Revered long time best selling author, Steven Pressfield popularized the term “Turning Pro” in his books and writing. Most notably, a book by that title: Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life’s Work.
What’s required to turn your creative interest into a career or business? The desire fortified by a longterm vision and fortitude.
You don’t need to take a course or buy a product. All you have to do is change your mind.
~Steven Pressfield, author, Turning Pro, b.9/1943
Is Turning Pro for You?
Are you turning pro or already there? If not, what’s keeping you from going all in to do the work necessary to succeed in your creative pursuits?
Many are already earning through their creative passion. Others would love to be able to, but aren’t sure if it’s possible, because… well you know, we’ve already been told something like, “You can’t make a living with that.” Then there are those who say that trying to make money from their creative passion would ruin it for them.
We get it. Makers just wanna make. Most of us creators are not interested in sales, marketing and business. We just want to make things. However, if you want to be free to make more, it’s worth looking into how to direct efforts into avenues of revenue.
It’s possible to make your passion your work… and your work your passion. With a little bit of reframing to retrain your mindset and conditioning around it all. When we let go the resistance of the unknown we’re free to bring creativity and the wonder of discovery into learning new things.
Turning pro is a mindset.
~Steven Pressfield, Turning Pro
The Difference Between Pro and Amateur
The biggest difference between pro and amateur? Pros set goals and work them daily. They don’t make excuses or wait for muses. They show up and create, and because they do, they can.
Pros make productivity a priority, avoid derailments and focus on the real work of manifesting their ideas.
Not yet a professional creator, earning from your art? If that’s your goal, what’s keeping you from turning pro? The biggest difference between an amateur and turning pro is the commitment needed to take it beyond a hobby into a business.
A pro knows when they’re being productive versus going through the motions of productivity. Pros avoid dithering in the daily derailments and focus on the real work of manifesting their ideas and getting work done.
Table of Contents
- Is Turning Pro for You?
- Productivity vs Busy Work
- The Illusion of Progress
- Failure Feeds Frustration
- Turning Pro
- Turning Pro Means…
Audio Article – Turning Pro:
Pros focus on the real work of manifesting ideas.
~Devani Alderson, iCreateDaily.com®
Productivity vs Busy Work
Sometimes the busy work is something we choose, even if unconsciously, to actually delay doing the work that really matters.
Turning pro means learning to discern the difference between busy work and productive work. Busy work can be work that seems important, and even urgent, but does very little to build your business or skills, and very little to move you closer to a successful, sustainable business.
Busy work is a trap that hinders progress. We all get stuck there. Turning pro means not staying there.
Turning pro means embracing the art of business while doing the business of art.
~LeAura Alderson, cofounder-iCreateDaily.com®
The Illusion of Progress
There are typically any number of tasks and choices that may seem necessary but in the end, do very little to grow your business. You’ll need to create your own list, but this is an idea starter:
- Publishing to social media before getting your most important tasks done.
- Reacting to notifications as soon as they come in.
- Doing email first thing in the day, or checking it throughout the day.
- Continued research on a topic you know well enough, instead of settling down to write.
- Watching YouTube tutorials, taking courses, and going to events, more than applying what you already know.
None of the above are inherently bad actions to take, but when you place these in front of the most important thing you need to do, they rob your energy and monopolize the most productive time of your day.
The professional does not wait for inspiration; he acts in anticipation of it.
~Steven Pressfield, author, Turning Pro, b.9/1943
Failure Feeds Frustration
You can fool yourself into thinking you’ve had a productive day because you’ve been busy, but over time, you get increasingly frustrated with the lack of actual progress. That frustration builds as tension and stress because you innately know that you’re off track and that you’re not moving the needle forward toward where you want to go.
Frustration is a trigger to let you know that you’re off purpose
But don’t worry. Failure is a part of the journey, and frustration is actually good because it’s a signal to get your attention to make needed adjustments.
Frustration is not a cause it is a symptom. It is to let you know when you’re off purpose.
~Devani Alderson, cofounder-iCreateDaily.com®
Turning Pro
How do you get back on track if you’ve been spinning your wheels?
Turning pro is like kicking a drug habit or stopping drinking. It’s a decision, a decision to which we must re-commit every day.
~Steven Pressfield, author, Turning Pro, b.9/1943
Start Small – a Day at a Time
Start with small habit replacements. Shut off your email, social media, text, and any incoming communications you would normally respond to first thing in the morning. Use that time to work on creating.
The inbox is nothing but a convenient organizing system for other people’s agendas.
~Brendon Burchard, entrepreneur, author, speaker, coach
Your 1-3 Things
The most effective process we use is goal setting and tracking. Identify the top 1-3 things you could do that would move your business forward and do whichever is the most productive and important of those. Then move onto the next one.
We talk a lot about habits on the iCreateDaily Podcast. If you need some motivation in that area, you can check out these episodes. For those who need a tool for staying on track, you may be interested in the 90 Day Goals Journal free 30-day PDF which helps you avoid the derailments and focus on the tasks that move the needle for you.
No matter what tools you use, who you listen to for inspiration, or what courses you take, remember that results are from what you do with the information you receive. Learning and feeding your mind is always a good idea, but it’s not supposed to replace doing the work.
Results come from what you do with the information you receive.
~Devani Alderson, cofounder-iCreateDaily.com®
Turning Pro Means…
- Prioritizing your work
- Creating daily – something each day to create your art and move your business forward
- Setting an appointment with yourself and keeping it
- Setting goals and actions, then doing it
- Tracking your progress and tweaking it daily
- Being serious about your art
- Spending time mentally envisioning where you want to be a year from now, then deconstructing how to get there
One of our favorite authors is Steven Pressfield, and this article was inspired by his book, Turning Pro. We love all that he’s done, and highly recommend all of his books.
Pros don’t make excuses or wait for muses.
They create a plan and work it daily.
~LeAura Alderson, iCreateDaily.com
It is the creator’s privilege to turn any effort into art.
~LeAura Alderson, cofounder-iCreateDaily.com®
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Hey! I’m Devani, a multi-passionate creator who enjoys honing the craft of writing (mostly;)), photography, cooking, podcasting, learning about business, and growing brands. I’m the former co-host of the iCreateDaily Podcast with LeAura Alderson (my mom), and co-founded the iCreateDaily brand. I hope through the content and products we produce, you will be inspired to start, sustain, and succeed in your goals.
My non-business and artistic hobbies include: enjoying a good movie, discovering obscure but epic music, obsessing over The Beatles, and developing fictional stories in my head. My Maltese dog, Caspian, provides an insane amount of creative inspiration by just being his adorable self. #HeWokeUpLikeThat. 😉
Want to submit your photos, videos and/or article content for publication? We love to consider your contribution for publication! creators@icreatedaily.com