Healthy Delusion vs. Entitlement: The Mindset Every Artist Needs

What if the key to building a successful artistic career is becoming just a little more... delusional?

In this episode of The Singer's Path Podcast, Sarah dives into one of the biggest mindset shifts every performer needs to make: learning the difference between healthy self-belief and entitlement. While confidence is essential for pursuing an unconventional career, belief alone won't book the job. Lasting success comes from pairing unwavering faith in yourself with the discipline to consistently develop your craft.

Sarah explores why manifestation without action falls flat, how artists unknowingly sabotage themselves by waiting to be "chosen," and why preparing for opportunities before they arrive is one of the greatest acts of confidence you can practice.

If you've ever questioned whether you're doing enough, struggled with imposter syndrome, or wondered how to stay motivated while chasing your dreams, this episode will challenge the way you think about confidence, discipline, and what it really means to become the artist you're meant to be.

Most artists don’t struggle because they aren’t talented.
They struggle because they’ve been conditioned to play small, second-guess themselves, and operate from survival instead of certainty.

The Inevitable Artist Activation is a 14-day challenge that’s designed to completely shift that.

This isn’t about surface-level mindset work or forcing yourself to “stay positive.”
It’s about rewiring the patterns in your body and identity that keep you stuck in cycles of inconsistency, undercharging, overthinking, and feeling like things almost happen—but don’t fully land.

Over 14 days, you’ll be guided through a powerful process to:

• Release the need to shrink or apologize for your talent and ambition
• Break out of “just enough” income patterns and open yourself to real overflow
• Understand how your nervous system impacts your ability to receive opportunities and money
• Step into the version of you who no longer waits to be chosen—but moves like it’s already done

This is for the person who knows they’re meant for more…
and is ready to actually become the version of themselves who can hold it.

