Have you ever taken a look at someone’s life, business, or work and felt a little stab of jealousy? Have you ever thought, “Why don’t I have that many sales”, “Why does her life look so wonderful”?
Jealousy is a natural human emotion, but it is also a double edged sword. You can let it depress you, stall your progress and feel miserable or you can use it to motivate you, to improve your creative business, your life and your art/craft.
The key is to look at those people a little differently.
The Teacher – How did their shop become so successful? Do they have great photos, hundreds of items, or a way of writing a description that makes you feel like you are holding the item in your hand? Do they provide amazing customer service? Look at their shop and try to see what makes it so successful and learn from that. Don’t COPY what they are doing, but look at some ways you might improve your own shop.
The Example – Is it a big goal of yours to have 1,000 sales? To make a decent income with your creative business? Look to the people who have made it. If they made it you can too. It’s possible. It’s not a pipe dream. Read their blog to see if they share their expertise, take an online class they offer, send an email and ASK. You never know, you could just walk away with the key to your own success.
The Magician – Does Sally the Blogger’s life look magical? Does it seem that everything is organized, her children are perfect, and her home a showcase? Keep in mind that she is only showing you what she wants you to see. It’s not that she’s hiding the hard stuff because she WANTS you to feel inferior she just knows that, on a regular basis, no one wants to know that her life can be a total train wreck some days (or weeks, or months). Sally knows that you read her blog to be inspired, uplifted and motivated. It’s not that her life is magical and perfect, it’s just that she knows how to keep the rabbit in the top hat.
The Scientist – Have you looked at someone’s work and been jealous of their techniques or the sheer volume of their output? How do they do it? Do they experiment with new tools, techniques and products on a constant basis? You can do that. Again, no copying allowed. Look at what you do best, what you enjoy the most and then start experimenting with new techniques or tools. Can you use some fine art supplies in your jewelry making? What about vintage finds in your fine art? You never know what new technique or product you might come up with if you become your own mad scientist.
Be aware of how you are feeling about sites, shops, blogs and the people you see online. How can you learn, improve, and better your own? Do you need to cut down on your online time to work on your own projects, shop, or home more? Maybe you need to stop visiting certain site all together for a while?
It’s common in a time where it seems that everyone has a blog and/or online business to read or see things that make you feel a bit of jealousy. Just remember not to let it get you down and to use your feelings to motivate yourself.
What about you? Have you ever come across a shop or blog that left you feeling not so good about yourself? What did you do to resolve those feelings?
By: Vicki O’Dell , The Creative Goddess
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I actually really love this post and the way you look at the issue. I think that it’s sometimes hard to remember that everyone started from scratch.
To think about it, I’ve used jealousy more often than not. I look at stuff, either commercial or hand crafted and say “I can do it just as good and better”
I am struggling with this same thing, owning a shop, never feeling like it is good enough, and not making enough money so working a nursing job besides. Good information.