3 Habits to Drop for Part-Time Content Creators
Let’s boost your confidence
I work as a Technical Account Manager during the day and create content on YouTube and Medium part-time.
Funny thing, I joined Medium a year ago but never posted anything due to my mental block (Thinking who will read my articles when there are enough already)
Being a creator alongside a day job is not easy, but it’s the confidence and perseverance that keeps you going.
To boost your creative confidence, it’s essential to let go of certain habits that hold you back.
Identifying and ditching these habits can make you more confident in pursuing your passion alongside your regular job.
1/ Choosing the Right Advisors
Getting advice can be tricky. You need to know who to listen to and who to ignore. Many times, people get influenced by the wrong advice:
- Instead of making sensible life decisions, some folks follow a YouTube video suggesting that making self-help videos will make them rich.
- Scrolling through social media might convince you that buying fancy stuff and flaunting it on Instagram is the key to a happy life.
But it’s not just about big decisions; it can be small things too:
- You might buy a book just because someone on your social media reads it, even if it doesn’t apply to your life.
- Spending money on expensive coffee just because your colleague thinks it’s essential for a successful morning routine.
To tackle this, find a small group of people you trust for advice. Ask yourself, “Is this advice from someone I trust or look up to?”
If not, think twice about following it.
2/ Changing Your Self-Story
We are all natural storytellers. We tell stories to others and even to ourselves. Pay attention to the stories you tell yourself:
- Eating an ice cream because you had a tough day and feel you deserve a treat.
- Wishing to eat healthier but convincing yourself that you lack the discipline and knowledge.
These self-stories also affect your creative side:
- Wanting to write but believing you’re not creative and people will think you’re silly for trying.
- Having lots of business ideas but thinking you’re not good at business. Once you realize you’re doing this, question these stories.
For example, if you think you’re not creative enough to write, ask yourself if you’ve ever tried and how you would define being creative.
3/ Facing Hard Things Instead of Avoiding
We avoid doing things because we think they’ll be harder than they are.
For instance, the fear of presenting or sharing content online can be more in our heads than in reality. Austin Kleon’s book “Show Your Work” is a game-changer that motivated me to show my creative side online.
The trick is to try these things out for real:
- Present to a group and discover it’s not as scary as you thought; your audience is just like you.
- Post online and see that most people appreciate your content.
- Meet people you admire and realize they face the same challenges as you, trying to figure things out.
In reality, these tasks are not as daunting as we imagine. Sure, some parts might be tough, but expressing yourself online or starting a small business doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it out to be in our minds.
If you don’t try, you will never know!
