Most of us Scanners are really fantastic at creating. We write, paint, build, chisel, record and so much more all day long. Most of us also find a way to share our creations for free, which is great because it’s a solid first step. Now all we need to do is practise shipping. For a balanced Scanner life, you need to find your way to turn creations into products.
Why is shipping difficult?
If you don’t struggle selling your stuff, you can skip this section. If you are like me and have been creating for years but haven’t actually sold much, stick with me. Shipping is difficult because we have a ton of limiting beliefs that hold us back.
Maybe you were told that artists need to struggle, or that art should be free, or you have the image of the starving artist in mind. Maybe you grew up surrounded by people who devalued your creative work and pushed you towards “reasonable” or “sensible” professions. Or were you taught the “either/or” trap? Either you have fun or you make money. Or… or… or… all of the above and then some.
That was me too. For a long time I undervalued my work so much I didn’t even want to share it at all. But I kept creating until I had so many paintings that I gave them away for free just to make space for new ones! That was step one: Sharing. Gradually, I acknowledged that I wanted to create for a living. And that’s when I learned about shipping.
Sharing is caring
People often laugh when I use this phrase, especially because I mean it. But sharing our creative work is a great method to ease into shipping. Putting work out into the world is a bit scary because once it’s out there, we get feedback. Often unsolicited. Or worse, criticism. But you only get better at things you keep doing.
So I shared. A lot. Common advice is to give stuff away for free so I did. Blog posts and even free courses. I got pretty good at sharing because I felt comfortable ignoring people’s comments since they hadn’t actually paid for anything. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, of course, but as long as no money was exchanged I could leave it at that.
Then something interesting happened. I hesitated with some of my creations. I wrote a novella and despite all the advice to give it away for free I have not done so and never will. Why? Because it’s too good to give away. All the beliefs we get drilled into us are really just about one thing: Self-worth. And I learned a very important distinction this year: my worth has nothing to do with what I create.
I am inherently worthy and I happen to be a creator. Some of my creations are free because I want them to be. When I write about Emotional Intelligence Skills, I want everyone who is looking for the information to have free access to it. But other creations are products. And products should never be free.
Finished for now
So what about my products? Can I now ship them easily? Well, there was another lesson I needed to learn first: I’m never finished. I had been working under the delusion that there’s something like a “final” version. There isn’t. People sometimes ask me if I am a perfectionist but I always so no because perfectionism comes from the limiting belief that there is a “right” version. Perfectionists strive to create that.
But there is no such thing. There are only different versions at different levels. As we grow as creators, we improve our skills. Cringing tells us exactly how far we have come. Once I embraced this new belief, I was free to keep going. I paint over old paintings, re-write blog posts and even produce new versions of courses and books. In-between I create a new project here and there. Or as I like to think of it the first version.
We’re never really done. Whether it is us who will build and iterate on a creation in a few months or years, or whether it’s someone else who takes our work to the next level, there’s always the next version. And the most beautiful part about this is that since we are never really done, we cannot get it wrong. Knowing this allowed me to get out of my own head and ship my products.
It’s not about you
We are creators. We create because that’s what we do. Shipping our creations, though, is not about us. It’s about the people out there who are right now waiting and searching for our work. Offering our products means giving others the opportunity to be entertained, to learn, grow, and expand.
So ship. Create your finished-for-now version and then get it out into the world. Treat the shipping part as another skill. Practise by doing. Find the easiest way to ship right now. Just like creating, there will be better ways to ship your products in future and you will cringe at the systems you are putting in place right now.
That’s fantastic because it means you will have grown. For now, focus on the next step. Get that project ready and ship it. Put a system into place, practise the steps you need to take, and set up the infrastructure. Whatever it takes. Make shipping your next side-project. Do the easiest you can do right now to publish that book, launch that course and sell your art. Expect to get better at it with each time because you’re never done, so you cannot get it wrong.