A. Yanina Gomez - Crush Self-Sabotage and Live Fully!: The Artists Wellness Journey to Confidence and Success

CRUSH SELF-SABOTAGE AND LIVE FULLY!

The Artists Wellness Journey to Confidence and Success

A. YANINA GOMEZ, PHD
AND
SERGIO GOMEZ, MFA

Copyright 2022 Adlin Yanina Gomez, PhD & Sergio Gomez, MFA

All rights reserved.

Published by Author Academy Elite

P.O. Box 43, Powell, OH 43035

www.AuthorAcademicElite.com

All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout express prior written permission from the author.

Paperback ISBN: 979-8-88583-067-6

Ebook ISBN: 979-8-88583-068-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022907274

This book is dedicated to our children Alec and Nyah for being our #1 cheerleaders.
We are also grateful to our outstanding global artist community, who have supported our endeavors and been our greatest inspiration to write this book. Finally, our gratitude to our God for enlightening us with the message we share in this book.

CONTENTS

PART ONE:
OVERCOMING MY FEARS AND LIBERATING MYSELF

PART TWO:
LIVING FULLY AND CREATING WITH PURPOSE

FOREWORD

If you are reading this, you have taken the first step of your journey toward success, and I must congratulate you. To quote the old Chinese proverb, A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. You are here because you are ready to take the next step and embark on your lifes journey.

When I was a young graduate school student, my father asked me what I planned to do with a masters degree in art history. At the time, I had no idea. What I plan to do is go to lunches and cocktail parties, I quipped.

It wasnt a lie. What I realize now is that even then, I knew my success wasnt hinged on a degree or letters after my name. My success was something that would unfold along my journey. I knew surrounding myself with like-minded art professionals would expand my mind so I would recognize opportunities I had not yet even begun to imagine.

Dr. Yanina, Sergio, and I first met while in college. Sergio and I shared studio art classes for life drawing and painting. I am the first to admit that Sergio was always a much better visual artist than I. Through Sergio, I met his wife, Dr. Yanina, who was studying psychology. Our mutual love for fine art and culture has been the foundation of our friendship and professional relationship for nearly three decades. One of our favorite things to do over the years has been ideating creative endeavors. Dr. Yanina and Sergio have been a source of inspiration and support throughout my professional life and personal life.

I eventually moved away from curatorial and museum work to dive head-first into fine art appraising and art advisory. Dr. Yanina and Sergio remained steadfast in their passion for helping artists. They expanded their outreach and developed programs to teach the art business, artistic growth, professional development, self-awareness, and wellness to artists. They have become an anchor in the art community. Over the decades, their work has touched thousands of artists worldwide. They remain a constant beacon of light and inspiration for those fortunate to know them.

Collectively, we have worked with thousands of artists at varying levels of success in a variety of ways. We discussed avenues for success artists have embarked upon, including what worked, what didnt work, and why. We spoke about what tools we believed successful artists possessed. We determined from these hours of conversation there was no single avenue to achieve success.

We agree that while each persons roadmap to success was unique, there are universal practices successful artists apply. The reason most artists fail is they stand in the way of their success. Historically speaking, no amount of gallery support, artworks sold, inclusion in significant collections, or even quality exhibitions can overcome the damage self-sabotaging behavior will do to an artists career. Self-limiting beliefs and negative self-talk have ruined the careers of many talented promising artists before they ever really had a chance to succeed. We all have anecdotal stories of artists who peaked too young or stopped selling art after showing at MOMA or the Whitney Museum. The purpose of this book is to prevent this tragedy from recurring in contemporary art history.

Dr. Yanina and Sergios commitment to teaching artists how to recognize self-limiting behaviors and steps for personal and professional growth is how this book came about. I applaud their ongoing dedication to addressing head-on the single largest underlying cause of professional failure. It is because of their compassion for artists and other creatives that they developed a customizable strategy for success based on individual expressions of success and self-reflection.

Success comes to those who are most adaptable to change. Adversely, our brains are hard-wired to protect us from the dangers of the unknown. Learning to process change and interpret new information is vital to our adaptability. We train our brains to seek out things foreign to us as a way to protect ourselves from a surprise attack. In extreme cases, the brain can kick into action and save lives without our being aware we are reacting. In non-life-threatening events, our brain creates thoughts about what we do not understand. Those thoughts become our beliefs. Those beliefs create behaviors. We dont even realize we do what we do most of the time. Many behaviors become toxic self-sabotage and negative self-talk without our ever being fully aware we are doing it.

What is unique about this book is how the authors dismantle how our behaviors are rooted in our thoughts. Dr. Yanina addresses ways to identify these thoughts that affect our behaviors. There is an abundance of practical and actionable steps that guide the reader toward self-transformation. The book explains how to overcome limiting beliefs, toxic thoughts, and self-destructive behaviors through self-awareness exercises. It demonstrates how mindfulness is the key to overcoming self-sabotaging thoughts and behaviors.

The essence of the book is not circumscribed to visual artists only. The mindfulness techniques and exercises apply to any endeavor marred by self-sabotaging behaviors. These tools are adaptable to any area in life needing growth and wellness. The skills learned through these exercises generate awareness of the many ways we interfere with our happiness and success. Through these exercises, we free ourselves to create a path forward.

This book is imperative for visual artists growth because Dr. Yanina and Sergio offer step-by-step instructions on how to create a personal roadmap with self-defined achievable goals. By participating in the exercises outlined in the following chapters, the reader can build a personalized roadmap using the wisdom, tools, and techniques needed for each journey.

I urge you to take the time to learn how your unconscious beliefs limit your success and apply the practical measures to overcome them as outlined in this book. This book offers you valuable solutions to progress as an artist. Those who are open to change and hold themselves accountable for their self-sabotaging behaviors and beliefs will become masters of their destiny.

Ruth Crnkovich, MA in Art History

Fine Art Advisor

INTRODUCTION

Congratulations on prioritizing and investing in your mindset and emotional wellness! Sergio and I are so happy youre accepting our challenge to believe in yourself, live fully, and create! You and I know that to live life to its fullest and create freely, we must take care of ourselves from the inside out.