Manifesting Success in the Arts

And how to avoid Failed Inventor's Syndrome

Creativity is something we all possess as human beings in different forms. At our core, we have the need to create: families, children, communities, even memories. Creating is part of building a legacy of our lives—leaving the world with more than was there when we were born into it.

Whether you’re creating buildings, marketing campaigns, new and improved hair care products, a better recipe for apple pie, healthy meals for your kids, or a curriculum for scholars on the verge of matriculating, you are tapping into the universal human desire to make something bigger than yourself for others to enjoy. There’s an inherent sense of fulfillment that comes from that process, and ultimately its completion.

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But what happens when you have a passion to create, but never finish the task? Or your completed product never makes it out into the world for others to see, therefore never realizing its purpose?

Too many of those experiences can, and very likely will, lead to what’s referred to as ‘failed inventor’s syndrome,’ a less than clinical term that describes the psychological and emotional stress derived from multiple consecutive creative failures. When your creative endeavors aren’t successful, you may start to question your abilities, get discouraged, and limit the time you spend in engaging in the creative outlet you’re most passionate about, ultimately shutting down that universal human need we all have.

Take for example, the novelist whose books never get published, or the screenwriter who never sells a script, or the singer who can’t seem to get signed to a recording contract. The rejections eventually add up until they’re faced with the question of whether they should stop wasting time on fruitless pursuits. As doubts creep in, the artist/writer/chef/dancer/singer/inventor/etc. still has the desire to make something great, which spirals into internal conflict. It’s not easy to give up a passion and getting to the point of letting it go completely is an ugly, dark journey.

Don’t go down that road.

Easier said than done, right? One would have to be a complete idiot to keep failing at something and not be affected by those failures, wouldn’t they?

It’s how you’re affected by those setbacks that matter.

Not everyone finds success in their creative pursuits early in life. And I’m not talking about folks who made a sudden career change in their 40s, 50s, and 60s and suddenly found the success they never previously had. I’m talking about people who tried and failed, tried again and failed again. J.K. Rowling received multiple rejections for her Harry Potter book before it was ever published. Walt Disney went bankrupt after creating Laugh-O-Gram Studios, the doomed precursor to Disney Studios. Even Lady Gaga was dropped from her first recording label only three months after she was signed.

The default positive response is… “Just keep trying!” or “Eventually you’ll be in the right place at the right time!” or the ever-popular “Never give up on your dreams!” But those are just things to say. They don’t address the very real self-doubts and fears that come from failed inventor’s syndrome and the emotional fallout from spending time in that mental space which can easily bleed into other areas of your life.

Sometimes trying and trying and trying again isn’t enough. You have to change what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.

There are two very simple things you can do to be successful in your creative endeavors: (1) learn from each failure; and (2) manifest success.

Learning from Your Failures.

One of the reasons I cringe at the aforementioned positive adages is because they don’t encourage the person to grow and change. If you “just keep trying” to fit a square peg into a round hole, it will never ever fit. And eventually, the fatigue from trying to accomplish an impossible task will result in feeling like a failure. The key to fitting a square peg into a round hole is to recognize one of two things—you either have to shave down the peg and make it round, or you have to abandon the round hole and find a square one instead. The only way to come to that realization is to try to fit the peg into the hole—once. When it doesn’t fit, instead of assuming you must’ve done it incorrectly and trying the same thing again, turn your focus away from your own assumed deficiency and figure out why it didn’t work. Be distanced enough from the project and confident enough in your own abilities to observe and make changes.

That said, your failure could very well be your fault. There’s a reason carpenters say, “Measure twice, cut once.” Measuring only once leaves too much room for error, even for a seasoned pro. Successful individuals recognize that they’re not perfect by any means and that successes don’t make them more perfect than anyone else. But they are confident enough to examine what did go wrong—their own fault or not—and learn from their observations without letting it affect their confidence.

