Hey there!
Right now, you might have beliefs running in the background of your mind that make creating feel risky, selling feel wrong, or progress feel impossible.
Your mind created these beliefs years ago based on limited information, and now they’re quietly sabotaging every decision you make about your art career. If you’re not producing the work you want to produce, it’s probably not because you lack talent or time. It’s because your belief system is working against you.
Today I’m going to show you how to identify the specific beliefs holding you back and replace them with ones that actually help you make progress.
Let’s dig in.
Your beliefs feel like facts, but they’re just old stories
A belief is not reality. When you were younger, maybe you failed at something art-related. Your mind took that single experience and created a rule to keep you safe. “I’m not good enough for commissions.” “Real artists don’t struggle like this.” “If I post my work, people will judge me.”
Years later, that rule is still running. You don’t question it anymore because it just feels true. But the moment you realize a belief is just a story you’ve been telling yourself, you can start changing it. Most limiting beliefs sound absolutely silly when you say them out loud.
Identity beliefs make you the permanent problem, money beliefs sabotage your income
“I’m not disciplined enough to draw daily.” “I’m terrible at marketing.” “I’m too slow for commissions.” These beliefs make you the permanent problem. They convince you that your identity is fixed.
But here’s the critical difference: “I’m bad at marketing” is only half the truth. The complete truth is “I’m bad at marketing, but I can learn.” One version is a dead end. The other gives you room to act.
Then there are money beliefs. “Artists can’t make good money.” “Selling art makes it less authentic.” These sound noble, like you’re protecting your art. But if you have negative associations with making money from your work, your brain will sabotage you. You’ll undercharge. You’ll avoid promoting yourself.
I used to believe I couldn’t make good money doing what I loved. That belief kept me from seeing art as a viable business. I thought successful artists were just lucky exceptions with “real jobs” on the side.
Then I looked at artists like Proko. He’s built an incredible platform teaching art. He’s making all the money he needs from his art business. There’s a plethora of artists making serious income from Patreon, tutorials, commissions, adopts, courses, merch.
Once I saw this overwhelming evidence, the belief crumbled. I made roughly 2,500 euros from commissions over two years precisely because I saw it as side income, not a real business. When your beliefs change, your actions automatically follow.
But it’s not just money. Some artists believe “I’m not good enough to post my work publicly” so they never build an audience. Others believe “asking for feedback means I’m weak” so they improve really slowly. Whatever area you’re stuck in, there’s usually a belief running the show.
Pull your beliefs into the light by writing them down explicitly
Most limiting beliefs hide in the shadows. Pull them into the light. Grab a notebook right now and spend 5 minutes writing down every belief you have about your art, your skills, your potential to make money, your right to call yourself an artist.
Don’t filter. Just write. “I’m not talented enough.” “I started too late.” “I’ll never be as good as the artists I admire.” “Nobody wants to pay for my art.” Get them all on paper.
You’ll be surprised how ridiculous some of them sound when you actually articulate them clearly. That’s the point. Once they’re visible, you can challenge them.
Trace each belief back to where it came from
There’s usually a specific moment that created the belief. A teacher criticized your work. You tried commissions once and nobody bought. A family member said art isn’t a “real career.” You posted a piece and got zero engagement.
When you see the origin, you realize it’s based on limited data from a specific context that probably doesn’t apply now. One failed commission attempt when you were 16 doesn’t mean you can’t sell work at 25. One teacher’s criticism doesn’t define your entire artistic ability.
Write down where each belief came from. You’ll start seeing patterns.
Find overwhelming counter-examples until the belief crumbles
This is where most people give up too early. They find one counter-example and their brain says “yeah but that’s an exception.”
So you need overwhelming evidence. If you believe making money from art is impossible, don’t find three successful artists. Find twenty. Make a list. Scroll through Instagram or X/Twitter and write down every artist who’s clearly making a living. Check Patreon and see how many people are supporting artists monthly.
One counter-example is an exception. Ten counter-examples is a pattern. Twenty counter-examples is proof you were wrong.
Do this for every belief. Believe you’re too slow? Find artists who work even slower and still get commissions. Believe you’re not good enough to post? Find artists at your skill level with engaged audiences. The evidence is out there. You’ve just been filtering it out.
Replace the old belief with one that gives you room to act
Don’t just delete the old belief. Your mind needs a replacement. Create a new belief that’s honest but opens possibilities.
Instead of “I can’t make money from my art,” try “I haven’t learned how to monetize yet, but I can.” Instead of “I need to wait until I’m ready,” try “I need to practice until I’m ready.” Instead of “I’m not good enough to post,” try “I can build an audience while I’m improving.”
See the difference? One keeps you in passive mode. The other gives you something to do.
Some limiting beliefs protect you from uncomfortable truths. “I’m not ready for commissions” might be protecting you from discovering the market won’t pay for your current skill level. But the earlier you transform it into “I need to get good at art fundamentals before opening commissions,” the better, because now it’s a plan, not a dead end.
Yes, it might hurt. Yes, you might discover you need more work than you thought. But now you know exactly what to work on instead of hiding behind comfortable excuses.
Catch new beliefs as they form and question them immediately
Challenging limiting beliefs isn’t a one-time fix. Your mind will keep creating new beliefs. A commission goes badly and suddenly you believe you’re not ready for client work. A piece gets zero engagement and you believe your art isn’t valuable.
Develop the habit of catching these beliefs as they form and questioning them immediately. Not through endless introspection, but through quick checks when you notice yourself making excuses or avoiding action.
When you catch yourself thinking “I can’t do this,” stop and add “yet.” When you think “I’m not good at this,” add “but I can learn.” When you think “this is impossible,” ask “who’s already doing it?”
Your external progress as an artist will never exceed your internal belief system. If you want to build a sustainable creative career, start by building a belief system that can support it. Not through positive thinking or affirmations. Through honest examination, evidence gathering, and deliberately choosing better stories to tell yourself about what’s possible.
The beliefs you’re holding right now are either opening doors or keeping them closed. Start with that 5-minute exercise. Write them down. See what you’re actually carrying around. Then start replacing them, one by one, with beliefs that give you room to move forward.
The work won’t do itself. But at least now you’ll know what’s actually stopping you.