Click HERE to join the Inevitable Artist Activation 

Click HERE to get the FREE Abundant Artist Audio Series


Click HERE to join the Singers PATH Inner Circle Membership and go ALL IN

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Transcript

Speaker 0:03

If you're tired of not making progress and you're ready to be the artist you know you're meant to be, you're in the right place. You're listening to the Singer's Path Podcast. The Path or Performing Artist Training Hub will cover everything, including singing tips that actually work, advice from top industry professionals, and life-changing mindset tips. Out with the starving artists and in with the thriving artist. I'm your host, Sarah Bishop, professional singer, actor, educator, and entrepreneur. I'm not afraid to speak the truth and stop the gatekeeping of quality information so you can actually become the artist you dream of being. So let's get on the path, shall we? Even though we're all on our own journeys, it always helps to have a guide. Hello, hello, welcome back to the Singer's Path Podcast. It is me, your host, Sarah Bishop, and I am back to talk more about this artist mindset and um how artists are kind of messing themselves up a little bit in their head and how to make this crazy lifestyle a little bit more sustainable. Again, at the top of the episode, I love uh letting you know of some free resources that are there for you. Um, you can always check out the abundant artist audio series that's linked below. That is to help you with your, you know, auditions. It's their hypnosis tracks, they're meditation tracks designed to amp you up before you have that big performance and put you in that state of glowing. There's other tracks on there as well designed to put you in a good headspace. Um, I believe there's one for safety and that kind of feeling of rejection and how to handle that as that comes along. Um, that's just a really, really beautiful way to help take care of your mind as we're doing this hardcore, parkour nervous system stuff that is being a professional artist. Um, today I actually wanted to speak to something that um I, you know, I talk in and out about a little bit, but it's something I don't know that I've like directly spoken to. And the reason I talk about this today is because I recently met someone who held some of this quality that we do need as artists, but did not have it balanced in the way that they were showing up with discipline and actually the joy of the craft. Okay. And today what I want to talk about is how do we differentiate between delusion, but like good delusion, like you believe in yourself more than anyone else does, and you see the vision before anyone else does, and entitlement, right? I should just get this without doing anything to earn it or work at it. Okay. So let's talk about this because as I've been speaking more about manifestation, and I've been speaking more about choosing to be the person that actually embodies the things that you want and acts like that, right? Is that a place of peace because they know things are gonna work out for them? One of the biggest holdups that I see with the sense of like actually kind of like healthy delusion of believing in yourself more than anyone anyone else does, is people feeling that A, they're like a bad person if they believe in themselves that hard because it makes them look like arrogant or something like that. Like, so what's the difference between confidence and arrogance? And then also, like if you can't actually put your money where your mouth is and you're just kind of expecting to get something without actually showing up to do the task at hand. Okay. So this person that I met, um, it just like, I don't know, the they had been out of the auditioning game for a while and kind of spoke as if when they entered it, they were it was just gonna happen for them, right? It was gonna be so easy. They were just gonna audition. And, you know, because they had XYZ thing, um, and I've seen this with like some influencers before, it's like they think they have a big following and then they're just gonna segue into, you know, being a lead on Broadway or lead in a TV show. And does that happen sometimes? Sure, it does. However, I would say that if you, if that's where you want to go, what I want to emphasize over anything, regardless, if you have big dreams and that's what you want, and we all know we have to choose and decide to be that person and we all have to walk in that, I want you to ask yourself, okay, if I'm choosing to embody and be this person that has this thing that I want, what are the actions that I would need to do to actually train for said thing? Because if we are just desiring to have something be ours and are not willing to see the actual effort and hours that are going to be necessary to get the thing, that is entitlement. And that is jackassery. And that is actually setting yourself up for not a good time. If you just expect to get something without actually doing action that lines up with that thing. So it can be boiled down to manifestation. It's like, I just gonna think positive and think it into existence. No, you actually have to do something to practice the skill of the thing that you're saying you want, to have this stamina, right? You can't just manifest yourself into running a marathon. Like, that's insane. If you just thought about it all the time without coaching running, without like training for it, what are you doing? Right? You're gonna tear something. You're gonna like, what are you doing? Like, no, like we need a healthy sense of delusion, and we also need to be actually repping out the skill we want. So let's say you wanted to book your Broadway show, okay? And you wanted it to be vocally demanding, like your manifesting board is like you want to be vocal demanding, you want it to be a lead, and um, you wanted it to be like a really funny acting show or something like that. And then you also like wouldn't mind dancing, or that might be part of it, okay? What are the things that you're actually, as you're choosing to be that person and walking in the quote unquote delusion that it is already happening, which is an absolutely necessary part, what are you gonna do that actually magnetizes that to you faster and actually helps you embody that version of you that has it? Well, probably work out, right? Like take voice lessons, preparing for what you have decided is coming, right? Working on the skill of doing acting, let alone comedy, actively practicing it, reading plays, getting material, practicing self-taping, even if you're not getting self-tapes, like put things on tape and practice, like get clips of scenes and stuff and practice them. Get your ass in class, right? Join something like my group class where you can actively practice audition material and singing songs. Like, that's why that exists. Not only are you getting that one-on-one attention so that you can work on your vocal pedagogy and you can work on your technique, but you're actively applying it to songs. You're practicing for when the opportunity comes your way. If you are in this entitlement land and you're not actively doing that work and preparing yourself, that's where people become insufferable because you feel like you should just get it just because, just because you know this person, or just because, you know, you're friends with their dad. I don't know. I don't know what it is. Your connections, your following. Oh, well, I have two million followers. So that means that I should just get this. Like part of the reason why influencers get a bad name or celebrities get a bad name when they're just plugged into