When we decide to pursue the craft of candle making, as either a hobby or side-hustle, we’re often faced with mindset challenges along the way. The hurdles we come across may seem unique to us and our specific situation. However, there is comfort in knowing that there are some common mindset roadblocks that are experienced by all candle makers. Thus, we must explore what the mindset of a candle maker really means to be successful in our ventures.
Growing Confidence as a Candle Maker
A friend told me recently that waiting to become confident, in life and our candle business, is like expecting to become fit before we go to the gym. We have it the wrong way round; we become confident through showing up. Even when it’s scary, we must persevere. Despite the risk.
When we start our journey with candle making, we may not feel confident in our capabilities, or our finished products. Each person comes into candle making with different skills and abilities. Although we may have proficiency in other areas of life, the playing field when making a candle from scratch is fairly even. We all begin with researching the different materials that make up a candle and the different ways they can be made. For example vessel vs pillar candles. Then it’s up to us to take the next steps into making our first batch of candles while practicing having the mindset of a candle maker.
Wading Through Our Mindset Muck
I remember when I started my candle making journey. I was filled with a mixture of excitement and joy; of nerves and anxiety. My mind raced with so many thoughts. From saying to myself, “wow I can’t believe I’m about to do this!” to “oh, I don’t know if I can do this!”. I was standing in the kitchen, melting wax and wondering if this was the right path for me.
Our thoughts can play tricks on us. They can say to us “who are we to try something new?”. We sometimes believe those thoughts are truth. We stay inside our comfort zone, instead of bringing our dreams, desires and ideas to life. It’s through working on our personal development that we can begin to overcome the “mindset muck” we all experience. It is in that development that we can become a higher version of ourselves. We become the persons we were meant to be.
Self-Imposed Boundaries
Did you know that many of the boundaries you encounter are self-imposed? Your self-worth is subtly entangled with your beliefs of what is possible. Armed with that knowledge, what would happen if you purposely leaned into a boundary that has been holding you back? What result do you think you’d have?
As we learn more about our thought patterns and self-awareness, we must consciously decide that we will no longer be held back by our own limitations or beliefs. We can push ourselves through the edges of what we know to reach new levels. When we discover and encounter new self-limits, we must endeavor a breakthrough to those containers.
Growth and Overwhelm
Growing your candle business can take time. It takes dedication. It most definitely requires consistent action. However, problems can arise when we stop taking action due to becoming overwhelmed. “Which is the next best step to take? How do you choose which path to follow or which goal to work on first?”. These are the questions we ask ourselves.
The problem is more than feeling overwhelmed and not taking action. It’s deeper than the surface. Often our thoughts will halt our attempts to take the imperfect action. We know we need to make these moves to needle through our business. Our minds try to keep us “safe” by planting us where we are; in the “known”. Our comfort zone. Nothing exciting happens inside your comfort zone, though. You are worth the effort of overcoming those limiting thoughts.
Conclusion
One of the things I find really fascinating about the mindset of a candle maker, is that even though our journeys are different, there are lots of ways in which they are similar. We all started with a passion, or even an obsession. To began our journey by researching everything detail we can within the craft of making candles.
We soon realized that there are endless options for creativity. There’s an unlimited potential to grow our hobby into a side-hustle into our full-time career. We all want the same thing. We want to succeed on this path. However we each define success.
