THE INSPIRATION PLACE PODCAST
Miriam Schulman:
So then I had to push aside that thought that this was a mistake and go through it anyway. I had to choose to believe that I was going to write the book.
Speaker 2:
It’s The Inspiration Place podcast with artist Miriam Schulman. Welcome to The Inspiration Place podcast, an Art World Insider podcast for artists by an artist where each week we go behind the scenes to uncover the perspiration and inspiration behind the art. And now your host, Miriam Schulman.
Miriam Schulman:
Well, hey there, it’s Miriam Schulman here, your curator of inspiration. And this is episode number 240 of the Inspiration Plays podcast, which I decided I’m going to also start doing as a video. How about that? So anything that you want to learn about today if you’re watching YouTube, write below. If you are listening on the podcast, Schulmanart.com/240.
We’re talking about your belief. We’re talking about choosing to believe. This is actually chapter one of my book, Artpreneur. And there’s a reason why I started with this as the first chapter and why we’re talking about it today. I’m not going to go through everything that I wrote about. I’m actually going to talk about lessons I’ve learned since I wrote that chapter.
But before we get into that, I wanted you to know that I actually am giving away chapter one. So if you haven’t ordered the book yet or you’re not sure if you want to order the book yet or you want to read it before the book comes because you’ve ordered it already, go to Schulmanart.com/believe, again we’ll put that link in the show notes, and you can download chapter one, absolutely free. Instant access to every single juicy page. Okay, now on with the show.
Okay, so in chapter one of the book I talk about all the moving I did around as a child, actually I don’t talk about it, but I was a brand new student when I was started the fourth grade in Atlanta, Georgia. And my fourth grade teacher decided that I would be the class artist and get to decorate the pumpkin, which meanwhile I didn’t design it. She told me what the pumpkin should look like. We’re talking about a jack-o’-lantern here. She told me where to glue on the toothpicks. Where to put the felt. So I didn’t really actually get to use much of my creativity to do this pumpkin. And I don’t recall actually even having any kind of creative abilities up until that point. But I do remember her declaring me the class artist, her telling me I had a special ability and I chose to believe her.
And it’s that belief that is so powerful that can really help you step into the future that you want to create. Now, I want to give you some examples that have happened really since I penned that chapter. So when I decided I wanted to write a book and I started writing the book and I had a little trouble writing the book, it’s not easy writing a book. As soon as I found out that in order to get a traditional book publishing contract you do not need to write the whole book, you only need a book proposal. I was like, oh my gosh, I’m off the hook. All I have to do is write a proposal and get an agent, and then she’ll sell the book.
Now, I had 100% belief that all I had to do was follow the steps to create a book proposal. And then I had 100% belief that I would get an agent and 100% belief that I would get a contract. Why did I think these things? Why did I believe them? I don’t know. Maybe I was just naive. I really had no idea how hard the process is for most people, and it’s a good thing I didn’t know. One thing that I did not talk about at all in the book is that when I am working on creating a future for myself, I will often write down that sentence as if it is absolutely going to happen. It’s an absolute truth. It’s an absolute reality.
So I started my journal. I write down the date, which is 100% true, well, this is coming out January 10th. Okay. So, if I was doing it today, I’d write down January 10th, 2023, or you’re listening to this after that date, whatever date it is today. And then the next sentence I would write when I was trying to get a book contract, when I was trying to get an agent, I’d write down I’m going to sign with an agent, every day until I got a meeting with an agent and became more specific, then I would write down, I’m going to sign with Michelle Martin. So I would write that down on the day that I had my interview with her. And then once she signed me, that power sentence that I decided to write down was, I’m going to get a book contract. I’m going to get a book contract with Penguin. I’m going to get a book contract with Hachette. I’m going to get a book contract with HarperCollins. Now, I didn’t get contracts with all of them, I only got a contract with one book, but that’s all one book publisher. But that was all I needed. But I had 100% belief.
