How to Stop Doubting Yourself and Become Confident with Tattooing
As we grow into our tattooing skills and purpose in Life, we become more attuned to our vitality and strength.
We also become more aware of the ways that we limit ourselves.
We come to realize that our thoughts, more so than our circumstances, sabotage our freedom and success… when it comes to improving our tattoo skills.
We are the ones who allow our insecurities and fears to grow into the tidal waves of worry that wash our dreams away…
We are the ones who constantly delay our own progress, quitting just as the hour demands courageous action…
None of us want to look in the mirror and realize that the person looking back is the cause of such frustration.
We would rather smile at the reflection and be proud of its courage…
We want to see ourselves as free and motivated masters of our own lives…
Yet a quick glance into our own tired eyes often reveals a knowledge that we are standing in our own way.
Too often we find ourselves muttering at the mirror, “why can’t you get your act together and go for what you truly desire?
Why aren’t you taking more risks, drawing more, tattooing more challenging pieces, being more consistent, connecting better with people?”
These are difficult days when we realize our internal demons are beating us. Those days must come to an end. Now.
Greatness in the tattoo industry belongs to those who have mastered their internal world. Those Who Breathe in their Courage and Exhale their Fears…
We are all plagued by doubt, but the great nevertheless find faith and begin.
We all feel like delaying action, but the Great march on…
We all want to avoid vulnerability or act superior over others from time to time, but the great consistently demonstrate openness, humility, and love..
These few are not lucky; they are simply more intentional and more practiced at defeating their internal demons…
This is why they have so much vitality, motivation, and confidence– and their Artwork is Magnificent!
Let us choose to make that our aim, and once and for all root out that which holds us back in our tattooing..
We deserve to be free from all those stirrings within us that compromise our magnificence.
For this Let us Declare: We Shall defeat our demons.
—-The Enemy Within:
Let us give our challenger a name. As it stands in the way of our own will to advance our tattooing, we shall name it Defiance…
Defiance is that monster that stirs deep in our gut whenever we want to take a risk..
When it squirms we feel anxiety in our stomach, that awful sense that we are not enough or things might turn out terribly.
It’s movements make us worry ourselves sick. It makes us feel so weak and distrustful that we stop taking action or connecting with others,
or persuades us not to invest into a course that we know will improve our tattooing.
It is the organism within that acts from our lowest impulses for self-protection.
No one escapes life without fighting this beast..
-The artist who never starts his or her tattoo shop because of constant terror is in its grasp.
-The poor artist who starts and stops action all his life, never learning realism and never gaining real momentum toward his or her goals, is being wrecked by it…
-The egotistical tattoo artist who sees his fellow tattooers as idiots or competitors is being seduced by it.
Anytime we set a higher ambition for ourselves, this nasty beast gnaws at us from within, tearing at our confidence and consuming us from the inside out, leaving us fearful and gutless…
Where did defiance come from and how did it get its power?
It grew from the seeds of fear fed to us by the tyrants of the world: the cautioners who taught us to favor doubt over faith, the apathetic followers who showed us how to favor delay over action…
The negative thoughts they planted in our heads fed the beast within, and now it grows in power whenever we hear ourselves think,
“I’m not good enough.
I better stop what I love because I’m scared. I’m not worthy of trust and respect and neither are others.”
The bullies of the industry may have given us these thoughts. But it was our own failure to discontinue them that birthed the internal struggle we face today.
With our own weakness we give Defiance its power.
As we become more aware, we learn to sense this beast as separate from our own nature…
We can detect when it stirs within us, noticing a sudden wave of tension and stress in our body.
We can hear it’s shines and roars rise from our gut into fearful thoughts:
“I am not sure!”
“The timing may not be right”
We cannot feed this fearful internal voice of defiance anymore..
Defiance can roar all it wants, but we can choose to ignore it as we might a pesky yapping dog.
We can calm ourselves by taking control of our own thoughts and actions and investing into the right material…
With practice we can overcome that internal demon once and for all. Should we succeed, we shall reach or full personal power.
