SEPARATING SELF-WORTH FROM WORK: A CRUCIAL CONVERSATION FOR CREATIVES

Separating Self-Worth from Work: A Crucial Conversation for creatives

Andrea Buck

Wellbeing and Success coach

February 2025

In the creative industries, our work is more than just a job—it’s a reflection of who we are.

Or is it?

Whether you’re a designer, writer, artist, or filmmaker, your creations often feel like an extension of your identity.

But what happens when your self-worth becomes too entangled with your work? And is it even possible—or healthy—to separate the two?

I am a wellbeing and success coach to the creative industries and most of my clients are in the screen industry, only because I have spent the majority of my adult life as a writer and producer-of-varying-capacities in the Screen Industry, so I now find myself in a unique and fascinating position as an expert in human behaviour as well as creative business. 

One thing I have learned through years of study atop deep life experience is that identity is the most powerful force in the human condition. Like it or not, know it or not, we will do anything to behave consistently with our identity. This is why change can be so elusive. This is also why the best, the smartest and the easiest way to create change is to start with changing how you see yourself, your self-image, your identity.

If and when your work becomes entangled with your identity, this power-force of human nature– is it a good thing, or a problem?

This is, of course, an issue that affects everyone, but it is particularly amplified by the unique challenges of creative professions. These include the nature and frequency of failure, the subjective judgment of creative work, the unpredictability of income, the high rates of rejection, and—most profoundly—the tendency to internalise failure that might be more accurately attributed to systemic market failures within the sector (which is why subsidies exist in the first place).

For my Masters of Screen Art and Business thesis, “Power in Numbers: How filmmakers Can benefit from Sharing Information” I spent two years researching the numbers, costs of production, recoupment and profit. What I discovered in the numbers (though I had already ‘known’) is --  that for the most part, films do not make profit.

Here is one example from that time: According to Forest Connor, Cinema Research Institute, ‘investors spent $3 billion on 4,000 features submitted to Sundance this year (2014) and they will likely recoup 2% in aggregate’. That’s a lot of loss, or failure, depending on what you are measuring.

And for a current example, Better Man, shot in Melbourne, here is just one headline, ‘Robbie Williams $179m biopic becomes disastrous box office bomb’.

So, how do you play this game, and maintain a healthy sense of self-worth in a world where $179 million is not enough to ensure success; and foe some others, where years of hustle and hard work often end in nought.

What if failed work is failed ‘you’? What if the rejection of a project is perceived as a rejection of the self? What if yet another audition leads to yet another ‘pass’. Same for the 29th ‘final’ draft of your script. Same for yet another entry to the Archibald Prize falls flat.

Do you conflate your own personal self-worth with theses outcomes at your own peril?

This is a conversation worth having, especially in fields where rejection, criticism, and uncertainty are part of the daily grind.

Let’s do a mini-dive in advance, into both sides of the debate and why it matters for your mental health, creativity, career and essentially, your precious life.

The Case for Separating Self-Worth from Work

1. Protecting Your Mental Health Creative work is subjective, and not every project will resonate with your audience or clients. If your self-worth is tied to every like, share, or sale, the emotional rollercoaster can be exhausting. Separating your value as a person from the outcomes of your work can help you maintain resilience in the face of rejection.

2. Freedom to Experiment When your self-worth isn’t on the line, you’re more likely to take creative risks. Innovation thrives when you’re not afraid to fail—and failure is often the first step toward something extraordinary.

3. Work-Life Balance The lines between work and personal life can blur in creative fields. By separating your self-worth from your work, you can set healthier boundaries and prioritise your well-being without guilt.

4. Sustainable Creativity Creative careers are rarely linear. There are highs and lows, feast and famine. When your self-worth isn’t tied to your work, you’re better equipped to navigate the ups and downs without losing confidence.

On a personal note – even though I have decades of screen experience, I have produced movies that have won awards the world over, my TEDx talk was delightfully received, and if I do a self-achievement audit, even I am impressed – and yet, I can (too often) be guilty of fear of judgement, and this can look like exhibiting perfectionist tendencies. To be clear – perfectionism is a fear of judgement, of potential rejection, even if unconscious

I ask myself, ‘what would it feel like to create, to write, to produce a piece of work where I am immersed in the actual process, trusting my work will find its audience because it has enough intrinsic value, and if not – I have learned from it, and am no less worthy because that work did not resonate at this time’?

But that’s my position. Here is another perspective:

The Case Against Separating Self-Worth from Work

1. Passion and Identity For many creatives, their work is more than a job—it’s a calling. Separating self-worth from work might feel like diluting the very passion that drives you.

2. Motivation and Excellence Tying your self-worth to your work can be a powerful motivator. It pushes you to hone your craft, meet deadlines, and deliver your best—even when the going gets tough.

3. Emotional Depth Great art often comes from vulnerability and emotional investment. If you detach too much, could your work lose its authenticity and impact?

4. Celebrating Success When you pour your heart into a project, it’s natural to feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. Separating self-worth from work might make it harder to fully celebrate your wins.

What do you think?

Most people have a personal relationship to this concept, even if they have not consciously considered it, or thought of it in this way. If you hold yourself back; procrastinate; display perfectionist tendencies or find yourself too risk-averse and afraid to speak up then it is likely you could benefit by separating your self-worth from your work.

If you would love to be braver, bolder, more expressive, take creative risks, ask for more and trust the outcome, then perhaps you would benefit from by separating your self-worth from your work.

It is true that ‘Great art often comes from vulnerability and emotional investment'.

To be vulnerable enough to invest your emotions in your work requires inner-strength and resilience, perhaps even courage, and you will be free to be more vulnerable, to allow more emotional investment and authenticity when you know that your intrinsic worth as a human is unrelated to the piece of work in question, and how it is perceived by the world.

This is a life-long journey, and one that I remain continuously connected to.

If anything has come up for you on reading this article, please reach out.