We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Priyanka McKinees. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Priyanka below.
Hi Priyanka, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
I developed my confidence and self-esteem by facing my fear and learning how to let unimportant things go. I am the type of person that gets discouraged quickly. I have a hard time trying new things because I do not want to fail and I do not want people to judge me. But I have come so far with my life’s journey that now I love challenging myself in what I am not good at and setting goals to improve. I believe that sometimes we need discouragement in our lives in order to grow and fight with our fear. This is how we learn to appreciate our hard work, recognize our talent, and achieve our goals.
If you want to develop your confidence and self-esteem then you need to let things go and learn to ignore other’s negativity towards you. Holding on to what people think and say about you and to your past mistakes will destroy your momentum and will only hold you back. Take others’ feedback and use it to improve and grow stronger, but do not let it undermine your confidence. We cannot make everyone happy all the time.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My name is Priyanka McKinnes and I am originally from New Delhi, India. I met my husband while he was on a mission trip to India. We dated long-distance for 2 years. In 2020, I moved to the US and we got married. Shortly after we were married, the pandemic hit and I found myself stuck in the house with a lot of time. I had always dreamed of starting my own business and saw this time period as the opportunity I needed to begin working toward that dream. I started my small business without any professional classes or any degree in art and painting. I am a self-taught artist and I make my own designs. I always wanted to have my own business and create my own arts style. When I moved to the US, I wanted to introduce my culture and bring my culture to my second home. India is full of colors and culture and I wanted to capture everything in one artform. So, I started teaching myself DOT MANDALA and I fell in love with the art. It is unique and very much Indian style. My art was the best way I knew to introduce my culture to the people in my new country. As an artist, I get more excited to meet new people and other artists and share my story with them through my paintings. I have been developing my skills as an artist in a way that reflects my own unique style. My paintings’ styles range across all the seasons and I have began creating custom orders as well. Coffee mugs
key chain
Dot mandala wall art
Coasters
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
three skills that help me in my journey to grow they are: 1: Set a mindset to grow: have a desire to grow and achieve your goals. Work on your goals one at a time. Work hard and chase your dream. Do not be scared to try new things you are not good at. Setting goals helps you to stay disciplined, motivated, and dedicated to achieving your dreams. Try something new that brings you happiness, and confidence, and does not overwhelm you. Surround yourself with positive people who can encourage, motivate, and grow your self-confidence.
2: learn from your mistakes and failures: As an artist and employee, I get discouraged very easily by my mistakes and failures. I learned along the way that I cannot escape or run from mistakes and failure, it is part of life. Instead of running away, look at it as a learning experience. Failure is just a part of life and a starting point for achieving your goals. Get up and try until you achieve your goals. Make your mistakes and failures your strong points, not your weakness. Mistakes and failures are a part of your lifelong journey. We should stay patient and motivated, and acknowledge your achievements along the way. Accept and enjoy the process of learning and growing. Do not see yourself how other people see you because God has made you beautiful, wonderful, and unique.
3: Self-care: Self-care is very important for our daily lives. In order to stay healthy, you MUST take care of yourself mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Keeping your body, mind, and heart-healthy should be your priority, then everything else can come second. Stress will affect your health, job, and relationships with people. In my home country, self-care is not prioritized. Any mention of depression, feeling burnt out, or being run down is seen as a weakness and causes you to be marginalized. Only after moving to the US did I finally understand how important it is to tend to your whole mind, spirit, and body. In the US, we are blessed with resources and facilities dedicated to mental health and prioritizing your well-being, take advantage of these gifts! If you need help, speak to someone. Surround yourself with good people who can check on you when you are stressed and overwhelmed. When I am stressed, my husband always reminds me to do two things, relax and breathe. Personally, it has helped me to take things slowly.
What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?
: I believe it is important to develop your strengths while not ignoring your weaknesses. While growing up I was not the smartest girl among my siblings. As I grew up, I faced challenges with my self-confidence, believing in myself, and I was afraid of public speaking. I was not good at studies and because of that people used to tell me that I would not have a bright future. I always used to think about people’s opinions and what they thought about me. It was hard for me to love myself and I started discouraging myself. It took me many years to fight with myself and to prove to people that I also have potential. I took it as a challenge to work on myself and prove them wrong. I came out of my comfort zone and worked on my weaknesses. I decided not to feel sorry for myself but instead, I started loving myself, apricating my hard work, and valuing myself. When I moved to the US, I was very scared, nervous, overwhelmed, and culture shocked. I had ups and down in my first few years in the US but I learned and manage to overcome my fear. Now I have developed my skills as an artist, but did not neglect developing in areas where I struggled such as in school and with public speaking. I am very grateful for my husband and friends who have been great supporters and always encourage me. You know yourself better than others. If you do not value yourself then people are not going to value you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.priyankamckinnespaintings.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/priyankamckinnespaintings/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PriyankaMckinnes/
