Why You Should Quit Being an Artist

(and Why That Might Be the Best Thing You Ever Do)

TL;DR

• Quitting your professional identity as an artist might be the best decision you ever make.

• By stepping back, you relieve the pressures that stifle creativity and harm mental health, allowing yourself to reconnect with your passion and open up to unexpected opportunities.

• Quitting being an artist isn't about giving up art—it's about redefining success and embracing a radical act of self-care, where you rediscover the true impact you can have as an artist, beyond the confines of the traditional art world.

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In this article, when I refer to “artist,” I specifically mean someone professionally engaged in creating artworks, practicing the arts, or contributing to an artwork in some capacity.

It might sound counterintuitive—especially since my intention with this blog series is to help you develop sustainable careers as artists—but sometimes the best thing you can do for your artistic career is to quit. Yes, really. There are so many reasons to quit.

The burnout, the exhaustion, the financial instability, the lack of recognition or opportunity, the desire for stability and predictability.

Now, you might be thinking, “Adam, you’ve lost the plot. I shall NEVER quit because being an ARTIST/WRITER/DIRECTOR/FILMMAKER/DESIGNER/PAINTER/ACTOR is who I AM.”

Well, sure, good for you. But humor me for a moment with a little thought experiment—say you did quit… would life look better in some ways? Could it be better in more good ways than bad? Are you clinging to the “bad” ways because, in some twisted sense, the stereotype of the starving artist, suffering for your art, still has a grip on you?

The Power of Stepping Back

I’ve quit being an artist many times throughout my adult life, in a professional sense—most recently to form Divergent Talent Group. So now, I guess I’m an agent. Each time I’ve “quit” in some way, I’ve experienced even greater “success” and, on some level, gained deeper satisfaction from life. Each time I quit, I asked myself, “Is this serving me?”, “Am I adding value?”, “Why do I need this when I get so little in return?”. And every time I’ve quit, something incredible happened. There’s a history of this—not just with me, but with people who’ve achieved far greater things than I ever did.

When Quitting Leads to Success

Here’s the twist: quitting doesn’t necessarily mean giving up on art or creativity. In fact, many artists find that when they stop forcing success, they open themselves up to new opportunities and experiences that lead to unexpected achievements.

I see it in my clients, for example. Since Scottee stepped away from Scottee and Friends—a company named after himself—because of mental health challenges, he has gone on to achieve astronomical success. He’s acting in the forthcoming Element Pictures Netflix show The Listeners, creating Self-Help (an extraordinary podcast about mental health and wellness, where he walks around Scotland in the rain, talking to you via microphone), and launching Wonkee Club, an inclusive yoga community.

But it’s not just my clients; OF COURSE, there are countless other examples in history. Charles Bukowski, for instance, worked various low-paying jobs, including as a postal worker, and largely gave up on writing for nearly a decade due to frustration and rejection. After quitting, he returned to writing later in life, and his semi-autobiographical novel Post Office, written after he left his job at the post office, became a cult classic. Bukowski went on to become one of the most influential and successful writers of his time, with a vast body of work that includes poetry, novels, and short stories.

Georgia O’Keeffe initially trained as an artist and worked as a commercial artist and teacher, but she became disillusioned with her work and struggled with creative direction, leading her to step back from creating art for several years. After quitting, she returned to art with a renewed vision, eventually becoming one of the most famous American artists of the 20th century, known for her iconic paintings of flowers and southwestern landscapes.

After the breakup of The Beatles, John Lennon did not immediately step away from music, but later, in the mid-1970s, he took a significant break to focus on his personal life, particularly raising his son, Sean. Before this hiatus, he created some of his most impactful solo work, including the iconic “Imagine,” which was released in 1971, shortly after The Beatles' breakup.

Quitting Isn’t the End—It’s the Beginning of Great Art (and Better Health)

When we pursue art professionally, the stakes feel high. To make great art, you need to be in a psychological state of "Flow"—the melding of action and consciousness, where you find the perfect balance between skill and the challenge at hand. However, when the stakes are high, achieving "Flow" becomes increasingly difficult. Professional artistry also comes with a level of pressure that can take a toll on your mental health.

Research shows that professional musicians are far more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression compared to their amateur counterparts. This isn’t surprising when you consider the financial instability caused by low streaming payouts and complex royalty systems, the long hours demanded by constant touring, and the relentless competition fueled by the oversaturation of the market and the gatekeeping practices of major labels and streaming platforms.

In contrast, amateur musicians—those who create for the love of it, without the need to make a living from their work—often experience better mental health outcomes due to the lack of pressure and the joy derived from the creative process.

For me, quitting the relentless pursuit of a professional artistic career allowed me to reconnect with the passion that first drew me to the arts. It’s a paradox, but by stepping back and removing the pressure, I found that opportunities began to open up in unexpected ways. Not only that, my mental health improved dramatically.

Quitting doesn’t mean you stop being an artist. It means you let go of the pressures, the expectations, and the need to "make it" in a traditional sense. When you quit, you free yourself to create authentically, explore new avenues, and discover opportunities that might have been closed to you before. Quitting is a radical act of self-care—it’s saying no to the nonsense and YES to something better.

The Unignorable Urge to Quit

In truth, it’s impossible to quit being an artist because, as you rightly say, it IS who you are. But by stepping away from consciously or unconsciously holding onto the identity of "struggling artist," you might just find that the very success you were chasing starts to come to you.

So, if you’re feeling burnt out, discouraged, or just plain tired, maybe it’s time to quit—at least for a little while, or even just in your head. You might be surprised at what happens next.

The feeling that you actually want to quit is something that shouldn’t be ignored. If this is something you’re experiencing, ask yourself, “What’s stopping me?”. For me, when I started out, being an artist was so tied to my need for validation or approval.

My dad was a tough critic growing up. I could seemingly reinvent the atom on stage, but he would either shrug or tell me, “It was okay, but [insert non-constructive criticism here, usually something about the sound],” when I’d ask him what he thought. Years later, I got my dad in a show, and that pretty much changed our lives and our relationship. Since then, we get along much better, and I needed to please others much less. As a result… success in my artistic career was less of a priority, and at the same time, I came up some of my most rewarding artistic projects to date.

The Danger of Playing to the Gallery

David Bowie, who was on the verge of quitting for many years in his early career, had this advice:

“Never play to the gallery… Never work for other people in what you do; always remember that the reason you initially started working was that you felt there was something inside yourself, that you felt if you could manifest it in some way, you would understand more about yourself and how you co-exist with the rest of society… I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations.”

If you quit as an artist, you remove yourself from this need to play to the gallery. You’re given the opportunity to reinvent yourself, and more importantly, you approach being an artist in ways that cut to the heart of what it truly means to be an artist. It’s so much more than the work you make. It’s about being a cultural ambassador, challenging societal norms, and advocating for social change. By stepping back from the pressures placed upon the professional artist, you open yourself up to engage more authentically with your community, inspire others, and even innovate across different sectors.

Your influence extends beyond your creations—through teaching, mentoring, and building community, you contribute to the cultural and social fabric of society in ways that are deeply impactful and enduring. Quitting, in this sense, isn’t an end but a transformation, allowing you to reconnect with the broader, more profound roles that artists have always played in shaping the world.

Your Task for the Week: Quit—Just for a Moment

This week, I want you to quit. Just for a moment, consider what it means to step back and release the weight of expectations—whether they are yours, your parents', your peers', or society’s. Reflect on the possibilities that arise when you just let go. And next week, we’ll restart your artistic career together with my next article—haven’t quite worked out what it’s about yet, but I’m applying my artistic intuition, something that’s never left me since I quit being an artist.