I have always been a pencil – Henri Toulouse-Lautrec

I have tried to do what is true and not ideal – Henri Toulouse – Lautrec

There is no such thing as the perfect career. That is what many people really think, and it is sad, because there are plenty of rewarding, challenging, and fulfilling career opportunities that allow creative people to use their gifts and be rewarded handsomely for their efforts. Those who settle for less than the best simply haven’t found the right job  – yet. You can have it all when it comes to a creative career – if you know how.

The fact is that most people hate their jobs. They would rather be doing something else – anything else. It doesn’t have to be that way. What if I told you that you would never have to work another day in your life? Would you be interested? When you find the right fit in a career, it no longer feels like work. You wake up every day excited abou how you earn your living. This perfect harmonizing of your talents, skills, personality and work style creates a passion and a desire as well as a feeling of contentment that is worth more than gold.

It can all be yours, if you will read the hero journey guides for creative professionals and apply its principles.

The challenge is that the creative arts are very different from other fields. To go ahead, you sometimes have to zigzag to the top. Let me show you when to zig and when to zag to make the most of the opportunities out there.

Finding contentment in your career is a lot like looking for treasure. Using a map, you embark on a journey, an adventure in search of yourself. The thing is, there isn’t a pot of gold waiting for you when you get to the spot marked ‘X’ on the map. The buried treasure is within you. The pursuit of the gold (or the goal) is the reward. Because, when it comes to a career, there is no ‘there’ there. It is all a search. Enjoying the search is what success is all about.

This is the age of opportunity for the creative person. Innovation and ideas are gold. Ridicule and red tape are being replaced with respect and rewards for the clever and creative person The work environment and job market are changing, and they are changing for the better – for you.  Are you ready for these exciting times ahead? This guide will put you in a position to prosper. What parents, teachers, and bosses might see as problems (sloppiness, habitual tardiness, short attention span, nonconformism) can actually be hidden assets in the search for work in a rewarding and interesting creative career. Intuition, emotion, divergent thinking, daydreaming, thriving on chaos, big picture thinking, cleverness, open-mindedness, and an ability to play and have fun are virtues in the right setting.

Even so it is not exactly easy to build a career in the creative arts. You have to be able to deal with heaping helpings of rejection. It is a part of everyday life for the creative person.

There is also that funny feeling that you don’t quite fit in – and you don’t. Thank God. An unconventional person with unconventional ideas, you are often seen as immature, temperamental, moody, difficult, distracted, irresponsible and irrational.

The truth is, you can be your wonderful self and still get ahead in the corporate world – or work for yourself, as many creative people do. Whichever you choose, this guide will help you manage your career using a whole brain approach that takes advantage of the way you are, without forgetting the way the world works.

About Peter de Kuster

Peter de Kuster is the founder of The Hero’s Journey & Heroine’s Journey project,  a storyteller who helps creative professionals to create careers and lives based on whatever story is most integral to their lives and careers (values, traits, skills and experiences). Peter’s approach combines in-depth storytelling and marketing expertise, and for over 20 years clients have found it effective with a wide range of creative business issues.

Peter is writer of the series The Heroine’s Journey and Hero’s Journey books, he has an MBA in Marketing,  MBA in Financial Economics and graduated at university in Sociology and Communication Sciences.