It’s can be seen as a little ‘gross’ to talk about what you earn. The thing is if we don’t talk about it, how can we hope to know what is possible?
I personally feel it’s important and the picture of female creatives earning ‘good money’ is often under represented so I want to share some revelations of 2019… There is also alot of BS out there – adverts running over glamourised with women talking about multiple 6 figure incomes. What about us normal folk who want to create and have a nice life too?
-
Time is a Gift
If someone asks you to look at something for them, give your time for free, volunteer – it’s always a choice right?! This year, I’ve learnt that if I gift my time it’s time I can’t spend with my son or time I then have to make up working in the evening so I have made a conscious decision to keep it to an absolute minimum. I’m owning that choice because the work I do is an absolute gift to the people I work with a lot of the time. Your time is your gift to give. Just because you have a skillset doesn’t mean you have to share it for free.
Balance
2. Money and Self Esteem are intrinsically linked
My pal gets a payrise at least once a year… he’s not afraid to ask or be turned down. (He never is turned down). That my friends is called confidence with a big C! He has the self awareness that he is amazing at his job! As I’ve written about previously, I made the decision to work with a coach on my personal self limiting beliefs on money. It was a game changer. A lot of the beliefs came from childhood experiences and are simply not relevant to my life today. Read this article on finding your appreciation club.
3. You can earn what you want
I’ve already earnt WAY over my ‘usual’ annual income this year (and it’s only August). I’m not saying this to boast. I hope it doesn’t come across that way. I’m writing about it because I honestly believe I’ve done this because I set my intent and goals at the start of the year to focus here. Before 2019 I’d led myself to believe there was a ceiling to income possible… but actually deep down I never believed that. It’s just what people in my industry say.
My daily rate went up, I asked for travel expenses instead of absorbing them and I worked 5 days a week instead of 4. I’ve also taken a TONNE of time off and worked mostly within the school day. Turns out you can do it all when you know your worth.
Artist Boat Coaching Session – we visualise, we create, we execute.
4. Taking time off is a a lovely thing
We often find ourselves in virtue signalling when it comes to our work life balance. Checking emails on weekends, working in the evenings, networking – whatever your work ‘sin’ it’s easy to feel like you loose that part of yourself that isn’t the ‘work’ version… check in on this. What does time off mean to you? Digital detox, foreign holiday, Netflix – understand how much you give yourself and how it all makes you feel. If you’re waiting for retirement to do stuff/ live a slower pace it’s a helluva long way off…
Time off, time together… captured moments
5. Diversifying your income is fun!
At the start of the year I got paid to write some articles – it was fun! It’s not something I set out to do but I loved it. What are you open to? Are there different ways you can earn money and what would you spend it on? Are you boxing yourself in without realising it?
Do you long to work on the sustainability of your practise, build up savings to go work for a year abroad? Whatever your goals I can help!
My coaching programme for creatives is called The Artist Boat and I have a couple of spaces for the last chapter of the year (Oct – Dec). Get in touch if you want to chat, I’d love to hear from you.
Claire x
PS – If you want to read more juicy insight into creatives and how much they can earn and how it all feels – read this blog series with the same name as mine. Money Talks by Miss Magpie Spy. I’ve linked to a blog by a fellow North East Creative Katie Chappel.