Have you ever had that moment when you knew you needed to achieve something or have been on a deadline, but the quiet voice in your head stops you from doing it? Instead of doing the work, you find yourself needing to ring a friend and meet up for coffee or roll over and go back to sleep. A writer who has been commissioned to write a novel, a singer who can’t write that hit song, a make-up artist who has been asked to create a print media campaign concept but has been looking at a blank piece of paper for a week and the job is tomorrow.
That moment is called RESISTANCE. It rears its ugly head within creative souls to the detriment of achievement. Resistance is just fear; the fear of achieving your dreams, the fear of failure or just not understanding how to break through the mental block. Every great artist has resistance – it’s what holds back so many from truly achieving goals and their full potential.
What creates this fear is the lack of preparation – Confucius said it best – quote ‘Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation, there is sure to be failure.’ As a make-up artist the keys to success without fear or resistance, is the ability to refine skills, originate a creative concept, and collaborate with others to see the creation through.
I will never forget the day my mentor Josie Knowland, an incredible make-up artist and teacher to many of today’s outstanding make-up artists, sat me down and asked me one simple question:
“Priscilla, what do you hope to gain from this photoshoot today?”
I answered a beautiful photo.
“Priscilla, have you prepared for this photoshoot today, have you put the work into your look?”
Yes of course, I’ve done a facechart.
After the photoshoot, “Priscilla, how do you think the photoshoot went for you today?”
Well Josie it didn’t go well. The hair wouldn’t do what I needed, the foundations wouldn’t sit on the skin and my eyeliner was clumpy, so it messed with my look.
“Priscilla, do you think it was the products fault, or with deeper thought, maybe if you had put more effort into the preparation work, success would have been achieved?”
How can you overcome this fear? Preparation is the key to unlocking untapped potential within, it will open the doors to creativity and allow the mind to expand with endless possibilities, in turn this will enable you to see the project from another level, from this space is where the magic happens. Never fear failure it makes a master.
By Priscilla Walton
