It helps to expose and explore some of the myth surrounding creative careers (and careers in general) before you go any further. Things can look pretty glamorous from a distance, but once you are within spitting distance, you realize that this is not anything like it was advertised to be. It also does not help when people send you postcards about how swell everything is, when in reality the weather is stormy and the people are rude. Forewarned is forearmed – an old fashioned way of saying ‘If you know what you’re getting into, you’re less likely to get in hip deep before you notice the smell.

Myth:  Your career is your life.   Reality:  The average person changes careers five to seven times before they die – and creatives change careers more like five to seven times every five to seven years. It is okay to be a job hopper in the creative arts. In fact, the future will be more like a project to project kind of jumping around. Even if you think you want to stick with one job, one company your whole life (are you sure you are a right brainer?) it is not possible anymore. End of story.

Myth: Companies offer careers.  Reality: People create careers.

Myth:  You climb the corporate ladder from mailroom to boardroom.  Reality: Traditional career planning is useless today. The old rules are obsolete, and paths that were once prominently marked are now grown over or washed away. Make your own path.

Myth: Glamorous fields and big titles are where it is at.  Reality: Titles don’t mean all that much anymore – managers finally figured out that a big title makes up for a small paycheck, and even janitors have become industrial maintenance engineers. I say go for the check and let them call you whatever they want.

Myth:  Work is a necessary evil. Reality: When you find the ideal career, you will never work another day in your life. It won’t feel like work, anyway. That is total actualization.

Myth:  Pick a path that involves the  hot careers and you will be sure of a job. Reality: Don’t limit yourself to what is hot and popular. Follow your passion, your curiosity. The experts don’t know what is best for you, any more than your parents or friends do. You know. So stick that neck out and go for it.

Myth: Once I make it, I’m set for life.  Reality:  a creative career is like a roller coaster ride. There is a slow and steady climb as you pay your dues, work hard and make connections. Once you get to the top, you have just about a second to enjoy the view before you go plummeting to the bottom ten times as fast as the climb up. Sometimes that fast drop is your choice, sometimes it is not. The momentum of it carries you back up the next rise however, and around the curves to the next dip and rise and the next. The point is that the creative arts don’t take you on a steady uphill climb. But unlike other professions, they offer a lot of thrills, too.

Myth: I want my first job to lot to launch the rest of my life. Reality: If you are waiting for a job to start your life, stop waiting. You need a life first. A sense of who you are and what you want to be. Then you go looking for a job. Most people make a more lasting commitment to their second career, because they have had time to figure out what they really want by then.

Myth: Changing your career will make everything okay.  Reality: The saying ‘whereever you go, there are you’ comes to mind. While there is no doubt the right career makes life much, much better, it won’t make you better. A career change is external. If you are unhappy where you are now, take the time to discover why before you leap into another situation.

Myth: The most talented people get ahead. Reality: Talent can take you only so far. Having a vision, a plan, the willingness to treat your career as a business – that is what it takes to go ahead.

Myth: Some people seem to get all the lucky breakes.  Reality:  You make your own luck. Behind all those ‘lucky breaks’ is a lot of legwork, preparation and planning. Being in the right place at the right time means putting yourself in a position to be at the right place (get out there), being prepared when opportunities arise and having the guts to grab your chance when it comes. Many people claim they have got no chance to win the lottery. So they don’t play. Are they unlucky because they will never win or unlucky because they don’t take a chance? Opportunities are everywhere, but without a clear vision of what you want, you may be passing up many lucky breaks of your own.

Myth: Entrepreneurs are born, not made. Reality: it is true, not everyone is cut out to make it on their own. It takes a certain type to be in business. But creative people have many of the traits necessary to be successful businesspeople. They also have some traits (like an allergic reaction to detail work) that must be overcome.

Myth: If I work harder, everything will work out.  Reality: In the military they have soldiers digging ditches and marching around in circles. This is very hard work. What does it get them? Calluses and athlete’s foot. Hard work is need to make it in the creative arts, but working smart and taking time out to let ideas percolate is needed even more.

