Episode 161: Why Perfecting Your Art First Is Stalling Your Career

If you think you have to perfect your art before you let yourself think about the business side, Jodie has news for you: that belief is not protecting your work, it's stalling it. In this episode, Jodie breaks down her 85% rule, the mindset hack she uses every time perfectionism tries to keep her work off the easel and out of the world.

Jodie shares the story of an artist whose technically flawless painting had nothing left in it because the energy and story got polished away, and the piece of her own early work that's so "cringeworthy" it lives in a closet, but sold anyway. She walks through why art, business, and mindset were never meant to be separate lanes you pick between, and why the artists who build real, sustainable careers work on all three at once.

In this episode:

Why waiting for "perfect" is usually just stalling dressed up as responsibility

The real difference between technically skilled work and work with a story

Jodie's 85% rule for getting your art out into the world

Why art, business, and mindset have to move together, not in sequence

Resources Mentioned The Artist Who Gets Paid, Jodie's 3-part workshop (August 20, 25, and 27): https://www.jodiekingart.com/artistseries

Studio Elite Mastermind applications: https://www.jodiekingart.com/studioelite

Episode 16: How to Get Out of the Fugly Stage of Art: https://jodieking.com/episode-16-how-to-get-out-of-the-fugly-stage-of-art/

Episode 31: Artist's Money Mindset: What Do You Really Believe Is Possible?: https://jodieking.com/episode-31-artists-money-mindset-what-do-you-really-believe-is-possible/

Episode 87: How Imposter Syndrome Is Holding You Back as an Artist: https://jodieking.com/episode-87-how-imposter-syndrome-is-holding-you-back-as-an-artist-what-to-do-about-it/