5 Ways To Keep Yourself Motivated As A Creative Professional
We all need it every now and then.
The internet has given us a chance to be creative and share our craft with the world. It has made people more creative and pushed them to explore different creative professions like never before.
Lately, I have been meeting a lot of people who have a side hustle aka a blog, a podcast, or a YouTube channel. The one thing that most of them complain about is staying motivated. As someone who’s been creating content consistently for a couple of years, I understand those days when we feel dejected and uninspired.
It happens to me all the time. Although I love having conversations with intellectual people for my podcast, and for my YouTube Channel, there are days when I feel hopeless and have zero motivation to do so. This low phase affects my productivity and stops me from producing and sharing my work with the world.
To avoid getting into that rut, I have found several ways and system that helps me stay motivated and focused. Here are five of them
1. Remind Yourself Why You Started
Everyone is fighting to get more views, more followers, more money — you may not accept it but isn’t it why we’re all creating content?
To be seen.
You may find someone less talented than you get more views.
You will find your friends chilling in Bali when you are relentlessly working on another article, scripting another video, and trying to build that email list.
It is daunting. I feel it all the time. It makes you question yourself and your approach.
You find yourself asking —
“This is really what I want to do?” or “Maybe I should just focus on my day job”
When you find yourself in that vicious cycle, remind yourself of why you started. As Simon Sinek says
“You have to know WHY you do WHAT you do”.
If you don’t know your why — ask yourself why did you start creating content in the first place.
Was it to help people? Share your story?
Or fame? Money? Respect or success?
The reason could be anything — as long as you’re being honest with yourself.
When I go through this situation, I remind myself that I didn't start writing for being a top writer, or become a millionaire, I started writing to help people and to share my story. Once I do that, I feel a huge weight lifting off my shoulders.
“Most people don’t know why they’re doing what they’re doing. They imitate others, go with the flow, and follow paths without making their own. They spend decades in pursuit of something that someone convinced them they should want, without realising that it won’t make them happy. Don’t.”
— Derek Sivers
2. Have A System That Supports You
Motivation is like bathing, you can’t just shower a day and call yourself clean for the rest of the month. You have to do it every day. And to do it every day — you need to make a system so it happens on autopilot.
The truth is we feel demotivated when things don’t go according to our plan. Poor internet connection, no morning coffee, and BAMM, you feel like crap.
Having a system for our creative projects keeps the negative emotions entering our workspace and our minds. Steven Pressfield, in one of his latest interviews, talked about how a professional has a system, whereas an amateur does everything on a whim. A professional not only focuses on improving his craft but also his diet, his routine, and everything else that is closely related to you and your craft.
A system is having a routine, surroundings, and rituals — that helps you avoid any mishap and any thought which can make you feel demotivated.
Having an environment that supports you, have a diet that supports you, and a workout session to keep your mind and body healthy to produce your best work. Have your favorite quotes on the wall. Find a comfortable chair. Put your phone on flight mode when you’re writing. Use earplugs if you can’t work under noise. Details matter.
When I first started making videos, I’d get ready with the script and the lighting setup to find like my camera without battery or my SD cards with no memory. These trivial things made me lose my mind, and they’d instantly drop my energy and focus.
They taught me the importance of having a proper system.
“Goals can provide direction and even push you forward in the short-term, but eventually a well-designed system will always win.”
— James Clear
3. Find Your Catalyst
A catalyst is a substance that accelerates the process of reaching from point A to point B. You need to find that one thing (or maybe more) which keeps you motivated and takes you closer to your goal.
If you’ve watched The Last Dance, you’d know how hyper-competitive Micheal Jordan was. Michael Jordan was inspired to crush the Sonics in the 1996 NBA Finals after coach George Karl didn’t acknowledge him at a diner. MJ used the episode as a catalyst and used it as fuel to win the game.
A catalyst can be a swipe folder filled with positive feedback from your audience/readers. It could be an award you won as a kid or the picture of the award you want to win. It could be a list of rejection letters to fill you up with drive. Some people prefer a *Focus Playlist* that gets them into their flow state and get them started. WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg also listens to one single song on repeat to get into the flow.
If you don't have one, make one and prime yourself to feel motivated once you’ve gone through the entire process
Write your goals on a chart paper in huge letters and stick them where you study. Keep a progressive journal. Make a vision board for your life as I did. For years, my catalyst has been my vision board which reminds me where I need to go and gives me the drive to keep going.
Be creative and find your catalyst.
4. Listen To Yourself Carefully
Most of the time we feel dejected and unmotivated because of our self-talk. The language we use when we talk to ourselves can significantly affect how we feel and how we act. Have you ever found yourself saying
I can’t do it…
I feel like shit…
I am an awful writer…
My content is not as good as…
The inner critic often overpowers our positive voice. The bad things we say to ourselves are not true in most cases, but we believe in those words and reinforce it into our actions.
Can you feel ecstatic when you hear a voice inside you whispering? “I feel so low today?”
A person who thinks “I can’t do it” doubts himself more than the person who thinks “I have got this”. It’s up for you to decide which one you want to be.
“The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.” — Confucius
The talks don’t always have to be inspiring, you could just talk to yourself like you’re talking to a friend. My negative self-talk never let me see the good in myself and in the circumstances.
We often don’t realize, but we talk to ourselves the most in our respective lives.
That faint voice in your head, which you usually ignore — controls you.
5. Optimizing Your Lens
Our perspective is everything. Life is how we react to it. When you go through a rough patch — adjust your lens. The lens aka your perspective through which you view the situation.
The understanding of Macro and Micro is important to stay motivated.
You worry too much about the micro like — what a stranger commented on your video/blog, or how nobody liked your picture.
Faced a rejection — A micro event (why waste your time?)
These are the things that don’t really matter in your life, you might not even remember them after a few weeks.
Got published in New York Times — A macro event (you deserve that toast)
On the contrary, getting your first million views is a macro event. It’s special.
Now if you need to know whether you’re fretting about is a micro event or a macro event. Once you figure that out, you’d stop wasting your time on things that won’t matter to you the next day. And if you stop working after a few micro issues, you wouldn’t get to the macro stage.
Look at the bigger picture. That’s what I do. Imagine if you continue to write for the next 2 years, you’d have 2x365=730 pieces of original content. If any of these gets picked up by a big publisher — you will have a Macro moment waiting for you.
You get to choose if you let the micro scare you or allow it to snowball into a big macro event.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes.”
— Marcel Proust
As a creative person, your creativity depends on how motivated you are. You create your best work when you’re feeling good and having fun.
So enjoy yourself and have fun while you’re at it.
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