I CAN ALWAYS GET A “REAL” JOB…AND OTHER LIES FROM
THE CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR

I sometimes wonder why there isn’t a 12-step program out there to help ease the frustrations and heal the heart of the creative entrepreneur (CE). If I were to stand up at a meeting of fellow sufferers, my story might go like this:

Hello, my name is Mary, and I’ve been a creative entrepreneur all of my adult life. In my efforts to chase the dream and figure my role in this world, I have changed careers more than ten times in 25 years, started and restarted self-employment about three times and spawned financial stress significant enough that I’m pretty sure sent my husband to the hospital with chest pains. It would be almost laughable, if it weren’t so debilitating.

I’m not saying we lie on purpose, nor do we intend to hurt anyone with our excuses, but we often come up short on our promises and our well-meant plans. From my own history book, I can pull up a fat chapter on “how to get out of a job you should never have taken in the first place.” Here’s another juicy chapter: “The number of times you can get away with telling your spouse that you’ll find a real job if your new business idea doesn’t work.” And, then there’s my personal favorite: “Why it’s not a good idea to tell everyone about your plan of action before you’ve attempted it.” Perhaps you can relate.

As challenging as it is, survival as a CE need not be depressing. Our relentless nature to give birth to that which is needed or never been done finds its space to do so when we are most at wit’s end. While between “regular jobs,” some of us have founded non-profit organizations that build homeless shelters, mentor youth, strengthen communities, and rehabilitate substance abusers. Charitable works are special to the CE because connecting our heart to our work is important, if not critical. It is in this work that we find our first truth. Our work must have meaning…it must serve a higher purpose.

A fellow CE who is a friend and motivational speaker came by my house one day. He sat at my dining room table talking about the life path that has taken him from the inner city of New York to traveling the world as a professional basketball player and then on to starting a family. I know of his struggles in trying to define his post- professional sports role. Undeniably talented and determined, he wrangled through years of mistakes and reinventions, trying to fit the professional mold, until finally, he let his creative entrepreneur loose. “Mary,” he said, “There isn’t anything about me that I can’t share. I’ll let people see all sides of me, now. I’ve gotten to the point that I’m just going for it, because all I have to do is get to just one person and change them.”

I think the first step for a CE in getting off of the resume roller coaster is to simply quit fighting nature. Let go of regrets and expectations. Get organized. Find or build yourself a support network of other CEs. Don’t just share your upsets; share your contacts, advice, and resources. You must be willing to let go of the old pattern and the lies that go with it in order to make a workable plan. Quit the guilt, quit making thoughtless decisions, quit trying to do it all alone, and above all, quit telling yourself and others that you can always work at Wal-Mart. Nobody believes you anyway…least of all you.