How to overcome the fear of success and give yourself permission to profit.
We have been taught to fear success.
Here's what I mean: Greed is a sin. Let's just call it what it is. The bible talks very clearly about greed, the love of money, and the dangers of storing up worldly treasure.
People in the kingdom are by and large afraid to succeed, prosper, and steward what God has given them because we have been taught to fear all of those things listed above. We've bought the lie that the poorer you are, the more spiritual you are…but this is for sure a LIE!
Let me explain.
This manifests itself in a lot of ways, but as creative professionals it usually manifests itself in you and I being allergic to money, success, and profiting financially in any way.
There’s a big problem with that. You see, for you and I, we are not called to fear anything or anyone but God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, right? So what if our fear of success was actually not wisdom at all, but foolishness?
As a kingdom creative, you are called, commissioned, and anointed to cover this earth in beauty–beauty that reflects the goodness of God and glorifies Jesus.
And guess what, to do that with your business you will need to overcome your allergy to success and do something that religion has taught us to avoid: Profit!
I am not a “prosperity guy,” by any means. I’m a “truth” guy. My goal in writing this is nothing more than to awaken you to the truth that God is actually for you in your career, and that as long as He is leading you, even if you start loving money more than Him, that He will lead you back to the real treasure, Jesus.
So take a deep breath. Relax. You have permission to profit.
The world needs you to profit. To create. To cover the world in goodness for glory and for beauty!
Happy reading!
My Journey Out of Starvation
“You won’t make much money with art. Better go into architecture instead,” my high school art teacher said to me in a serious tone.
“But I hate math. I’m not good at it!” I replied.
“Well, you better start paying attention in math.” She said with a smirk.
This was the mindset I was taught to have as a young creative person. I carried that mindset into my business life and into my career in 2011 when I started out freelancing.
It wasn’t until I was 24 years old that I realized that artists don’t really have to starve. In fact, the starving artist stigma is one big lie.
What happened?
I met artists–creative people who weren’t starving at all. No, they were thriving. They made great money. They made their own schedules. They had confidence and clarity. They were talented and valued by the clients they worked with.
I started reading what God’s word really says about success, money, and stewardship. I saw where I had been more afraid of money to lure me than I was confident in Jesus to lead me.
I surrounded myself with mentors who loved God, His word, and were very successful. Their success and leadership rubbed off on me.
It’s not the Father’s desire for you to starve.
A four minute mile wasn’t possible until someone did it, and for me, seeing others succeed as creative people gave me the hope and realization that not all artists have to starve.
As I started uncovering the truths about being successful that were in front of me all along I did something risky, but courageous. I decided to stop believing the lies.
The lie that success was bad
The lie that God was only FOR me if I was doing something “spiritual” (news flash...when you walk with Jesus everything becomes spiritual)
The lie that I was a bad steward
The lie that I wasn’t good enough to really thrive as a creative pro
The adventure of transforming the way I thought about art as a career and how the Lord saw me placed me in a position to:
Make a lot of money as a creative pro
Work for world renowned brands and influencers
Overcome fear, anxiety, and actually become confident
And most importantly, NOT STARVE!
My new mindset put me and my wife in a position to give away more money than we ever had, support missionaries and ministries, and take care of others in need.
What about you?
You may also be exhausted from never having the confidence you need in order to really succeed as a creative person.
Is it draining for you like it was for me—to constantly be scared of getting on calls or going into meetings? Or even worse…talk about money?
Are you completely worn out from the unrelenting impulse to lower your prices in order to “win the work?”
Or maybe like most church-going creatives you feel guilty for charging money to do something you love–something God put inside of you to do? Maybe you feel like you should do it for free since it gives you so much life.
This is also a lie.
Reality check: If you’re like most kingdom creatives then just being able to pay your bills and buy a few coffees each month isn’t enough to eradicate the survival mode you’ve been operating out of—the thing that’s killing your creativity and holding you back from really building a creative business WITH God.
I feel you!
For years this was my story too. One time, I even offered to design a website in exchange for a testimonial. The client cared enough about me to say, “Um, no. We’ll give you a testimonial but we’d love to pay you for this work.”
Artists starve, not because they eat last, which is what most would say. Artists starve because they don’t eat at all.
Starving Artists vs Thriving Artists
Starving artists . . .
care more about being liked
Just want to be accepted
Need to be esteemed by their peers
Tie their emotions to their work in an unhealthy way
Work for free
Are scared to charge what they're truly worth
Thriving artists . . .
See themselves as a business that should make a profit
Seek to serve, help, and solve problems
Pride themselves on adding value, not extracting praise
Always do more than the bare minimum
Feel confident in charging what they are worth
Attract amazing clients or employers
The difference between being a starving or a thriving artist all starts with how you see yourself. For those of us following the Lord, we have an upper hand in that we get to operate not just from the right way that we should be seeing ourselves, but from how the Lord sees us as well.
Did you know you were seated in heavenly places with Christ? That you are holy and dearly loved by Him? Or did your church not read those verses to you either?
Here’s how you can stop being a starving artist and start becoming a thriving, kingdom-creative pro in three steps:
Give yourself permission to profit.
Creatives and money have a more dysfunctional relationship than any reality show romance you’ve ever seen. For people like you and me who love Jesus, it can be even harder. Part of the problem is that we are quite literally allergic to money. Most of us wouldn’t know what to do with $100,000 dollars if we had it. Start right now by literally giving yourself permission to profit. Write down on a piece of paper: “You have permission to profit!” And hand it to yourself. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your motivations, and keep Jesus at the focus and treasure of your heart.
Start seeing yourself as a legit business.
A business that doesn’t profit is not a successful business at all. A business that fails to profit first is one that won’t last long. Instead of paying your bills right away, every time you get paid you can start putting a small percentage aside as profit. Put it in a separate bank account and don’t you dare spend it right away. Pray about tithing off of that and see what God does. He is for you!
Make an abundance plan.
Literally make a map/outline of what you are going to do with your abundance. Type this out or write it down and look at it often. Include ministries, non profits, and organizations you want to help. Include the kind of life you want to have. Include the quality of life you want to have. Write out dreams you have for investing in things that will advance God’s kingdom and empower people. Words have power, and speaking out your plan or writing it down causes momentum to happen, even if you cannot see it. Most creative don’t know what they would do with $100,000, therefore they never make six figures. But when you put it on paper and put a plan around what you will do with the overflow, amazing things start to happen.
Click here to access the free Abundance Map where you can fill in what you’re going to do with your abundance.
The most important thing in this process is that you partner with God about the mindset you should have when it comes to your identity as a creative person.
Jesus made you creative for a reason. He made you to shine brightly in the earth!
Begin to see yourself as a business that God cares about–one that He is leading. Stop caring about what people think and stop working for likes and praise. Work to bring value and solve your client’s or employer’s problems. Do all things as unto the Lord. And always prioritize profiting.
A business that does not profit is a failing business.
Consider this post your permission to profit. You can ask for more. You can make more. You can have more. And most importantly, you can GIVE more! Why? Because it’s from the abundance of His grace that He’s captured your heart.
Jesus not only has an abundance for you, but He, Himself IS your abundance.
For Glory and Beauty.
A fellow thriving artist,
Brandon T.
