Fearless Creativity: How to Build Unshakable Confidence in Your Craft

If you ask me about one weakness creative people have, I’d tell you it’s the lack of confidence. I see it express itself everywhere I go. Creatives doubt themselves and refuse to express our creativity with conviction. They refuse to show up, not because they don’t want to, but because they are afraid to. Buried in holes, cowered in silence, creatives will look for the slightest excuse to avoid the spotlight. We have designed some of the coolest names for these things which I consider ridiculous, melancholics, conservatives, anti social etc. The ones who create the best work have the least attention while the mediocre guys are on top of every conversation in their fields. Let me share practical tips with to fix your confidence problem.

Accept Yourself

You are who you say you are. Most creatives struggle to accept who they have worked really hard to become. It starts from acceptance. I’d assume that this is simple but not anymore. I don’t inflate people’s ego but creatives don’t need to be inflated, they’ve got value that they are not even taking ownership of. If you don’t accept who you are, you will not harness the opportunities in your field. It’s not what people call you, it’s what you call yourself. Print your title on a Shirt, put it on mugs and take water from it every hour of the day, it won’t sink if you don’t accept yourself. And it’s funny how we doubt our obvious characteristics.

Ditch Perfection

How many more years do you want to wait till you are perfect? Waiting for perfection kills creativity. The goal is to create, not to be perfect. Leave all the conversation in your head and take a stroll. You’re not on this journey to prove anything, you’re not defending an image, you’re growing and breaking out of the shell that is limiting you, you’re going beyond your last performance and shattering your records, the attention is on you, not on what people will say. If I worry every time about how perfect my writing should be, I’d be doomed. I will deny hundreds of people reading from me weekly the opportunity to learn. This is a journey, not some show or exhibition of craft. No matter what you do, ditch perfection. Most times when I plunge into a project, I realize that my assumptions were wrong. What I thought would be difficult is not, the resources, experience and skill I thought I needed was not a requisite, it was all in my head. I assure you, if you’re creating to grow, you’d be better each time you churn out something and your confidence will grow, if you’re waiting to be perfect you will attempt too few projects to toughen your creative muscle.

Do More with what you Have:

About five years ago, I held a challenge called the Do More Challenge. Participants increased their outputs; scaled their content creation, shot more videos, wrote more songs, etc. The result was amazing. Confidence comes with handling more projects, speaking at more events, writing more books, teaching more classes, handling more clients, singing more songs. Be the creative who look for every opportunity to express themselves. Every project you do is an opportunity to grow. I have mentioned the law of use and disuse many times in my writing, Sir Lamarck postulated that the muscles we use often, grow bigger than the ones we don’t. Some projects will not give you the best outcome you envisage, but you will increase your chance of creating excellent work by outworking your bad outcomes. You will train your intuition, strengthen your resolve, sharpen your accuracy by working on more. The more you write, speak, code, teach, sing, the better you become.

Share your Work

Where can I read your articles? Where can I stream your songs? Where can I hear you preach? This is different from the portfolios you keep in one quiet drive. This is what your platforms are there for. 70% of employees will look you up before they engage with you. They will check your platforms before you get into the room, they will do it while you’re in the room. Even if you’re not applying, you need to share your work to get feedback, grow your audience and build your confidence.

Surround Yourself with Creativity:

If you continue to walk in dry uninspiring terrain, very soon, you will forget who you are, what you should create, how often you should create etc . This is one of my most impressive super powers. I bud in amazing places when I listen, watch and follow people who are in their creative element. Everywhere just sparks. The energy just flows. And it's about energy. Some people are addicted to chaotic and bland spaces. Inspiration killers, and reducers. You will never develop confidence like that. There are people you discuss with and in 60 short seconds you feel like flying in the sky. Your colors start popping and you're all over the space. Others are quite the opposite. From songs to art pieces, to fashion items, I stay around Creativity and those who make it happen and it transforms my work. Sometimes I don't want to write or create anything but a simple conversation by creative people will supply the spark.If you’re in a room with four creative folks, you are the fifth guy. Have zero tolerance for what is uninspiring and what does not supply energy, inspiration, drive and enthusiasm to what you are doing. See you next time. Have a great week and breakthrough from within.

©Abiola Iyiola, 2025

Principal, AI Leadership Consult

Image: Lars H Knudsen