We live in an unprecedented where every time we turn on the news another war has broken out and fear can easily begin to take over our lives.
When we allow ourselves to be ruled by fear it affects every aspect of our lives including our business.
One of the hardest things to do when you work for yourself is to look your fears, apprehension, and doubts in the eye and overcome them.
The majority of the time our fears seem bigger in our heads than they really are and as creatives our active imaginations continue to fuel and enhance them.
For example a few years ago when I released my book Keep At It. At the time it felt like a huge undertaking, there was so much for me to do I needed to illustrate and letter all the pages, then put it together in a cohesive manner. I was afraid the work wouldn’t be good enough, that I would not be able to put it together in time and I would invest all this money and the book would fail. I was at a crossroads and I had to decide if I was going to pursue it. So often we stop doing a project before it has even begun because we allow our fears to take charge.
Here is how I tackled my fear, I took a piece of paper and wrote down the extent of my fears. Once I had them written down I looked at each thing and asked myself the question
“What is the worst that would happen if this became a reality,”
and I wrote that down. Then I asked myself…
“What will I gain if I overcome this fear.”
Every time the benefits outweighed the pitfalls. Even when we try and we fail we still gain more than if we never try at all. Our mistakes can be our biggest teachers if we learn to look at them as stepping stones to a better you.
Much like David faced Goliath with quiet confidence and a mustard seed of faith, so can you.
NEWS!
It’s awards season and I am excited to share that I have been shortlisted for a few.
Two of my books were shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book awards.
Children’s Junior Book of the Year: Wild City
Children’s Senior Book of the Year: I Am the Wind
I need your help, please vote for my books please vote 👇🏾
I am also honored to share that my work for Coke was shortlisted for the IDI awards.
Weekly Pep!
Listen
It’s been a little while since I’ve sent a newsletter out so I’ve had a whole host of amazing guests on my show.
Illustrators might enjoy:
MURUGIAH is an award-winning multi & interdimensional artist in London, UK exploring identity & awe & everything in between based in London, U.K. Born in England & raised in Wales with Sri Lankan heritage. He makes psychedelic work infused with the dichotomy of his Sri Lankan heritage and western upbringing. All made in a surreal, joyful, style using bright bold colours and detailed graphical compositions.
Check out his work here: https://murugiah.com/
Paul Delany is an award-winning designer and most recently an illustrator. From building brands, to crafting visual stories Paul can do it all. We chat about his career and his transition from the world of design to illustration, finding his style and more.
See his work here: https://pauldelaney.ie/portfolio/
Designers might enjoy
Graham Thew is an award-winning Book Designer at the forefront of Book Design in Ireland. With a career that spans 25 years, we dive into how he was catapulted into the world of publishing as he left college and soon made his mark in the publishing world. At his studio Gramham Thew Design they work on branding, and illustration with a specialisation in book design. Check out the amazing covers Graham has worked on: https://www.grahamthew.com/
Kieron is South London born freelance graphic designer, host on Adobe Live and public speaker with a BA (Hons) within Graphic Arts. His core skill sets include Editorial Design, Marketing, Branding and Front-end digital design (UI). Check out his work here:https://kieronlewis.com
Do you have a guest you want me to interview?
Watch
Have you ever wondered about the illustration industry, looking to understand it better? I’ve started a new series all about the business of illustration. You can binge watch the first three episodes.
If you found some value from the work I do I would love your support.
Consider grabbing some art or one of my books, every little helps! 👉🏽https://whackochacko.com/shop/
With Christmas Season around the corner, it’s time to prep for the festivity, perhaps a set of my Christmas cards will help you do just that
Have a wonderful week! Keep Smiling!
Ashwin Chacko
Be you x Be True
P.S. If you enjoy what I do and the content I create consider being a patron and supporting me through a paid subscription
Thank you for these timely words. I have been feeling some fears around a couple of projects and will write them down.