Do you have any friends or colleagues who just seem lucky? Who appear to have great opportunities fall in their lap all the time? I know that, from the outside looking in, it can sometimes seem like other people have all the luck! Well, I’m here to tell you, my friend, that the appearance of luck is just that: an appearance. It doesn’t match reality. Behind the scenes of that other creative’s career, what you don’t see is all the work they’re doing to create that luck. Today, I’m going to pull back the curtain and show you how to make your own luck. You, too, can be a lucky artist.

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Hello, thriving artists, and welcome to episode 25 of the Starving Artist No More podcast. I’m creative entrepreneur and artist Jennifer Jill Araya, and I am so excited to be here with you today for this fabulous discussion about how to create luck in your business as a creative entrepreneur. Making your own luck in your work as an artist can be a game-changer for your artistic career! I’m really passionate about this topic and am so glad you’re here to learn with me.

Before we dig into that topic, though, I do want to mention that registration is now open for the next cohort of my group workshop. The previous group workshop finished up at the very end of April, and I’m now accepting registrations for the next iteration, which begins Wednesday, July 19, 2023 and goes all the way through the end of September. During our three months together, group workshop participants will learn how to grow and thrive in their creative work, building a creative business that truly meets their needs and fulfills them personally, creatively, and financially.

If you have been wanting to work with me, if the information I share in these podcast episodes is something that you want to learn more about, if you want to learn and grow both as an artist and as a businessowner alongside some fabulous artists, then now is your chance. You can get all the details on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com. If you have any questions about my group workshop program, you can also reach out to me there, through the contact page.

And if you’re listening to this episode way in the future and July 2023 is long past, I still encourage you to visit my website. I’m always going to keep it up to date with any classes, seminars, workshops, and coaching opportunities I have available, so even if this round of the group workshop is already past, I’m sure there will still be opportunities for you to work with me. I can’t wait to help you grow!

And with that, let’s turn to the topic of today’s episode: making your own luck.

Here at Starving Artist No More, we are all about debunking myths. The myth of the starving artist? Goodbye! That one’s right there in the name of this podcast and in the name of my creative entrepreneurship coaching business. The lie that society tells us about what it means to be creatives in this world – namely, that we have to starve if we want to be “serious artists” – is not true. It is a myth.

What about overnight successes? The idea that someone can suddenly go from having nothing in the way of external visible success to immediately being a sensation in their field? The concept that someone can toil away and then suddenly “get lucky” and have all of their dreams and goals handed to them on a silver platter? That, too, is a myth, just as much as the starving artist is a myth. Success (whatever that word means to you) doesn’t ever actually happen overnight. There’s that old saying: “Overnight success takes 10 years.” And people don’t actually “get lucky.” Rather, that person that you perceive as being lucky is working carefully and strategically behind the scenes to allow that luck to come their way.

The starving artist is a myth. Overnight success is a myth. Luck is a myth.

The good news in all of this is that because those things aren’t true, success and luck are very much within your reach. You do not need to be somehow “blessed by the gods” in order to experience success and fulfillment and luck in your creative work. You just need to work carefully and strategically. You need to make your own luck.

How do you do that? It’s as simple (and as complicated) as focusing on three key areas of your creative work: your mindset, your strategy, and your actions. Now, if you’re a longtime listener of this podcast, you’ll recognize that three-part framework. Mindset, Strategy, and Action describe the outline of how I teach creative entrepreneurs to think about their businesses, and I have already even done a podcast episode on what those three things mean. But just because I’ve already talked about them in one episode doesn’t mean that there’s not more to unpack in our understanding of how those three areas can help you grow and thrive in your creative work.

So let’s dive in. Let’s figure out together how focusing on mindset, strategy, and action can help you create your own luck.

First, mindset. Merriam-Webster tells us that “mindset” is “a mental attitude or inclination.” It’s the attitude you have about your work and your business. It’s your understanding of what is possible, what opportunities are available to you, and whether or not you are able to seize those opportunities when they come. In the context of your work as a creative entrepreneur, your mindset encompasses everything you believe to be possible for your work. In last week’s episode, I told you that it is not an exaggeration to say that your beliefs about what is possible for you and your business will be the limiting factor – or the enabling factor – in how your business grows. And that is so very true. What you believe about your business will determine the opportunities you see.

I can hear you telling me, “Jennifer, that’s just not right. I am working so hard to build my creative business. I’m doing everything I can to grow it and to get more work, the right kind of work for me. I’m seeing every opportunity out there! Changing my mindset won’t help me see more opportunities. I’m seizing every opportunity available to me!”

