Manual vs Automatic
Even though I love encouraging fellow creatives to find ways to earn income from their creative work, the truth is that entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone.
How can you know if it’s right for you?
For starters, being self-employed is like operating in manual mode.
What do I mean by “manual mode?” Let me give you an example.
When it comes to driving, I’m an automatic guy. I can drive a manual car, but I don’t prefer it. I have a few friends I know who love driving manual vehicles. It’s fun for them because they feel they have more control over the car.
But, for me, driving in a manual vehicle is a tiny bit stressful, and I would rather not.
Many other things in our lives have manual and automatic modes. Take my gym, for example. One of the reasons why I love my gym is that they come up with the workouts. All I have to do is show up and do what they tell me. You could say I’m paying a little bit more to be in automatic mode when it comes to working out, and I like it that way. It works for me.
However, when it comes to my work life, I love manual mode.
I like working for myself. I enjoy choosing which projects I’m going to work on. For me, figuring out how to make money feels like a fun game. When I waited tables in college, I noticed I liked not knowing how much money I could make that night. I thrived playing the game of figuring out how to get higher tips. A set and steady income from other jobs I’ve had has always been demotivating. I also highly prefer the freedom and flexibility that comes with being self-employed.
If this last paragraph sounds awful to you, it might be a good sign that the manual mode of entrepreneurship isn’t for you. And that’s okay.
Like driving a manual vehicle, choosing manual mode with your work can be slightly terrifying. It’s true that you’re much less likely to stall out on the road in an automatic vehicle. And it’s somewhat true that you’re less likely to stall out financially if you choose the predictable income of automatic mode in your work (a.k.a. working for an employer). With entrepreneurship, there are a lot of hiccups, especially when you’re learning and just starting.
And like there is a higher price for the automatic mode my gym provides, automatic mode in our work tends to have a higher cost than manual simply because you don’t have as much control over your income potential. There are fewer options in automatic mode for earning more. But I’m happy to pay more for my gym. And, when it comes to work, many people are happy to pay the cost of potential in exchange for a greater peace of mind that comes with a more instantaneous sense of stability.
Making income from your creative work requires manual mode energy. If that’s not for you, that’s okay. You should keep doing your creative work and sharing it with the world. You can continue to be an artist without trying to make it your career.
But if you made it this far, I’m working on something to help those of us who want to go into manual mode with creative work. It’s an online community that helps artists and creatives learn the skills they need to make income from their creative work.
