Artistic Dreams: Why you shouldn’t give up on them | Jen Fontanilla | TEDxHuntingtonBeach
URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEzKE1Y_3Po Video ID: BEzKE1Y_3Po ============================================================ Transcriber: Ngọc Uyên Trần Reviewer: Walaa Mohammed Have you ever given up on a childhood dream because someone told you it wouldn't make any money? I remember when my third grade teacher said, we’re going to have Art day this Friday. I was so excited. It’s coloring day. I could spend my whole life coloring and painting and watching a new color appear when I would mix different paint colors together. It was like magic. But, well, somewhere along the way. I had to leave all that foolishness behind . You see making pretty pictures. And mixing colors wasn't going to help me create a future, let alone one that would pay me. Come to think of it, I don't ever remember seeing an artist or someone with a creative job get invited to Career Day. This passion of mine isn't going to support me. I kept affirming to myself that this dream of mine was kind of stupid and unrealistic. No one is going to take me seriously. I mean, how am I supposed to make any real money as a creative? I mean, painting pictures and baking pottery. That's just for fun. Everybody knows you can't make real money as an artist. And over the years, that belief became a part of my money story and the lie that I led myself to believe. So I decided to become a doctor. But I'm sitting there in the hospital thinking. Homer. Joy. Gone is this satisfaction of releasing my creativity? No, this is the logical Jen. And don't get me wrong. Doctors are an important part of our society and well respected. I thought I wanted to be one. But it just wasn't for me. All I feel is confused and most of all empty. Until one day I ran into a friend on campus and he hands me this colorful flyer and says, hey, check this out. I just made this in Photoshop. I took one look at this thing and thought, what? This. Really? Wait. This thing right here . That’s what I want to do. Once again, I feel alive. I'm that little girl once more. And it feels like coloring day. When I tell people I'm going to be a graphic designer, all I get are these confused faces. Oh that's nice. I was tired of only getting support when I talked about being a doctor. Listen, they got it all wrong. Creatives don't have to starve. We just have these messed up money stories in our head. I know we can be creative, be happy and make money. And that's exactly what I did. I began to wonder how our money stories affect us, our money stories, our personal feelings, values and beliefs we hold about money and are shaped within us as children. I grew up thinking that I couldn't make any money as a creative, and that scarcity mindset almost had me giving up on my artistic passion and most of all, myself. But think about it. Why do we believe what we believe about money? We usually aren't aware of the negative effects of the money stories that we heard from our mother, our father, teacher, or even church. Our friends and family may be well-intended, but often they don't even realize that what they say comes from a scarcity and lack mindset. When are you going to get a real job? Oh. Imagine hearing that a creative position is a real job. We're so afraid to choose what we truly desire for ourselves. So we pick the choice that everyone else says will make us more money. One of my clients had a really hard time choosing between her creative passion versus staying in her soul sucking job. And as we talked about her past money stories, I asked. Where do you think those current beliefs about money come from? Her eyes filled with tears as she was hit by that aha moment. She remembered the doubt and lack of support from her traditional immigrant mother, who kept pushing her to take the safe route. But she gained the confidence to say yes to herself, and that empowered her to make choices that served her as she created her own path to success. It's easy to see how our parents and society have shaped our money stories, but we don't have to choose between making money or having happiness. We can have both. A University Zurich study found that creative individuals are usually generally psychologically more stable and happier than those in less creative professions. Princeton University studied how happy and satisfied people feel depending on how much money they make. As people earn more money each year, their happiness and how much they like their job goes up. And this continues until they earn around 75,000 a year. After that, job satisfaction plateaus. Even if they make more, and at $100,000, there's only a little bit more happiness compared to that at 75,000. So the research supports that creatives who earn around 75,000 are usually the happiest. And finally, a 2023 report conducted by Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles revealed that the creative economy in California supported over 5 million workers and contributed to a staggering total economic activity valued around $979 billion. So why are we, as creatives, pushed to believe that we'll be broken miserable if we don't take the traditional path? That isn't the only way to wealth and success in life. When going after our dreams. We don't only have to be driven by the money and force ourselves into doing something we really don't want to do, but we can say yes to ourselves. Create new money stories, but with a different ending. I came to this realization. When we change our money stories and the old limiting beliefs within us. We are finally free to live out our dreams. And when we do, the money and happiness follows. So you're creative. You might have a money story hanging you up just like I did. And the next time you doubt your decision to follow a creative path. Here's what I want you to do first. Write down those beliefs and just stare at them. Next, pick one of them and ask yourself, has there ever been an example in your life that can prove that belief is wrong? Maybe one of the currents beliefs is no one's going to pay me for this work. But perhaps someone did hire you for a project and paid you well. And finally decide for what you desire and choose a new belief such as I am marketable, sought after and people love to pay me. Releasing what no longer serves us and rewriting our money stories. Gives us the power and the confidence to create a healthier relationship with our money. We begin to believe in ourselves and see ourselves in a different way. And when we increase our self-worth, we increase our net worth. The reality is. We are who we believe ourselves to be. Living the life we truly desire requires us to step into the unknown, to open up a world of freedom and possibilities. So ask yourself. Is it possible that you just might have your very own version of Coloring Day inside you? We all have creativity within us. And the best way to sum this up is my favorite quote by Pablo Picasso that says every child. Is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up. Thank you.