Mike Monday

Inspiration On Demand

Fail Like The Great One

If you failed 100 times would you try again?

Most people wouldn’t. And their parents, friends and peers would tell them to give up:

“You’re obviously not cut out for it.”

But every failure is a lesson. Every disappointment a chance for growth. And failing 100 times means that when you succeed on your 101st attempt you’ll be ready. And then the same people will say:

“I always knew he’d make it!”

Revel in failure, because failing 100 times (or more) is 100% better than doing nothing.

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky

5 Ways to Stop Being a Perfectionist – #10 of 100

In my last post I explained why perfectionism is an advanced form of procrastination. But if you’re anything like me, you know this but still find yourself constantly perfecting but not completing.

Here’s five ways of building and maintaining creative momentum by avoiding that niggling urge to perfect.

1/ Treat everything as a draft

Think of everything as a draft, not the finished article. You’ll trick your brain into focussing on the big picture and not the details.
You don’t have to worry about the details now. You just have to finish this draft. Get it done. You can go back and perfect it later.

Because it’s only a draft, it’s not set in stone and you’ll finish it. At worst you’ll have something tangible to work on, but at best you’ll have it in the bag.

2/ Take a break

When you’ve completed your “draft” make sure you take a break. The longer the better.

Sleep on it if you can.

When you’re fresh go back to it and you’ll probably find that its not as awful as you thought.

(And it might even be done.)

3/ Rush it

Pick a creative task that should take an hour.

Set a timer for 30 minutes and attempt to complete it. Hold yourself to account here and just get through it. Even if you think it’s terrible.

Rushing it means you won’t have time to think and you might even release your inner creative genius.

4/ Multitask

Continue working while reading and replying to some emails, or reading some blog posts, or tidying your workspace. It’s amazing what you can come up with when you only have half a brain on it.

This is the opposite of what I’d usually recommend as you’re intentionally forcing yourself to lose focus. But if you find yourself getting lost in details try it occasionally and in short bursts.

5/ Play!

Take what you’re working on and mess with it. Change everything. Be ridiculous. Shock yourself. See how far you can push it away from what you were intending.

Have fun. Be stupid. Go wild.

You never know what inspiration you’ll find at the edges.

Are you a perfectionist? How do you stop yourself? Please share in the comments…

Are You a Perfectionist?

Some people say “I’m a perfectionist” with pride.

But the pursuit of perfection is just an advanced form of procrastination. Here’s 3 good reasons to stop trying to make it perfect.

You’ll never achieve it

How are you going to achieve perfection?

You won’t, it’s not possible.

So how will never being able to achieve what you’re striving for make you feel? Confidence is key to creation and your pursuit of perfection will kill it.

Perfection isn’t the same as good

Why assume that something perfect is better than something imperfect?

Our Western ideal of beauty and perfection probably comes from the Ancient Greeks. But this isn’t the only way to think.

The Japanese aesthetic of Wabi Sabi – beauty that is imperfect, impermanent and incomplete – makes much more sense to me than any ideal of perfection.

Failure equals growth

Success is 99% failure
– Soichiro Honda

A neverending quest for perfection has its roots in fear of failure.

But if you build your courage, you’ll learn to accept and expect failure as a natural and important part of the creative process.

Fail, fail and fail again. Because when you fail you learn.

A caveat

I’m not suggesting you want to immediately release a load of crap. And I’m assuming that you care about what you do and make deeply, and you always want to be your best.

But assuming this, forget about perfection. Because it is more honest, courageous and useful to your development to get on with it, finish it, and get it out the door.

Worry whether it’s any good later.

Regrets? I’ve Had a Few…

Why do people say they don’t regret anything?

I’m proud to say that:

“I regret not pursuing live performance.”

“I regret spending more time in airports than with my family and friends.”

“I regret avoiding the internet.”

Why? Because I’ve learnt from them.

Here’s the Quickest and Easiest Way to Triple Your Studio Output – #9 of 100

It’s incredibly simple.

Forget how it sounds in your head.

If you can’t start, finish, or always get stuck, I bet it’s because you keep trying to make it sound the way it does in your head.

The music in your head is an excellent place to start. But unless you’re Mozart, striving to make it exactly as you imagine it will end in failure and frustration.

You see, the way it sounds in your head is just that. In your head.

When I realised this simple fact, the quantity of work I finished (at least) tripled. The music was better too.

4 reasons to stop

1. You’ll miss moments of genius.
By concentrating on what’s in your head you’ll ignore or reject the other (possibly brilliant) ideas that come out of nowhere. These are gold dust. Jump on them. Hint – they’re what most people call inspiration.
2. You’ll lose momentum.
If you’re going to finish your music, momentum is key. Trying to make it exactly the same as the music in your head will bring you to a screeching halt.
3. Danger! Boredom!
You’ll tweak and twiddle for hours in your quest to make the sound in your head. And after listening to the same thing over and over you’ll get bored of it. You probably won’t even remember what you were trying to do in the first place. The only thing you’ll remember is that you didn’t do it.
4. You won’t hear what’s really playing.
This is the kicker. If you focus on what’s in your head you won’t listen to what’s coming out of the speakers. Then you’re in danger of hearing what you want, not what it is. Which (because you spent ages trying to make it sound like the music in your head) is probably a pile of crap. When you say “why is it so awful this morning when it was so good last night?” – this is why.

How to forget what’s in your head

Yes – start by trying to make what you hear in your head.

But when you have a vague approximation, stop thinking about the music in your head and start listening to what’s coming out of your speakers.

Do something crazy. Be creative. Play. Have fun. That is why you’re doing this – right?

Reframe it. Play the same part on a different sound. Play a different sound on the same part. Try a different rhythm. If it’s not working, try something else.

While you’re jamming, constantly keep your ears open for the ideas that were never in your head, but which sound amazing.

When they happen (and trust me – eventually they will) jump on them, even if they’re not what you were expecting. Especially if they’re not what you were expecting.

But above all, make it sound good in your ears, not in your head.