Writer's strike looming: working from a place of strength
TL;DR
By focusing on what’s in your control, rather than on what might happen, you’ll be able to operate from a place of strength rather than one of fear.
It will probably come as no surprise that MANY of my coaching conversations with my writer clients have, as of late, been focused on the impending writers strike.
What’s coming up? Also not surprising: FEAR.
Fear of losing the job in the writers room that they worked so damn hard to get.
Fear of how long this strike could last. In one of their words: “I’m so afraid the momentum I have right now will disappear, just like when the pandemic hit.”
Fear around the fact that it’s been too long since they’ve been able to get a paid writing job, which brings up questions like: “Is this even something I can continue to pursue?? Is it time to throw in the towel?”*
*If that last one is a real question for you, it deserves to be explored in a safe space, so reach out to us for private coaching if you need support.
First, let’s just take a moment to acknowledge that each of these fears (and all the others not listed here!) are real and deserve to be expressed.
Second, while I’m specifically talking about the situation facing writers at the moment, this general idea applies to anyone in the creative arts.
So, in these recent coaching sessions, we create individual contingency plans focusing on what to do if this strike not only happens, but also if it lasts a long time. How will you make up for that lost income? What will you use this time to work on while you wait for things to pick up again?
There is nothing wrong with preemptively planning for these types of scenarios. In fact, there is everything right about it if it helps you feel empowered in how you meet this moment of your career.
However, be careful of getting stuck in the land of fear-based planning, where you are overly obsessing and spending WAY more time than you need to focusing on the worst-case scenario of this potential strike.
The truth is, like everything else in this business (and in this world, frankly) we never know how things are going to play out until they do.
Focusing on what might happen can lead to Future-tripping, otherwise known as “anticipatory anxiety,” which is a natural defense mechanism that happens when our minds try to over-engineer the future in an attempt to try and control its outcome.
Sound familiar?
Now, if you've worked with me, you know that I'm big on artists taking control of what they can in an otherwise elusive and unpredictable industry.
Controlling what is in your control is an important practice.
But trying to overthink your anxiety about the future into submission?
Futile at its best; harmful at its worst.
So, whether you are…
a writer facing the uncertainty of this looming strike…
or a performer waiting to hear back about a self-tape you poured your heart into because oh-my-god–you-really-want-that-job…
or a creator of a project that you have submitted or pitched somewhere and the next steps are out of your hands right now…
I’m going to bring us back to basics this week with two simple exercises:
Make your In Control / Feel Good list
Write a list of what feels good for you to do that is in your control while you are in this holding pattern. (Some suggestions: time with friends, volunteering, reading or writing if it feels good, taking up a new hobby or one you have been thinking about but haven’t tried yet, moving your body, etc..)
It’s amazing how productive we become when we get back to doing things that actually FEEL GOOD to us. Go all in here!
Be where your feet are
Try doing a physical task or activity without distraction. I mean it.
I'm simplifying here, but there's an old Buddhist practice of doing the thing you're doing while you're doing it.
We are so used to listening to a podcast while we walk or cooking while we're on a phone call. Try to do one thing a day that's mentally JUST the thing.
Really do the dishes while you do the dishes. Sit in the park and scan the horizon while you sit in the park. There will be time enough for multitasking and hyper-planning, so take this week to get present.
These may seem like simple exercises, but that's the point. They're really about getting you to shift your focus from being in your head about things that haven't happened yet, to being present in the things that are (or easily can be) right in front of you.
And most importantly, remember to trust that in time, more will be revealed.
Betsy