Episode 62: Finding your Confidence as a Designer

Show Notes for This Episode:

[1:00] This week we’re talking about confidence as designers
[2:40] Anxiety and self-doubt are very common among designer
[3:00] Creative for a living is a privilege
[4:00] You’re good enough and you are worthy of being paid for your creative work
[4:45] When he enjoys his work, Tom feels confident and doesn’t worry about all the negative aspects of being a designer
[5:40] Women are built to create and designing for a living feels natural
[8:20] Focusing on the minor issues and not seeing the bigger picture
[9:00] Perspective leads to gratitude which leads to confidence
[9:45] It’s in the human nature to focus more on the negative aspects
[11:00] Sometimes confidence comes from just putting yourself out there
[11:45] Proof makes it easier to find confidence
[12:30] ‘You need to have your built-in cheerleader’ – Lisa Glanz
[13:20] Tom mentions how he has dealt with bad reviews received on Design Cuts
[13:50] Thank you all for listening to the show and for all the great feedback
[14:35] People being inspired by Dustin’s daily challenge and starting their own
[16:00] Don’t listen to yourself telling you you’re not good enough
[16:40] Let your confidence cheerleader take over your fear
[17:25] Do what makes you feel uncomfortable
[18:00] Tom remembers the first time he pushed a client for a higher price
[18:40] The more he did it, the easier it felt and helped him raise his price point
[19:10] Doing scary things gives you confidence, no matter if you succeed or fail
[20:00] Dustin feels more confident after doing his daily challenge for 99 days
[20:40] Putting your work out for the world to see is very scary at first
[21:20] Tom lists some of the benefits of putting yourself out there: e.g. making connections
[21:50] You will also get confidence in other aspects of your life
[22:20] Benefits of pitching for work
[23:30] Stand your ground the next time a client challenges you on your pricing
[24:15] People are attracted to confidence, and business will find you
[25:30] Hiring people that are confident they can do the work
[26:30] Posting your opinions for the whole world to see
[28:00] Standing up to clients on design decisions
[29:00] Tom’s experience on dealing with clients and how confidence could have helped him
[30:00] Lisa stood her ground and only used to do 2-3 variations of a project
[31:00] She even had a whole speech for explaining her decision
[32:10] Things not coming across exactly as you want them too: e.g. Tom filming a video for designers
[33:00] Stick with your design style, process and aesthetics even if they’re different from the norm
[33:30] “It’s better to sweat in preparation, than to bleed in the battle“ – General Patton
[34:00] “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.” – Bruce Lee
[35:50] People that you think are confident, might struggle with the same things as you do
[36:45] Confidence is like a muscle you need to exercise
[37:45] Time and experience will definite help your confidence
[38:30] Your confidence should build over time and it can never go backwards
[39:15] Dustin tells us how he prepares for speaking at the Creative South conference
[40:40] Tom is planning a podcast in which he will be talking about entrepreneurship
[41:15] He is going over the episode topics while driving to work
[42:00] Practice your confidence in the privacy of your home before going public
[43:00] Ask yourself: what would I do if I was a confident person?
[44:00] Tom’s example of the over confident Lord Flashheart from the Blackadder TV series
[44:30] Lisa channels her husband Cliff when she needs to be confrontational
[45:30] Artists using an alter ego to give them confidence for getting on stage
[46:30] Do whatever it takes to gain your confidence
[47:30] The hosts are confident they’ve done a good job with this week’s topic
[48:00] Thank you all for listening to this week’s episode