I challenge you to start seeing what you do differently.

The work we get paid to do will inevitably take up most of our time. There’s a harrowing statistic that states the average person will spend 1/3 of their life at work, equating to over 90’000 hours over a lifetime. The way you spend your days becomes the way you spend a life, and when most of that time is spent at work, it’s understandable that our work can become the way we see ourselves.

It colors how we see the world, the people we know and the way we interact with them. Work is and will always be a massive part of our lives, whether you love it or despise it, you can’t get away from it.

But what about the other 2/3rds of a life?

For many of us, the way we earn a paycheck and the art we create are two separate things.

You might be paid to be a software engineer, but in your spare time, when you have an afternoon off from walking your dog or picking up groceries, you illustrate comics. You’ve been doing it for years, learning and teaching yourself as you go. It’s not something you’re paid to do, it’s not something you have ever tried to be paid to do, but it’s something you enjoy. It’s something you’re good at. It’s something that makes you smile.

So. In the grand scheme of who you are and how you spend your time, would you call yourself an engineer or an illustrator?

Why does the idea of calling yourself an illustrator feel like lying?

If you won the lottery tomorrow and never needed to work again, what would you be then?

Why is being paid to do something the important distinction here?

There is an assumption, in our society, that a person becomes “professional” when money changes hands. You wouldn’t consider yourself a professional gamer simply because you spend 4 hours a day playing Call of Duty, or a professional cook because you like to bake cupcakes on the weekends.

But when it comes to creating art, when it comes to being an artist, a writer, a musician, a poet, the line between ‘professional’ and ‘amateur’ gets a little harder to see.

“I’m a teacher but I like to paint”
“I write children’s books but I work as a medic”

What you’re really saying is:

“I’m not a real artist because I don’t make money from my work”
“I create art in my spare time, but it only matters to others if I get paid”

I’m not saying that you can’t be an artist and still be proud of the work you do. We are all more than one thing, and our art is only one part of that. But why does our art always come last on the list? Why does employment take precedence over passion?

---

So, I ask: at what point do we consider ourselves artists? And how does it affect the work we create?

Banksy was still an artist back when he was spray painting walls for free and running from the cops. Stephen King was still a writer when he was writing Carrie by candlelight between 12 hours shifts at the mill. And John Lennon was still a musician before the Beatles ever recorded their first album.

So if an artist is still an artist before they “make it big” or earn their first dollar, what is the difference between someone who calls themselves an artist, and someone who creates art?

Does the definition come from the person themselves? Does it come from how they spend their time? Or is there a minimum amount of work, hours, days or years, you need to dedicate to the craft before one is allowed to call themselves an artist?

Or is the title bestowed with hindsight? If you never sell any records, you were never really a musician. If you never publish any work, you were never really a writer.

---

The art we create and the way we choose to spend our time can be very different from the work we get paid to do. The work we produce in our own time is often considered a hobby, a minor interest secondary to our professional career. And the line between personal and professional is not only monetary, but also a distinction of merit, of importance. If you’re paid to do something, it’s more meaningful than the things you create when you’re working for yourself.

I challenge this distinction.

I would argue that someone who writes short stories in their spare time is no less a writer than a published author. Sure, talent and quality play a big part in the eventual success of any artist, but the real difference is not in how good your work is, or how much time or money you spend doing it. The difference isn’t exposure, fame, or a paycheck.

The real difference is how you see yourself.

Van Gogh painted his whole life and only ever sold one painting, but he still considered himself an artist. Dave Grohl called himself a drummer long before Nirvana. Were either of them lying? With hindsight, it’s easy to call these creators artists when you can see their talent in lights and have hard evidence of the masterpieces they created, but gold records and international acclaim doesn’t make an artist.

You create the art that only you can create. You do it when you’re a nobody. You do it for free. Some of us are eventually lucky enough to get paid for it, some spend their whole lives creating with no reward, but money is not what makes an artist.

Stop thinking of ‘professional’ artists as inherently different from people like you and me. Tolkien is widely considered the grandfather of modern fantasy, but if you met him at a party back in the day, and asked him what it was that he did, he’d likely have replied “I’m an English lit professor”, not “I write epic adventures of fantasy and wonder”.

What you do is not always who you are. And who you are can become what you do, with a bit of time, commitment, and a small change in attitude.

I’m not talking about “visualizing your destiny”, or the old “don’t think you can, know you can” attitude. I’m not claiming that the way you think about yourself will magically affect how good your work is, or instantly manifest that ‘big break’ you’ve been dreaming of. All art takes work, and success has more to do with time, commitment and effort than it does base skill or talent.

But my hypothesis is this: If you want to make good art, if you want to complete a project you’ve been working on, or find your voice as an artist, stop thinking of your art as a hobby. Stop thinking of yourself as an amateur, playing pretend while other ‘real’ artists are doing the proper work. Silence that voice that tells you you’re a pretender and start seeing your work for what it is.

You are an artist.

Let’s say that again. Once more with feeling.

You are an artist.

Don’t let society’s definition of success determine how you see yourself. No one can do the thing you do, in the way that you do it. You might not be making money from your art right now, but that doesn’t stop it being art, and it doesn’t stop you being an artist.

This subtle change in attitude can help you see the unique selling point of your work, and help you market yourself without feeling like a fraud. It can help you charge what your work is worth and avoid underselling your services from fear that you don’t know what you’re doing. Remember that even the ‘professionals’ struggle with self-doubt, and the only difference between them and you is that they found someone else who believed them when they said they were an artist.

Success comes from hard work and a little bit of luck, but at the start of the process is a commitment to seeing yourself as the artist you are.

So next time you’re at a party, or waiting in line for coffee, or picking up your kid from school, and someone asks what it is that you do, take the leap.

Tell them you’re a writer. Tell them you’re a painter. Tell them you’re a musician, a dancer, or an illustrator. Don’t tell them what you do to make money, tell them what you do! And see how this subtle change can affect how you see your work and how you see yourself.

You are what you say you are.

So start calling yourself an artist.

and see what happens.