What’s Next? Keeping the Faith In Uncertain Times
by Kendall Alexander
Have you ever asked a successful person for tips on how to be successful or on how they became successful?
They may respond with words like “always be consistent”, “be disciplined” and, “always be prepared”. These responses are often thought of as the building blocks to having a fruitful career. Oftentimes, when people give advice on this topic, they leave out the most important foundation that these blocks must be built on.
Having faith in yourself is key.
You’re probably thinking, “Duh Kendall, in order to be successful, you obviously have to believe that you are capable of obtaining success.” Be that as it may, it’s not as easy or as obvious as it sounds. You see, it’s easy to have faith in yourself when you’re surrounded by love and support or when you have examples of success around you. Even then it can be hard, because of the pressure to do well and be successful. But, that’s a whole different struggle.
As black creatives, we are often overlooked compared to our counterparts. This can make it challenging to achieve our dreams. Support from our loved ones can be scarce, simply because there are not enough examples of our people being successful in their creative endeavors. This can lead to a lack of belief in profiting off of creativity. Sometimes, lack of support equates to a lack of faith. We can be those examples of people who are successful in their creativity. We have new advantages that creatives who looked like us didn’t have in the past. Today, there is more of a call for an artist's perspective. In the past, they had faith without the advantages. Now, I feel like we have the advantages without faith. Whether we like it or not, we are the examples that the next generation will look towards. Let us be an example of what it looks like to be successful due to the never-ending faith we had in ourselves.
Having an obscene amount of faith in yourself is crucial for us to be successful. Anything less can be detrimental to our careers. The faith you have in yourself needs to be strong and durable. Your faith can’t dwindle when things don’t go your way. Instead, it has to be more secure when this happens. We cannot depend on others to have continuous faith in us, they have their own life to live. It’s easy to become disappointed in people when they don’t share the same amount of confidence in us as we do. Save yourself the disappointment and doubt that others will give you by always believing in yourself. Everyone else will catch up eventually. You’re not here for them. You’re here for you. Don’t go chasing others to validate your creativity.
Your job is not to prove that you can do whatever you want with your life. Your job is to simply do whatever serves you unapologetically. Having an unlimited amount of faith in yourself is the key to unlocking your full potential. Get started and remember that what was meant for you won’t miss you. Have faith in yourself and in the process.
