Is Coaching For You?

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Artists, like all human beings, find it hard to implement practices that they know would serve them. They know that they’re not getting to the studio first thing in the morning because they’re in the habit of staying up super-late — still they stay up late. They know that they’re not reaching out and making enough connections in the marketplace — still they avoid reaching out. They know that they’re avoiding growing by being afraid to “risk” some ruined canvases in the service of new ideas — still they avoid taking those risks. We all do this far too much of the time.

A little coaching can help. In a way it’s odd that a person can be helped rather dramatically by something as simple as somebody cheering them on and holding them accountable. Yet you can probably sense how that would help you, too. As much as we rightly strive to retain our rugged individuality and want to believe that we can go it alone, we also understand that we need a little support, a little friendliness, some good suggestions, and someone with whom we can check in and monitor our progress. A creativity coach is good for this.

Since you’re likely looking for revenue streams to supplement your art income, you might want to become a creativity coach yourself. Your main objections to such an idea are probably the following two: won’t that keep me from getting to my art and what if I don’t like people all that much? Both are real questions. Anything we do to earn some money, whether it’s a day job or a second career, endangers our ability to get our creative work done; coaching is no exception. And, yes, we may feel a little misanthropic — but probably we also hunger to be of help and to connect with like-minded people. If we do an excellent job of maintaining our own creative life and if we find the place in us that relishes human contact, then creativity coaching can prove exactly the right income supplement for you.

Come take a look at the trainings I offer. New trainings begin Feb. 10, June 16 and Sept. 22 of 2014. For more information, please click here.