The Sketchbook Stories
Reflections on creativity, curiosity, the artist’s journey, and the sketchbook.
Written by: Lindsay Agnew
5 Lies We Tell Ourselves Before We Begin
What teaching a watercolor brushstroke class taught me about fear, business, and starting before you feel ready.
2/18/20262 min read
Every week I watch adults hesitate before their first brushstroke. And every week, I remember the day I hesitated before starting my own business.
The thoughts are almost identical. We want to get it right before we ever begin.
Here are five lies I told myself:
I’m not ready right now.
I can do this later in life, after my career.
I didn’t major in business — I don’t know enough.
What if I don’t like it?
What if it doesn’t make money and I have to start all over again?
When I stepped out of the mindset of working for an employer and into building my own business, those lies felt safe. Like a shield. If I didn’t start, I couldn’t fail.
I was used to assignments, deadlines, structure — clear expectations. Entrepreneurship felt wide open. Unstructured. Exposed.
It felt like placing brushes and paint in front of someone and saying, “Okay… now go.”
And that’s exactly what happens in my watercolor brushstroke class.
I hand them the tools. Brushes. Paint. Water.
I demonstrate first — slow and intentional. I show them a brush isn’t limited to straight lines. You can scribble. Shade. Flick. Tap. Bounce. Rotate. It’s not just vertical and horizontal. A brush can move in ways you didn’t expect — if you let it.
I love watching their eyes during the demo. Curiosity begins to replace doubt.
Then I say the words that change everything:
“Now you try.”
There’s always a pause.
And then — almost every time — something shifts. Within seconds, they light up. They surprise themselves. Not because it’s perfect. But because they did it.
That’s when I remind them: it’s practice, not perfection.
Art is progress. Practice. Patience. It’s the calm that comes when you stop gripping so tightly and let your intuition take over — working little by little until it begins to flow.
Building my business feels the same way. I didn’t see the full picture on day one. I layered. I adjusted. I learned as I moved. Confidence didn’t come before the first step — it came because of it.
The lie isn’t that we can’t do it.
The lie is that clarity comes before courage.
Whether it’s a blank canvas or a blank calendar, the only way forward is the same:
Pick up the brush.
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