In short, each failed attempt should bring insight—insight about the market, your techniques, the product, or your process. And therefore, every subsequent attempt should be different in some way than the previous one was.

Manifesting Success.

You’ve probably heard of the Law of Attraction. Simply put, it’s a belief system that one’s reality can be shaped by one’s thoughts and that thoughts create a vibration that attracts like vibrations. Positive thoughts attract positive events and negative thoughts attract negative events. So by focusing on positive thoughts and avoiding negative thoughts, you can attract success.

Here’s an example. Let’s say it’s flu season and you’re in a crowded grocery store. The person next to you starts coughing. If your first thought is, “Oh no, the guy next to me is sick. I hope I don’t catch whatever he has,” you’re actually manifesting sickness. The thought is about sickness (negative) rather than good health (positive). You are thinking about becoming sick and those are the vibrations the universe is picking up. According to the Law of Attraction, the positive alternative is to picture yourself in good health and think, “I’m happy that my health is so good and my immune system is strong.” By thinking about and imagining what you already have (good health), you attract more of it.

Pretty simple, huh?

While manifesting success isn’t—at least in my opinion—the sole reason people become successful, I’m inclined to believe it’s still important. By imagining yourself showing off your art at an art show, selling your crafts at a craft fair, signing copies of your bestselling book, watching the film you made in a movie theater, eating that perfect apple pie you made, or signing that recording contract you were just offered, you, at the very least, aren’t leaving space for Failed Inventor’s Syndrome to take up residence in your mind. We can only think one thought at a time, so choose to think about success rather than failure.

At best, the Law of Attraction turns out to be a real thing and the vibrations you’re creating by thinking the thoughts you’d have after you become successful instead of beforehand, actually manifests the success you’re hoping for. Or maybe just success in general. And like a very successful screenwriter once told me, “Successful people tend to be successful at whatever they do.”

There’s truth in that, isn’t there? Have you ever noticed how unsuccessful people are often apt to tell you all about their failures? “I was working at this company but I got laid off so then I took a job at this other company and didn’t like the culture there so I left and couldn’t find a job for a while. But then I got hired at another company and it’s not what I want to be doing but at least it’s paying the bills for the time being.” Every part of that narrative is negative and simply by uttering the words, the sayer is manifesting that the current job he has won’t last long and he’ll probably never enjoy it.

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Here’s an alternative, “I was working at this company and when I was laid off, it gave me the opportunity to try something new at this other company. It was a much different culture there and it helped me realize the type of company I want to spend time working with. With a better understanding of what I was looking for, I left and quickly found a job at the company I’m with now. It wasn’t the role I expected, but the skills I’m gaining will help me in the near future when I move into a management position in distribution/production/publicity/Human Resources/etc.” It’s the same narrative, but the speaker is highlighting the positives and thinking about them cumulatively while being specific about the job he does want. He pictures himself already having the job where he’s fulfilled while looking at his past jobs as successes instead of failures.

I manifest often. When I pitch a project, I sit back and picture myself watching the film and being asked to do another project. When I write books, I picture strangers sitting at the park or on the beach reading my book. When I’m on an airplane, I picture the passenger sitting next to me watching one of my movies and I lean over and ask them if they like it and they tell me, without knowing that I wrote or directed or produced the movie, how great it is (note… this has not actually happened in real life yet but the vibrations are strong). In the morning, as I sit down to write, I picture myself having a productive writing day and feel what that feels like. I allow myself to feel the satisfaction of success and the fulfillment that comes with creating something worthwhile before I even do it.

It's a practice that takes time… and well, practice.

The good news is that whether manifesting actually plays a role in your future success or not, it absolutely can prevent the opposite from happening—discouragement, self-doubt, and fear, all of which cripple creativity.

Why not give it a try?

Until next time, happy writing, friends.

Christine Conradt is an author/screenwriter/director/producer with more than 100+ produced television credits and three YA novels. Visit her at www.christineconradt.com.