It is definitely possible that you are recognizing and taking advantage of every opportunity open to you, but it’s much more likely that you’re not.

How can I be so confident that you’re not seeing all opportunities available to you? The invisible gorilla.

In 1999, Chris Chabris and Dan Simons conducted an experiment now known as the “Invisible Gorilla Experiment.” They asked study participants to watch a video of two teams tossing around two basketballs, one team wearing white shirts and one team wearing black shirts. Study participants had to count the number of times the balls changed hands. In the middle of the video, a man in a gorilla suit walks into the middle of the players, beats his chest, and walks on out. If you’re paying attention, the guy in the gorilla suit is pretty obvious, impossible to miss. But in the study, when the participants were asked afterward if anything odd happened in the video, the majority of people said that nothing strange happened at all. Even after they were told about the gorilla-suited man, most participants were adamant that nothing like that had happened. They insisted the study leaders were lying to them.

They weren’t looking for a man in a gorilla suit, so they completely missed seeing him. The gorilla guy wasn’t part of what they expected to see, and so they didn’t see.

(If you’re interested, the video used in the study is actually available on YouTube; I’ll put the link in the show notes.) 

This study shows us that we miss so much of what happens around us. We just don’t see things if we’re not expecting to see them. And what’s more, we don’t realize that we’re missing it.

This is why working to shape a positive mindset around your creative work is so very important. An open, supportive, helpful mindset will help you expect to see good things come your way, which will allow you to actually notice and recognize them when they happen. Without that mindset, those opportunities are still coming by. But they’re like the man in the gorilla suit. They walk into the center of your world, pause to pound their chest and make their presence known, and then walk right out again when it’s clear that you have no idea they’re there.

Let me give you a little hypothetical so you can understand what I’m talking about. Let’s say that you’re attending a conference and having a conversation with a fellow artist you just met. That artist mentions a recent project they worked on that sounds really interesting to you. If you’re not keeping an open mind about the opportunities available to you, that’s where the conversation will end. It’ll be a neat discussion with a new networking contact about a project that sounds like it was fun for them and that is interesting to you.

However, if your mindset is one that believes that opportunities are there, waiting for you to jump on board, that conversation could go in a totally different direction. Perhaps you dive into your curiosity. You steer the conversation in a way that allows you to learn how that artist was able to work on that project, asking questions about their process in being chosen for the project and preparing themselves for the project artistically. By the end of the conversation, you could walk away with a blueprint for the specific action steps you could take to get that same kind of project for yourself. And all of that knowledge was available to you the whole time. You just had to recognize it was there and then ask for it.

You may have heard the story about how the microwave was invented, but in case you haven’t, allow me to share it. In 1945, scientist and researcher Percy Spencer was working on a radar experiment when he noticed that the candy bar in his pocket was melted – an unexpected occurrence. Spencer showed curiosity about why that happened and decided to test the electromagnetic waves from the radar experiment directly on different foods, first cooking popcorn and then an egg. Eventually, he attached the electromagnetic generator directly to a metal box, inventing the microwave. All because he noticed an unexpected side effect to a totally different experiment.

According to one article I read about the invention of the microwave, Spencer was not the first scientist working with radar waves to notice that the electromagnetic equipment melted any candy bars in the vicinity. He was the first to actually do something about it. If Spencer hadn’t been open to recognizing the unexpected when it happened, and then showing curiosity about why that unexpected thing happened, then we wouldn’t have microwaves today, or he wouldn’t have been the one to invent it. Be open to the unexpected!

Believe that success and fulfillment is possible for you, and you’ll start to see opportunities to bring that success and fulfillment your way. Keep yourself open to the unexpected in your work, and you’ll notice it when it happens. When you find yourself buying into the myths that success isn’t possible and that starving and scarcity are all that you can expect, stop those thoughts in their tracks. Change those mental stories you are telling yourself. Insist internally that it is possible for you to flourish. Allow yourself to notice the gorilla.

So that’s why mindset is important: it allows you to recognize the opportunities that come your way. But what do you do with the opportunities? How do you know if this is really an opportunity that will help you, or one that will take you far off course? That’s where strategy comes in.

There’s a quote from Seneca that is super applicable to this: “To the person who does not know where he wants to go, there is no favorable wind." If you don’t know your destination, it doesn’t matter how perfect the wind is – it’s not going to help you get anywhere!