Myth: You have to have a college degree to make it in the arts.  Reality: Although a college degree cannot hurt you become an artist by doing. Building your skills, portfolio, and relationships while actually creating something is the best way to learn.

Myth: There are simply not enough jobs in the creative arts to go around Reality: You only need one. Don’t have a defeatist attitude, or you are already defeated. Somebody is going to get a book deal or record contract, or sell their software idea. Why couldn’t it be you?

Myth: The entertainment industry is glamorous, so get any job you can. Reality: The above the line people (writers, producers, directors, actors) definitely have some perks, but for the most part it is hard work, long hours, a lot of sitting around, weeks and months away from your (real) family when on location.

Myth: The only real artists are starving artists. At least they have some integrity.  Reality: Some art forms simply do not pay well, no matter how many dues you pay. But making money at your art does not mean you are a sell out. It means you are smart enough to find a market for what you love to do.

Myth: Do what you love and the money will follow. Reality: If it were that simple, don’t you think everyone would make it big time? The real message behind this myth is that it is much more pleasurable to do what you love for a living. Because you love it, you do your best work and work hard. As a result of those factors,  the money finds you. Hopefully, before you are dead.

Myth: You have to be famous to make a fortune.  Reality: Anyone wh has had any degree of fame will tell you that it doesn’t pay the bills. Being respected by your peers and adored by your audience is awesome, but there are plenty of people you have never heard of who are quietly making millions. Fame is not the goal; it is a somewhat by product of doing good work.

Myth: If you don’t like having a boss, you should work for yourself.  Reality:  That is true – as long as you don’t have any clients, partners, publishers, agents, fans, etc.  Freelance clients will work you harder try to pay you less than any ‘real’ boss. They don’t care about your other clients, other commitments, cash flow problems, or the fact that the deadline comes smack in the middle of the first vacation you had planned in years.

Myth:  You can’t start at the top.  Reality: Actually, you can. Start your own business, and you will be owner, boss, CEO. You will also be publicist and bottle washer. Entry level jobs are necessary. Use them. Take advantage of opportunities to learn.

Myth: The more you make, the happier you will be.  Reality: The more you make, the more you make. Money creates its own problems, and happiness is something else altogether.

Myth: There is no such thing as job security anymore. Reality: Your job security is your talent and skills. Build on each experience, developing new skills and making key contacts along the way. Be willing to change, adapt, learn and reinvent yourself. Be a problem solver and self starter, innovative and productive. You will not only survive – you will thrive.

Myth: It is too late to start over. It is never too late to look for and pursue your passion. Over the hill just means that there is another hill waiting for you to climb.

Myth: Start looking for a  new job when you are ready for a change. Reality: Always be on the lookout for opportunities. Keep that story of yours updated and handy.

Myth: Jobs are like marriage.  Reality: Jobs are more like dating.

Myth:  I have to settle for whatever comes along.  Reality:  What you want, wants you. You only have to settle if you are unwilling to go out there and meet your life halfway.

Myth: Day jobs must be waiter, cabbie or webcam sex.  Reality: It might be even better to find temp work or entry level work in your field. That way you learn from the inside out, make contacts, and learn about opportunities firsthand.

Myth:  Everyone is out to steal your ideas.  Reality: Very few people have the intent, ability, follow through or malice to steal your ideas. Don’t let fear hold you back. Do what you can to protect yourself and your ideas, and then go out and spread the word. Make something happen.

Myth: You need an agent,a book deal, a record deal to make it. Reality: There are ways around the gallery, publisher, studio when it comes to getting work out there. Be a do it yourselfer.

Myth: When you figure out what your dream is, everyone will support you. Reality: the sad thing is that more people try to sabotage you than support you. Their insecurities and envy are their problem, not yours.

Myth: If you are all over the place, you have got a better chance of catching a big break. Reality: lack of focus is one of the biggest problems creatives have. In fact, I would say that focus is the difference between flourishing and floundering.

Myth: Only anal retentive left brainers try to plan out their life or careers. Reality: Even creatives need a plan, a loose plan with a tight vision.