I set foot in a classroom for the first time in four years last week. It was kind of surreal. As I was walking to the lab I’ll be working out of this term, I realized I had more than a few butterflies in my stomach.
I used to have a lot of fear around experiences like this. I’d spend days worrying ahead of time about the first several minutes of the class. By the time the first day of class arrived, I’d be a bit of a basket case — my fight or flight response at 11.
I generally don’t do great with change. I mean, I make changes, I’ve spoken about the need to before, but I often do it begrudgingly. It’s internal wrestling every time — me vs. my brain, but in the end, change always wins out. You can’t stop it. So, what do you do?
If you’re change averse, it’s better to work on giving in (a dirty word I know), identify a way to sidle up to the enemy (that being change) and figure out a series of steps you can implement to work through the fear around future change.
Stepping Into the Unknown
As creative professionals, change is a part of everything we do. I’ve talked about this in the past also. The very nature of our creative work is to effect change. The things we create are meant to change things for the better, the introduction of something that was not there before [the creative artifact] is the very definition of change. This is not the change, though, that freaks me out.
The change I hate is related specifically to the unknown, or the known becoming the unknown. Here are just three areas I struggle with. My list is much longer, but we’ll get to that later.
1. Meeting people initially - Social situations for me are tough. Networking can be a nightmare. I don’t do well with social cues, so I’m not too good at taking the initiative in a room full of people [the unknown].
The very nature of our creative work is to effect change. The things we create are meant to change things for the better, the introduction of something that was not there before…
2. Showing clients work for the first time - Despite doing this for years, I struggle every time I need to reveal work to a client for the first time. Their reaction [the unknown] keeps me waist-deep in fear and apprehension.
3. Stable aspects of work going through constant change - For years, I seemed to stumble into work environments that would be changing. I’d be brought in under the old processes. I’d be trained in routines that had been in place for years — routines that were comfortable and easy to produce good work in. Yet, once I’d get settled a bit, that stability would be up-ended due to new management or changing initiatives, and inevitably, there would be a series of large changes [the unknown], that would make the job more difficult, fearful, and eventually untenable. Security to insecurity is frustrating and fear-inducing.
These three areas directly affect my ability to be the best designer I can be. More specifically, they affect the bottom line — something that becomes infinitely more important when you are trying to make a full-time living from your creativity.
Hacking Your Nature
So, we have to hack our nature to move forward — coping mechanisms you might call them. It boils down to creating a series of steps to combat fear and deal with change and then working through them when the occasion arises.
Here are a few of mine, but remember, these steps are specific to the individual. They require slowing down, thinking about what’s reasonable, and then trying some things out.
When I’m facing the unknown I tend to try:
Slowing Down My Mind
When we’re scared or experiencing anxiety or fear, our blood is not where it needs to be. It generally moves inward, away from the extremities, making it harder to make good choices. I tend to largely shut down mentally due to the lack of blood making it to my brain. If I can slow things down and get the circulation going the right way again, I’m better able to make choices.
The way I do this is to walk away from the situation for a while. Reading a novel, sitting outside and focusing on nature, or my favorite, heading out to see a movie, gets my mind off things. When I return to the issue I’m better equipped to get my mind around the issue.
Reframing the Experience
When I have my mind back and I’m not feeling crushed by the fear, I start trying to create a social story in my mind. This is a technique that is often used with people on the spectrum to help them better understand the unknown. Most often a social story will be diagrammed out on paper or a computer and then explained to the individual to help them see the process [steps] they will go through during that experience. It works well.
Most often a social story will be diagrammed out on paper or a computer and then explained to the individual to help them see the process or steps involved.
My method is more about creating situations in my mind and then playing out the experience. The more options I run through, the more calm and prepared I feel. My mother would have called this “creative visualization” and it would have come with a lesson on tarot and crystal healing. The visualization part works, though.
Is It True?
This one helps when I feel my imposter syndrome coming on before showing work to a client. I generally tend to tear myself down a bit after I’ve finished a round of work. I doubt my ability to do good work and to give the clients what they are looking for. That annoying habit of doubt never seems to go away for me.
Yet, when I’m in the throes of doubt, I ask one simple question, “Is it true?” Undoubtedly, it is not and that puts me back into a better frame of mind.
These three tactics I’ve shared are designed to do one thing — get us moving forward through the change. Over time, the more we smooth out the rough edges in our minds that want to run away from change, the easier it gets. The fear will most likely never go away (it never has for me) but somehow I’ve managed to hack a workaround and make a truce with it.
It All Turns Out Okay…For Now
Last week’s class went great, as it generally does, but it always starts with that fear - the unknown. For me, the unknown was everything leading up to and including the first 15 minutes of class. Working my steps before class helped me get in the right frame of mind, allowing me to move forward, and face that fear.
Once I got past introducing myself and having the 17 students introduce themselves, my fear receded, allowing me to do what I was there to do. To me, that’s what being a pro in this field is about.