I grew up sailing. I was pretty young at the time that my family was doing a lot of sailing regularly – we sold the sailboat when I was a tween – so I was too young at the time to learn the intricate details of how to sail, but even as I child, I picked up the absolute truth that wind matters a lot when you’re sailing. In fact, the wind is the most important thing to pay attention to when you’re sailing. The wind is everything. And as long as there is wind, which on a big body of water, there usually is at least some wind, any wind can be favorable. If the wind is behind you, you’ve literally got smooth sailing! The wind is pushing you forward quickly and you’re good to go. But even if the wind is coming directly at you, you still have options. You can do what’s called tacking, or zig zagging back and forth, turning the sail into an air foil that actually allows you to move forward into the wind. When you have a sailboat, if you’ve got wind, there is no stopping you from getting where you want to go.

Where this analogy breaks down is if you don’t know where you want to go. If you don’t know your destination, no wind is a favorable wind. Tacking into the wind might give you good sailing practice, but it won’t advance you to your destination … because you don’t have a destination. And if the wind is behind you, great! You can move quickly. But how do you know if that wind is favorable if you don’t know if that’s the way you want to go? Knowing where you want to go is necessary to even figure out which wind is favorable.

In your creative business, your business strategy gives you your destination. Does your business have a destination? Do you know where you want to go with your creative business? Do you have a plan? Do you have a strategy for your business?

If your answer is no, I encourage you to take some time and put together a plan for your business. Decide on a destination. By doing the hard thought work of putting together your business plan, you are deciding where you want to go and making sure that favorable wind comes your way. By having a business plan – a strategy – you can focus the myriad opportunities you’re now recognizing for yourself, thanks to your improved mindset, and zero into the opportunities that are actually right for you and for what you want for your artistic work. Strategy takes the world of possibility and sharpens the focus to the world of opportunity that is right for you.

If the thought of putting together a business plan completely overwhelms you, I can help. First, go back and listen to Episode 7 of this podcast. That episode is all about working in what I call your Creative and Financial Sweet Spot. These are the projects that bring you the most fulfillment and joy creatively, and that pay you your very best rates. If you have no idea where to even start in terms of putting together a business plan, start with your sweet spot.

But if that still overwhelms you and you still feel like you need more guidance, I encourage you to look at my one-on-one coaching programs and the group workshop that is beginning soon. One of the main priorities of my coaching and workshop programs is to help people put together a practical, workable strategy that will allow them to build the creative business of their dreams. All of the details are available on my website, www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com.

So, mindset lets you see the opportunities – lets you see the gorillas walking through the frame. Strategy allows you to determine which opportunities are the right ones for you – which winds are favorable for your destination. Now it’s time for part three of making your own luck: taking action.

Seeing the opportunities and knowing that they’re right for you is all well and good, but that will mean nothing unless you take action to seize those right opportunities. The mindset work and the strategy work are necessary first steps, but you can’t stop there. You have to take action.

Most creatives I know don’t have too much trouble taking some action. Of course when the dream project is offered to them, they jump to accept it and throw themselves into completing it. Of course when the long awaited opportunity finally makes itself known, they’ll do what needs to be done and make it happen.

Action in those cases is easy, almost instinctive. The problem is that those kinds of actions aren’t consistent, and inconsistent action will get you inconsistent results. Your action – your down-and-dirty, day-to-day work in your business – must be continuous. When you’re busy, you’re taking action. When you’re not busy, you’re taking action. When you’re excited and rejuvenated, you’re taking action. When you’re tired and discouraged, you’re taking action. If your mindset is right and your strategy is set, it's easy to know what actions to take. It’s the actual taking of those actions, and especially the consistency in taking those actions, that’s hard.

I work with a lot of creative entrepreneurs who fall into what I call feast or famine action. They only act out of panic. And acting out of panic is neither sustainable nor helpful.