Doubt wakes up when we strive for anything new or better. It recognizes that in moments when our ambition rises.
The only thing doubt can to do survive is take our strength by whining and singing its pessimistic song: I’m not sure, I’m not sure, I’m not sure.
“I’m not so sure it’s time to spend hard earned money to learn how to tattoo portraits.”
“maybe it’s not the right time to learn something I would Love.”
“She’ll probably say no if I ask her on a date.”
“This course probably won’t work for me.”
I don’t think it’s s good idea to follow my passions or to strike out on my own.”
The precise moments when doubt begins to prevail in our lives are predictable.
They happen when our doubting thoughts turn into real words– the moment we begin asking, “what if…” And then follow the phrase with a negative statement:
What if..it doesn’t work out?
What if.. I can’t handle it?
What if.. I’m not good enough?
What if.. I ruin someone’s portrait?
What if.. They take advantage of me?
These are the questions of a mind poisoned by doubt not of our higher self.
It is the allowance and repetition of doubtful questions that stall most artists from reaching their full capability in their tattooing.
There can be no real progress if we question things negatively like this.
Yet the greatest damage from doubt isn’t just what we fail to do; it is who we fail to become.
We develop our tattooing only through effort, struggle, and learning, none of which we choose to invest in when doubt has our ear.
Doubt produces only Small artists, scared of their own shadows–a world full of Timid warriors who never leap or serve.
So what are we to do?
How does an artist slay doubt?
History has taught us that when doubt has a hold on us, only faith can tear us from its grasp.
Faith is a deep conviction, a global trust and confidence in our beliefs about what is true.
The conviction comes from choice– we choose to believe something and hold on to that belief tightly, even in the face of so many unknowns…
We have faith when we can endure failure, suffering, ruining a portrait, or loss and keep our wits about us, knowing that eventually these things shall pass and good things will return.
We have faith when we believe in our capabilities to succeed…
This belief doesn’t need to be overestimations of our current skill or strength. Instead, the most powerful faith in the world is the humble variety that says,
“I believe in my ability to learn and figure things out. With enough focus, time, effort, and dedication, I believe I can learn to do what must be done and become who I must become to achieve my dreams.”
If we carry on this kind of faith to learn and live into our potential, then doubt lies sweating on its deathbed.
Today’s Action Step:
Comment Below all the reasons you have to believe in yourself and your ability to take your tattooing to the next level and master portraits.
Here’s 3 questions to answer:
1. What have we already done in life that we didn’t know we could?
2. What reason can we find to believe that this portrait course will get us on the path to success and be well worth the investment?
3. Why will we continue to believe in ourselves and our dreams even among difficulties?
Let us write these things. Let us force ourselves to do this seemingly simple activity now.
For in writing our beliefs, Faith itself is strengthened. Then the next time doubt rears its ugly head ( even in the middle of a tattoo) remember what was written…
Remember what you believe. Replace its negative whining with more positive and empowering thoughts.
This is the way of those who have mastered their mind and reach their highest tattooing potential..
As we choose faith again and again throughout our lives, we develop a mental toughness for beating away doubt.
When we practice such power, it becomes something we can firmly grasp and use in times of need and anxiety while tattooing.
Soon, faith is our favored weapon and we become invincible against the darkness.
We become the warrior of light, who rarely questions themselves, who tattoos magnificently and progresses tremendously because they believe the universe favors those with a committed heart and all things are unfolding exactly as it should.
P.S. If You Skipped Through and scrolled down to the bottom of this blog post scroll right back up to the top and REREAD this So That You Can Answer the 3 questions if you’re serious about your tattooing, there’s some really important info here that can help improve your Confidence.
P.P.S. I’m currently setting up my first webinar for all of my subscribers, I’ll let you know more about that soon.
Subscribe if you haven’t already, and Keep an Eye on your Inbox.
Bonus Video:
Click Here to Watch my Free Video of my 3 step system to Tattooing Portraits.
I look Forward to Reading Your posts Soon!
-Dax McClellan
Your Portrait Tattoo Mentor/Wizard