Now, why does this work? Do I believe this works from a place of manifesting? Well, it’s possible. And there are some people who would say that this is true, that it’s the divine that’s channeling and it’s a prayer, my prayers are being answered. But I want to look at this from the perspective of how our thoughts create our feelings, which drive our actions, and the actions are what create the results. So when I was acting from the place of 100% belief I took the right actions that made this happen and I did it from a place of confidence because I was confident in the outcome. I wasn’t worried about rejection. I wasn’t worried about being turned down. I thought those things wouldn’t happen. But I had so much belief that there was going to be one agent to sign me and one publisher to sign me. It didn’t matter when other people rejected me because I’d be like, okay, that’s just not the one. That’s not the one that’s going to sign me. That’s not the one yet. That’s not the publisher yet.
Do you see that? That’s what I did. And so that’s what I want you to do. I want you to choose to believe in your future. I want you to choose to believe that you are an artist or that you are an author, or you are a poet or dancer. Or, if you’re none of those things, perhaps you’re a successful life coach. Perhaps you are a psychic medium. You need to choose to believe that future that you most want to see, and you commit to that in writing. When you write something down, something really special happens. You activate both sides of your brain. You activate both your logical side and your emotional side, and they will both go to work in the background helping you create that better reality from the place of belief, from the place where you don’t have fear.
You know that expression, what would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? When you choose to believe, you are acting from that place of choosing to believe that you can’t fail. Now, that doesn’t mean you won’t fail along the way, but you believe that ultimately you will have success. Somebody asked me recently, well, what if I choose to believe and then what happens doesn’t come true. You can change the deadline. Maybe it wasn’t going to happen this year, maybe it’s happening next year. But you believe it so hard, you believe it in every fiber of your body that you know it’s going to happen.
Now, you may be thinking to yourself, well, Miriam, of course, you got it. That works for you. You’re a unicorn. You’re this or you’re that. Hey, I’m not somebody who thought I would be a writer. I struggled with writing when I was in college. In fact, after I signed the book contract, I went through a lot of brain drama. I was like, this is a terrible idea. I have a learning disability. Forgive me, for those of you who don’t call it learning disabilities. When I grew up in the ’80s it was called a learning disability. So I have audiological processing. It’s very similar to dyslexia except what it is that instead of visually dropping letters, what I do is when I speak sometimes I’ll actually drop words. I may replace words. Sometimes I even say the opposite of what I mean, because the processing in my mind gets mixed up.
So it is challenging to write, but you know what? It’s challenging for everyone to write. Even if you don’t have a learning difference. Even if you’re not neuro diverse. So then I had to push aside that thought that this was a mistake and go through it anyway, I had to choose to believe that I was going to write the book. So then what did my sentence change? So I got that book contract. I got the agent. I got the contract. Every day I had to write down. I am writing a phenomenal book. I am writing a book that’s going to change lives. I am writing a story that people want to hear. I’m writing a story that people need to hear. You can get creative with these sentences. Whatever it is that you need to hear that day, that’s what you’re going to write down.
Okay, my friend. Artpreneur is coming out in just a few weeks. Like I mentioned at the top of the hour, you can actually download chapter one absolutely free whenever you’re listening to this. Doesn’t matter how far in the future, I think. Go to Schulmanart.com/believe and enter your name and email, and we will send chapter one straight to you. If you are able to get to New York City, I would love to meet with you. We are having a book launch party, you are invited. January 31st, 6:30 at the Thomas Nickles Project, it is a Cuban art gallery. I am so honored and so thrilled that the couple who owns the gallery have agreed to let me do my book launch party at their gallery. So I hope to see you there January 31st at 6:30 at the Thomas Nickles Project. Again, we’ll have links to all that information in the show notes.
All right, my friend. So thank you so much for being with me here today. I’ll see you the same time, same place next week. Stay inspired.
Speaker 2:
Thank you for listening to The Inspiration Place podcast. Connect with us on Facebook at facebook.com/Schulmanart. On Instagram @Schulmanart, and of course on Schulmanart.com.
Subscribe & Review in iTunes
Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here to subscribe in iTunes!
Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!