Let’s examine the fictional business of a fictional creative entrepreneur that we’ll call Jennifer. (Ok, maybe it’s not so fictional. Maybe this used to be me.) Jennifer loves her work, and she’s good at it. She knows what she needs to do to get projects and clients, and so she does that work – she takes action – and projects and clients come to her. Yay! This is so exciting! So she starts filling up her schedule. She accepts lots and lots of work, and she’s taking action getting the work done. Everything’s great! Except … oh no … it’s actually not so great. She’s taken so much action getting work that her schedule is filling up too much … and now it’s over-full … and now it’s overflowing … and she is overwhelmed. No more work, please! Her days are full of frantic activity to get these projects done on time, which means that she’s not doing her best work, because no one does their best creative work when they’re frantic. It’s just not possible. And all that marketing and networking that she’d been doing to get the projects and the clients to come to her earlier? That’s completely stopped. There’s no time for marketing and networking to get new projects – she has to finish the projects she’s already got! Who cares about new work that will be scheduled in the future? She’s drowning in work right now! But, finally, finally, the deluge subsides. Her schedule settles into a more reasonable place. Her workload is actually manageable, shocking, I know! But she sees the light at the end of the tunnel, and she gets the crazy projects all turned in on time. And sure, it maybe wasn’t her very best work, but it was ok, and the clients seemed happy, so it’s all fine … except no, it’s not fine. Her schedule is almost empty now … and now it is empty … which means no money coming into the business … at all. That light at the end of the tunnel wasn’t another train representing future work; it was a wide open expanse of nothingness with no work anywhere in sight. Time to get back to that marketing and networking! She needs to put everything she’s got into drumming up more projects and more clients and more work for herself! That empty schedule (and the prospect of the empty bank account to go along with it) is terrifying, and that terror causes her to act with fervor and manic energy. Operation Get More Work is underway! Ok, whew, the schedule is filling back up again … and now it’s full … and now it’s overfull … and the whole terrifying cycle starts again.

Fictional (or not so fictional) Jennifer was firmly strapped in to the feast or famine roller coaster. Her business was not steady and consistent. It was full of exhilarating highs and frantic, panicked lows. Sure, some people enjoy roller coasters, but I don’t think a roller coaster business is ever a good thing.

Fictional Jennifer’s problem was her inconsistent action. She only did the marketing and networking necessary to get new projects when her schedule was empty, and she did it with such fervor and sheer panic that she overwhelmed what was truly possible for her. And when that overwhelmingly full schedule hit, all marketing and networking ceased. With such inconsistent action, a business constantly plagued by the feast or famine cycle is inevitable.

If you want consistent results, you have to take consistent action. When your project calendar is empty, take action in your strategy. When your project calendar is full, take action in your strategy. And if your strategy is truly one pointed toward a destination that you know is right for you, you’ll be able to focus the kinds of projects you accept to the ones that are truly right for you, meaning you won’t accept everything. You’ll only accept the right things, and the crazy, awful overwhelm that comes from an overfull schedule will be a thing of the past for you. You’ll be able to do your best work on every project because you’ll be giving yourself time to do that deep, lovely, wonderful creative work. And it all comes from taking consistent action. If you want to get off the feast or famine roller coaster, consistent action is the key.

And that’s how you make your own luck. That’s how you orchestrate your work so that you’re always in the right place at the right time. A supportive, positive mindset allows you to see the opportunities. With the right mindset, you will notice the man in the gorilla suit frantically trying to get your attention, calling you to recognize the opportunities that are right in front of you.

A practical business strategy helps you focus the opportunities to ones that actually are right for you. Paying attention to your Creative and Financial Sweet Spot allows you to determine ahead of time which projects both bring you creative joy and bring you financial rewards so that you can say with confidence that every opportunity you seize, every project you accept, is one that is good for you and will get you where you want to go. Strategy allows you to recognize that favorable wind.

And continuous action ties it all together. Taking action continuously, when your schedule is empty and when your schedule is full, keeps the opportunities consistent. Opportunities that you now recognize thanks to your supportive mindset.

And the virtuous cycle starts all over again. You are doing the focused, intentional work to make sure that when opportunities come your way, you’re prepared and ready to take full advantage of them. You’ve put in the work. You are now lucky.

Thank you so much for spending time with me today. I know how precious time is to creative entrepreneurs, and I will never take for granted the incredible gift you are giving me by spending some of that time with me each week. If you have any thoughts or comments you want to share with me, or if you have questions for me or want to learn more about how you can work with me, my website is the perfect place for you to go. www.StarvingArtistNoMore.com, and fill out the contact form to get in touch. And as always, if you found this episode helpful, please pass it along to your friends and colleagues. Sharing is caring! A huge thank you to my husband and best friend, Arturo Araya, for his work engineering this episode, and every episode of this podcast. He’s the one that makes sure this podcast sounds good and is ready for your listening ears.

The next time you hear someone say that another artist is an “overnight success,” or that another creative is just “lucky” with their career, I hope you speak up and say that those things are myths, just like the starving artist is a myth. Luck is intentionally created. Overnight success is the result of careful planning and intentional action. What is true is that you make your own "luck." By shaping a positive mindset, crafting a workable strategy, and taking consistent action, you will be able to recognize the right opportunities and take full advantage of them. It's time to make your own luck! I can’t wait to see what you create.