can’t freely breathe, you can’t freely ‘be you’.

In fact through this lens, it’s actually not ‘comfortable’ under there at all. It’s kinda suffocating. And this blanket is one of the reasons you’ve been feeling like you’ve been feeling this past while, and why you’ve found yourself here reading this.

Now I’m not here to imply that you have to shatter your nervous system and burn your comfort blanket to create positive change. Far from it.

I’m here to simply lift the weight of your comfort blanket for a second, so you can see there’s a freer, more creative and far more fulfilling way to create, to move, to breathe and to BE YOU. So will you give that lens a try for me?

2. You believe you’re an inadequate, incapable newbie

Do you know who feels more inadequate and incapable as a newbie in a creative field, than an up and coming graduate wanting to make their mark? = An established, high-achieving creative working in another creative field wanting to make their mark :)

Why? Because you have years if not decades of experience under your belt in one field, it’s likely made you feel double the years if not double the decades ‘behind’ in your new one. Like you’re further behind than you would’ve been if you’d have just started in this field in the first place.

Well I’m here to disrupt that nonsense train of thought because that’s all it is – a nonsense train of thought. A train of thought carefully crafted by your subconscious, making sure you keep wrapped up in that alluring comfort blanket we just went deep on. A train of thought working a treat at ensuring you don’t venture a millimetre away from where you are now.

I’m here to break it to you, that not only is your creative experience of huge benefit to you whatever your creative pivot (hello transferable skills, transferable processes and transferable creative magic), it’s also proof of what you’re capable of, even when your heart’s not 100% in it.

Imagine what creative magic you’re capable of when you ARE all in!

In fact, my article on why you being excellent at your creative profession is your biggest problem, is testament to this theory.

So can we agree to stop grabbing so tightly on to this inadequate, incapable chatter?

3. You believe you can only make good money the way you are now

It’s natural to allow money worries and lack to stifle and dictate your creative dream. I’ve got first-hand experience of initially choosing what I believed was the ‘more in demand’ creative career over what my heart was calling me to do, so believe me when I say ‘I get it’.

Your success as a high-achieving creative has perhaps afforded you a lifestyle you’ve become accustomed to, and the stakes feel higher with each passing year as a result. You tell yourself with increasing momentum that there’s more to lose, less to gain, and the risk just isn’t worth it. You can’t possibly make better money than the way you are now, so you don’t.

Well here’s the thing – how do you know you’re not financially capping yourself staying where you are creatively?

How do you know there isn’t infinitely more money-making potential in being the creative you were called to be all along?

How do you know things can’t get even better than they are?

You don’t know :) so let’s start loosening our grip on this one too.

the funny thing is, all these challenges have one thing in common;

They’re all constructed by your mind.

Now that’s not an invitation for you to host a self-pity-party for one – you aren’t ‘at fault’ here. We all do this! It’s our natural instinct to self-preserve by distorting, generalising and deleting information to make sure our model of ourselves, and the world remains unchanged .

But this is an invitation to self-reflect, because until you have that self-awareness and understanding that radical responsibility-taking is the only way through, you can’t access the power to change.

And the awesome news is – change is 100% possible, because all of these challenges can absolutely be deconstructed by your mind too.

In short – THIS IS HOW YOU STAND OUT IN A NEW CREATIVE FIELD = You do what’s required to stop believing the bullsh*t that’s holding you back, and start channeling that freed-up energy into exploding your creative magic, unapologetically!

The top-level process of doing this is;

1. Identifying all the boundaries and barriers you’ve constructed or feel held back by
   
   A really effective way to do this is to write an ‘I can’t…’ list. Quite simply, grab a journal or a blank piece of paper, and list out all the reasons you can’t live your true creative call (e.g, I can’t be a fine artist because…/I can’t be a musician because…/I can’t be an author because…). Keep going until you’re all tapped out with nothing left to say.

   There may be a couple, there may be a journal full. The important part is to extract these boundaries and barriers from whirling around unsupervised in your mind (where they hold all the power), and instead get them down on paper (where they can be seen, heard and better understood – so we can do something about them).
   
   

2. Doing the necessary work to loosen your grip and attachment to them
   
   Depending on the root cause of the boundaries and barriers that came up for you (because each and every one of them are there for a reason), the ‘work’ required to loosen your grip of them will vary. Sometimes conscious mind work like journaling will be effective, but often, unconscious mind work is the real needle-mover. I go into a little more detail of what that practically looks like in ‘A taste of how I work’ here.

   On a fundamental level however, ‘the work’ is always in meeting yourself with true love, true compassion and true understanding for yourself and why you’ve held on to these blocks for so long. Funnily enough, it’s NOT in self-loathing or harbouring anger and frustration at yourself. In fact, the longer you choose this easy option, the longer things stay exactly as they are. Or worse, they regress.
   
   

3. Take embodied action towards the outcome that you do want alongside steps 1 and 2
   
   It may sound obvious, but it’s surprising how often it’s forgotten or overlooked – a really powerful way to cement this work, accelerate your results and begin standing out in a new creative field, is to simply take conscious, practical action steps that bring you closer to the outcome you want.

   If you want to be considered for licensing deals for your designs, take the practical steps to research and be in spaces like trade shows where licensing deals go down. If you want to be taken seriously as a musician, take yourself seriously by investing in the right kit and create non-negotiable time in your week to play with sound. If you want to get a publishing deal as a writer, research which publishing houses might be a fit for your work.

It sounds obvious, but have you taken this kind of practical action? And if you haven’t, head back to step 1 above and explore why.

Now I get that I’ve made it sound like a quick and easy 3-step process, but I know from personal experience, it’s not necessarily that cut and dry.

It’s all well and good me sharing these practical steps to get you started with standing out in a new creative industry, but if you’re finding that there’s a growing sense of urgency within you to create this change, and you’re really struggling to move the needle on recovering (and living) your true creative call, you might be a perfect fit for what I help high-achieving creatives like you with.

If this sounds like you, you can learn more about what working with me will look and feel like here, and where you can book a free call for us to find out if I’m the right creative coach for you.

Overall though, I’d love to know if this has been helpful for you – you’re very welcome to connect with me on LinkedIn and drop me message. I love chatting with fellow creatives and hearing all about what fires you up :)

Until next time xo