“The truth is, I’m just not sure if I even want to be a designer anymore,” my client sighed, his body sagging. I could see he really believed it, too.
“Can I be blunt with you?” I asked.
“Yes, please. Always!”
“You are a designer, it’s who you are, but you’re currently using your creativity for being a struggling designer instead of a thriving, successful one. Your creativity is your biggest strength, but the way you’re using it to create your own obstacles and roadblocks, it’s become your biggest weakness.”
He went silent.
Then he swore.
His body relaxed into the truth of that reality.
“That was such a mic drop moment. I have been putting my creativity into being a struggling designer instead of a thriving one! I’m the one creating my roadblocks!”
He went silent again, but it was different from before.
His eyes were sparkling as if a giant bonfire had just been ignited inside them.
“I’m feeling so inspired right now, I have so many ideas. I just want to get to work!”
He is now spending each weekday morning in his studio, playing, experimenting, allowing what wants to be designed through him to come out, and having fun with it.
We Dutch people have a reputation that we are direct, sometimes to the point of bluntness.
For my clients, that’s a feature, not a bug.
I will tell them what nobody else is willing to tell them (always with permission, and always from love).