something is because, you know, that might not be their biggest skill set that they have. Okay. Now I think sometimes people are really hard on influencers because maybe it is a skill that they have. Like I know many influencers, like Dylan Mulvaney, for example, went to CCM. They were at school at the same time I was. She was go, she has the same training I do in musical theater. Okay. So, like, some people are just ruthlessly mean to certain people. And if Dylan Mulvaney's voice is changing and she's going into six, and maybe that's not in the best key for her, and they should have maybe changed some stuff, or like, you know, it's taxing right on anybody. Like that, that's not what I'm talking about. Okay. When people are actually trained and have worked and prepared for these things. I'm talking about people that like, and we've seen it like the stunt casting where people are like kind of bad. Well, I mean, listen, you can maybe, I guess maybe if you have a big enough following, you can will yourself into something, but don't you want to do a good job? Right? Like, why like sometimes it confuses me. Like, I don't understand why someone would want a big role and big visibility if they're gonna suck at it. Okay. Like, I want you to be preparing yourself to be the version of you that does the gig and fucking nails it. Because listen, maybe you are a fucking star. And I hope that for you, but you can't just decide you're gonna do something without having the skill and talent to back it up. I talked about this in a previous episode about becoming your kind of your own like kind of sugar daddy so that you can actually fund your business. But a big part of funding your business is funding and pouring into your skill. Okay. So I need this is what I'm gonna leave you off. This is like a really short, punchy episode today, but I want you to have a healthy sense of delusion. But I also want you to set yourself up in a way that when the opportunity comes, you don't thwart it because you actually weren't disciplined enough in working on the skill. Most of the job that we have is auditioning. When you get a job, you want to be in practice. You want to have been actively acting, you want to have been actively singing. Because also, if your voice or your acting or your body isn't used to the load of a show schedule or being a seasoned regular, it's gonna be really tough. So, again, we need that sense of delusion of choosing that we are, in fact, the person that this happens from for. I love that. We're keeping that choice. And we're also, as we're acting as this person, we're actively training. Okay. Sometimes people, and we talked about this in the last episode, money is a big thing. People get really upset about not having money and things being expensive. So that's why I made things. It's not a subscription that you're paying forever and ever on these vocal, these vocal pedagogy things. Yes, it's an initial investment because it's worth a lot, but then you have it and you can train with it literally forever. That's what they're designed to do. Okay, so put yourself in situations where you're finding teachers, you're finding things where you can actively practice, and you have systems and classes and courses that can help you stay in vocal shape and get into something regular. Or even if you don't have the budget, for fuck's sakes, if you really can't afford it right now, then just meet with a group of friends and just actively practice cold reading, doing self-tapes, reading a play, sitting in a room and playing a score. If you're making the excuse that you can't afford to practice and you just want someone to give it to you, which again is more delusional entitlement, then you're actually not in it for the right reason. You don't need anyone to give you, just give it to you. You could just give it to yourself if you are actively enjoying the actual process of what it is to be someone that does this professionally, right? Shouldn't this be fun? Shouldn't you want to sing and act and dance? Isn't that why you did it in the first place? So if you're like, well, I don't have control over when I can do it because someone else has to give me the opportunity. Well, that's your problem right there. You're giving all your power away. And if you're not working on it because you've decided that someone else has to grant you permission to do the thing you want, well, you're not gonna last very long. So you're gonna have to figure out how to get control over that narrative. You're gonna have to figure out a way to pay to get yourself in class and be working on the skill. I have all kinds of things. If you're a singer, if you need to learn the mixed belt, if you need vocal balance, if you need to understand how to hear yourself like a voice teacher, I have products for all of this. You can always find those at the singerpath.thsingerspath.com. You can also see all those on Sarah Bishop Vocal Studio.com. Um, I'm hoping someday to merge those together. So if that's not the actual website that's available, I'm sorry. If if you're noticing that this like level of delusion, like you have a hard time actually believing in yourself, you don't know what action to take, you don't know how to choose to be the person that you know you need to be. That's why I have some other things for you, right? The inner circle membership. This is a membership, but it's meant to help you reprogram your brain so that you are actively acting and becoming and thinking like the person that has the things that you want. So that exists, right? And all of these resources are available to you guys. Like that's why I made them. So at the end of the day, we do need you to be delusional, but we also need you to be disciplined because otherwise you're just an entitled ass. That's not really gonna get anywhere. And people enjoy working with others that honestly just like to do the activity of singing and dancing and acting. That unfortunately is your responsibility to uphold your skill, continuing to work on your skill, and you know, the enjoyment of why you started to do this in the first place. All right. So, with all that, I hope that was helpful to start to understand and unpack where, you know, where we might have an unhealthy dose of delusion or we might not have enough delusion to believe in ourselves more than anyone else, and where you might be sabotaging yourself from committing to the discipline, the actual practice of acting on the thing that you want. I hope this was helpful. Again, I uh resources listed below. If you if you need more help and more support, that's always there. If you like this episode, please leave us a five-star written review. This helps us get this out to more people so we can start fucking changing this fucked up system from the inside out. I'm inceptioning this bitch, okay? And it starts with how you view yourself. And so send these to your other actor friends. Start getting this discussion going so that you can become the most powerful version of you that we the world needs, guys. The world needs artists showing up in the way that they are meant to be here, okay? Which is powerful, capable, creative, and making the decisions. Okay. All right. I love you. I'm obsessed with you. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day, and I'll talk to you next time. Bye. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a five-star written review on Apple Podcasts. This helps me get this information out to more artists all over the world. Let's work together to spread the joys of music. Until next time, I'm your host, Sarah Bishop, signing off from the Singer's Path Podcast. Thanks for listening.