Graphic Design and Branding Studio in Denver, Colorado
4 Reasons That You Should Take a Leap and Try That Thing That You’ve Been Too Scared To Try.
Vol. 013
4 Reasons That You Should Take a Leap and Try That Thing That You’ve Been Too Scared To Try.
How continuing to push yourself, experiment, and confidently take risks fosters growth and progress in your freelance, creative business.
I recently wrapped up a mural collaboration with the talented Ashley Joon for CRUSH Walls, Denver’s largest mural festival in the RiNo Arts District. Sponsored by Free Market, the phrase “Talk Denver to Me” was evocative and bold, and we were painting on a wildly-textured surface. A surface tough for a brush and paint, as I always use. If you don’t know, I’ve painted many murals in the past; however, this surface elicited the first spray paint mural that I’ve ever painted. 😬
I’ve been wanting to experiment with spray paint for years now, but I always used an excuse to avoid it: I either told myself that I didn’t want to try spray paint on this client mural — I didn’t a paying client project “to be an experiment” and for the mural to turn out poorly.” or, I simply told myself that because it was a new medium and I was unfamiliar, the surface would be faster/easier/less expensive to brush paint (oftentimes this was a lie to myself.)
After completing this collaborative mural, I realized that my fears were illegitimate (I’m no master, but I handled the spray just fine) and I fell in love with the process and expediency of the spray painted mural. This led me to wanting to talk about fear this week, and how/why it does (and shouldn’t) hold us back.
Have you experienced this before? You’re holding off on something (for days, weeks, months or even years!) fearful to try...and when you finally gather the audacity to do that thing, it’s not nearly as bad as you thought it’d be?
Below are 4 reasons why you should continue to sprint forward in the face of fear (also read: unpredictability, obstacles, trying something new, discomfort, etc.)
1. Experimenting and taking risks helps you learn something new.
This one is pretty straight forward. After doing something you were scared of, each step you take along your freelance creative career is slightly more intentional than the last. Moving forward in the face of resistance enables you to continue to refine your career journey with intention and confidence.
How this affected my experience as a mural artist:Obstacles (among other factors) led me to trying spray paint in this Denver mural event, and now that I’ve done it, I not only wonder what I was so timid for, but I learned something new about my process. I now see an opportunity to foster a new style with the combination of spray paint and house paint, and I have a new mural design drive that is burning, and ready to paint!
2. There’s no innovation without experimentation.
Taking new risks helps prevent creative block and creative stagnation. But, don’t let the goal of finding and taking risks overwhelm you: your risks and experiments don’t necessarily need to be “new ideas’, but could be “new approaches” to old ideas. Or, completely repurposing old ideas. How could you ever know that you were meant to teach hand lettering workshops if you never tested the waters? How would you know if packaging design was you’re always too scared to try? How would I know whether or not spray painting a mural works for me if I don’t give it a shot?! As you continue to take those risks and experiment, you learn new processes and techniques about your own creative process and this leads to you developing truly unique perspectives, ideas and work!
How this recently helped me as a Denver mural artist:
After using a combination of spray paint and a bit of house paint, I fell in love with that process. I’m able to apply broad fills of color extremely quickly (spray), and hit small precise details if needed (house paint). Of course, I know that I am absolutely not the first mural artist in Denver who combines spray paint and house paint; but, learning this first hand has been truly innovative in my processes as a mural designer. It was only through my own process and experimentation that I realized that this worked well for me, and I now have a slew of new tools, techniques and process in my arsenal to apply to painting murals moving forward.
When you allow your varied interests to aid in your experimentation, you allow yourself to think differently: you’re more mentally engaged, and this enables you to be a better problem solver. This cognitive stimulation prevents you from feeling unmotivated and keeps you feeling inspired! Simply: trying new things helps you keep kickin’ ass and moving forward in your freelance creative career.
Jeddidah Jenkins, who notably bicycled from Portland, OR to Patagonia, has a great video where he talks about this.
How this applied to my career as a freelance graphic designer:
My whole career has been risks. Everything from pursuing lettering when I wasn’t good at lettering, teaching hand lettering workshops and speaking about my experience starting a design studio in Denver when I’d never taught or spoke before, to being on reality tv and rebranding the largest cannabis dispensary in Colorado. So much of my career (and life, for that matter) has felt like a risk. Because those risks and opportunities were scary, I was cognitively engaged, stimulated and excited. These experiences proved to be some of the most memorable and career-shifting decisions I made, and I would do them each 100x over if I could go back.
4. Things aren’t as scary as they seem.
Oftentimes we avoid anything that goes against the grain because of the Uncertainty Complex. As psychologist Dan Gardner explains, Uncertainty Complex is an unrealistic fear of the future or the unknown when comparing it to the past. The past almost always appears less scary when we look back because of Hindsight Bias: a bias formed by looking back on periods of time and really only focusing on what was good/right, allowing ourselves to diminish the intensity of anything negative because “we know it didn’t actually happen.”
I say this with a slight grain of salt, but I believe most of your fears when it comes to starting that career as a wedding photographer, hand lettering artist or freelance graphic designer isn’t as scary as it seems. You’re just comparing the perceived unpredictability to your past, a past of which you know you survive just fine (cause, you’re here reading this, aren’t you?), and the difference between those two feels stark and scary. Don’t allow yourself to fall into this mind-trap!
How this affected me when starting my graphic design studio in Denver:
My example here actually highlights me embracing this notion a bit. Before I moved to Denver in 2014 and decided to try to make a career as a freelance graphic designer (let alone start my own design studio in Denver) I traveled on and off for about 11 months. During these travels I learned hand lettering, I was doing random art-related odd-jobs, and I was making and selling artwork. Confirmation bias told me that I could live an uprooted life, wing it, and make money doing whatever creative-stuff I wanted to do. Because of this confirmation bias, I was actually unintimidated by the idea of starting my own business, despite my lack of experience. Ultimately, it was a wildly bumpy ride, I was really, really bad for a long time, and I almost quit/failed multiple times. But, here I am, still alive! I believe a large factor in surviving this ride was my natural inclination to move towards and embracing the unknown.
There ya have it, folks, 4 proven reasons that you should take risks and try something new. I truly believe if you embrace these notions, you’ll be one step closer towards fostering the blossoming freelance creative career that you’ve always wanted!
Cheers
- Adam
As always, hit me with any questions or thoughts that you might have! For more, get 1-on-1 coaching or mentorship. Schedule a call.
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