Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A few weeks ago, something shifted for one of my creative mentorship clients, and I want to share it with you in case it’s helpful.
He’s conservatory-trained, has multiple releases, and years of experience. But on our call, he said, “I still don’t feel legit as a musician.”
Even with everything he had accomplished, it never felt like enough.
“It’s like I’m constantly moving the finish line,” he told me.
And I hear this a lot. So many skilled musicians still feel like they need to earn the right to call themselves an artist.
They believe that once they finish the next project, land the next gig, or finally get more recognition, then they’ll feel legitimate.
But that moment rarely arrives.
In our session, we explored a different definition of what it means to be an artist... one that doesn’t depend on output or outside validation.
We landed on this:
An artist is someone who engages with a creative practice. That’s it.
And then we built a simple, repeatable daily practice that he could follow (and fall in love with).
Of course it’s valid to want more. To grow. To stretch into the next version of yourself.
But you don’t have to wait for the next achievement to claim your identity.
The more you fall in love with the practice itself (showing up, exploring, listening to your own ideas) the more everything else starts to happen as a BYPRODUCT.
That’s what happened for him:
The pressure dropped. His energy returned. He started having more fun with his music. He tried out a few patch ideas he had been ignoring because they felt "too simple", and they ended up being some of the most beautiful things he had made in a long time.
Not because he finally did more. But because he stopped trying to prove anything.
Show up for your practice, get curious, and follow the sounds you love. ❤️
A few weeks ago, something shifted for one of my creative mentorship clients, and I want to share it with you in case it’s helpful.
He’s conservatory-trained, has multiple releases, and years of experience. But on our call, he said, “I still don’t feel legit as a musician.”
Even with everything he had accomplished, it never felt like enough.
“It’s like I’m constantly moving the finish line,” he told me.
And I hear this a lot. So many skilled musicians still feel like they need to earn the right to call themselves an artist.
They believe that once they finish the next project, land the next gig, or finally get more recognition, then they’ll feel legitimate.
But that moment rarely arrives.
In our session, we explored a different definition of what it means to be an artist... one that doesn’t depend on output or outside validation.
We landed on this:
An artist is someone who engages with a creative practice. That’s it.
And then we built a simple, repeatable daily practice that he could follow (and fall in love with).
Of course it’s valid to want more. To grow. To stretch into the next version of yourself.
But you don’t have to wait for the next achievement to claim your identity.
The more you fall in love with the practice itself (showing up, exploring, listening to your own ideas) the more everything else starts to happen as a BYPRODUCT.
That’s what happened for him:
The pressure dropped. His energy returned. He started having more fun with his music. He tried out a few patch ideas he had been ignoring because they felt "too simple", and they ended up being some of the most beautiful things he had made in a long time.
Not because he finally did more. But because he stopped trying to prove anything.
Show up for your practice, get curious, and follow the sounds you love. ❤️
