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Proving one's self can be categorized into different forms and scenarios, there are times when it becomes necessary to prove ourselves, especially when it is obvious without a doubt that we are lacking in some areas of our lives and we are still in the beginner phase of experience but it could become a never-ending circle when we keep trying over and over to prove ourselves even after satisfying our goals like there is some phantom judge looking over our shoulders, that phantom tough judge often times leads to our own self. In this article, I'm going to be focusing on the creative community and how it can become obvious that we are trapped in trying to prove ourselves.
Often times as creatives, we can become our own toughest critic. In our various crafts, one constant factor is the need to please others, in the sense of satisfying people that are going to view our crafts or artworks. We often depend on their satisfaction as a necessity in our creative process.
Although the opposite could be said about "Shock art" which takes the opposite route in creating art forms of shock value to the human senses and perception, Art has indeed come a long way from its traditionalist beginnings, I believe one of the elements of modern art is tearing down the deeply held stereotypes of an art form. Modern art in a sense uses the philosophy that "We can never please everybody, so why bother."
SIGNS OF GETTING TRAPPED IN PROVING YOURSELF
The issues arise when there's an offset between our creative process and the excessive need to please others, in other words, when our creative process begin to suffer in place of the other. Perfectionism is also a factor to consider in this, although it has its pros and cons, when perfectionism is mixed with self-doubt, i.e. the creator develops a habit of doubting his/her talent and even downplays them, then you get a circle of the continuous need to keep proving yourself as the creative process keeps on suffering.
EXHAUSTION
Another sign is when the creative process gets exhausting, don't get me wrong, the creative process is not always fun and involves a lot of brainstorming but when we begin to have fears about our own hard work and when we come scared about how we are going to be perceived by others then it could become a circle of fear and procrastination, and If we keep running in the same old circle, it won't be a surprise when it gets exhausting.
TAKING COMPLIMENTS
Even though it can become difficult for someone trapped in the circle to pat themselves on the back, a more extreme scenario is when it becomes difficult to accept compliments about our own finished product, It is normal to receive compliments when we achieve our goal and create something enjoyable to our consumers but when we can't take a compliment about our own finished product that could be a more clearer sign, getting trapped in the circle of proving yourself involves just shrugging off the compliments and focusing on our next masterpiece.
COMPETING WITH OTHERS AND EVEN YOURSELF
Competition is very good in a business sense and even for self-improvements but when it comes to creativity, an important factor is our ability to create something unique in our own way, I don't think it is possible to compare two unique art form that have their own ingenuity, Creatives that find themselves trapped in that circle will keep comparing themselves to other people and even start to compete with themselves as they look at their previous masterpiece with intense scrutiny.
THE DREAD OF FAILURE
Failure is a two-edged sword, the fear of failure could push one towards success, i.e. An individual could take some extra precautions or steps to avoid failure and it could also stunt our growth when we become overwhelmed with the fear and paralyzed in making essential decisions. however, failure is inevitable at certain points in our creative journey, all the greats have faced their own failures but when we become trapped in the circle of proofing ourselves, we begin to lack the vision of seeing failure as a two-edged sword that will certainly be faced in our creative journey.
It is important to notice the signs and realize when to break the circle, we know when our talents are sufficient for us, freedom of expression should be applied to our individual creative processes. Thanks for reading friends :-)
