Don’t Become the Creative “You Were Meant to Be”

Why are creatives so eager to swallow the pill of mysticism?
“The Universe is waiting for you.”
“Pray to the Muse to bestow it’s gifts on you.”
“Become the artist I was meant to be.”

That last one gets paraded on TV talent shows every week. A young hopeful stands on stage, trembling, declaring artistic destiny.

It isn’t destiny. It’s absurdist fantasy.

It assumes you were made for one thing. But you weren’t. You were made to fail. Repeatedly. And you were made to work through no measuring up—work through lost opportunities. You were made to pivot and adapt and endure the hard.

This is the way creatives grow. This is how artists put their hand to the plow and work. That’s what we were made to do. To work through the hardship and let the hardships shape us and our creative work.

Failure isn’t a curse. It’s the condition of growth.

Weight lifters build muscle by lifting until muscle failure. They don’t care about cute outfits and smoothies. They care about pushing until they can’t push anymore. They embrace the hard and the pain. They care about discipline when everything in them tells them to stay home on a rainy day.

Creativity is the same. We push through the hard. That’s where creative strength begins.

We have to kill this terrible idea of creative entitlement. Think about the kid in Angola who works sun up to sun down to feed his mother and sisters? What was he “meant to be”?

He was meant to be responsible, to work hard, to face life’s downside. He puts his hand to the plow to help his family survive. He doesn’t care a wit about what he was “meant to be.”

This Western obsession with destiny is nothing more than delusion.

Plumbers don’t talk like this. Neither do builders. They study their craft, learn the codes, and get to work.

So why do creatives act like they’re meant to be above it all?

There is one corner of the creative world where mysticism doesn’t stand a chance: animation.

It’s brutal. Competitive. Demanding.

You can only make it in animation if you put your hand to the plow and learn your craft. And that means discipline, consistency, and hard work. There are a plethora of artistic fundamentals and skill sets that you have to master or you won’t make it. You either meet the standard or you’re gone.

No one cares if you were “meant to be.” They care if you can deliver the goods.

That’s why working animators are among the most disciplined—and the most skilled—artists alive.

You don’t become good at your craft by chasing destiny. You get good by showing up, putting in the hours, and adapting when life turns you sideways.

And life will turn you sideways.

That’s not failure of identity—it’s shaping of character. Sometimes the detour is richer than the path you first imagined.

Almost every creative life is a story of adaptation.
Of turning failure into opportunity.
Of building something real out of what you’ve been handed.

Most entrepreneurs start businesses that collapse. Sometimes many of them. But those failures are bricks in the road that eventually leads to success.

Creatives are entrepreneurs, too. The only difference is we bring imagination to the table.

Failure builds the road. Success is just where it happens to lead.

Don’t get so fixated on one outcome that you miss the opportunities failure offers.

Goals matter. They give you direction. But the deeper work is endurance, flexibility, and the slow build of skill and constitution.

Don’t chase “who you were meant to be.”
Don’t cling to the story that destiny owes you something.

Be the kind of creative who can endure.
Who can adapt.
Who can build something lasting, again and again, no matter how many times it falls apart.

Don’t aim only for the singular creative goal. Aim for becoming the creative who can build and adapt on hardship without checking out on our responsibilities of being human.

Changing this mindset will protect you from frustration and keep you focused on the real work. Isn’t that better than not lying awake at night fretting about what you thought you were meant to be?

Fretting over what we were “meant to be,” sabotages our ability to become who we could be.

Kill the creative destiny delusion, put your hand to the plow on the field where you stand, and become the creative you will work to be.