Mike Monday

Inspiration On Demand

The Secret to Starting an Album

If you’re stuck try this. (It’s how I started my first two albums).

Every day for a week spend an hour just starting stuff. Get a groove going, add parts quickly, don’t worry about the details at all, just get a vibe.

Once you have a basic idea down, make sure you record it. Then move on and start something else. Above all don’t get sucked into one groove or sound or making it perfect.

The idea is to just get a load of ideas down as fast as possible.

When your hour is up stop. Turn off the computer. Leave the area. Forget about it.

Do the same every day for a week. Don’t listen back to what you did the day before, just sit down and get as many ideas down as possible.

By the end of the week you’ll have a load of ideas. Give it a while before listening to them. Maybe give it a week or so. When you do, listen to them one after the other. Make sure you have a notepad next to you and write down whatever comes into your head as you’re listening.

Many of your ideas will be crap, (ignore the crap) but worry not. I guarantee there’ll be some gold in there. Maybe even enough for an album.

Have a Crisis You Can Be Proud Of

It’s a horrible feeling.

Every way you look at the same problem you hit a dead end. You’ve tried everything. No matter how hard you try you just can’t crack it.

At times you thought you were close to a solution, only for it to fall apart. You’re even further away than when you started.

Gradually you feel the fear winning. Before you know it you’re in a state of near panic, and seize up. The urge to give up completely overwhelms you.

Sound familiar?

But the very last thing you should do is give up. Sure, take a break. Don’t give up.

Every time I’ve made a major breakthrough in my life it’s been preceded by a crisis.

I had one yesterday lunchtime. But as I was trying to get to sleep last night I had a major “aha” moment. Then lying there in the dark I worked through everything that had been on my mind. I virtually skipped out of bed this morning. This also happens with my studio work.

A crisis is a sign that you’re about to work it out. And how fast you work it out depends on how you respond to the crisis.

So the next time you start to freak out remember you’re probably losing your marbles because there’s a solution just around the corner.

Don’t panic. Take a break. Think about anything else, but whatever you do, don’t give up.

Have a crisis you can be proud of.

Had the same experience? Does a crisis get you unstuck? Why do you think this is?

Are You Living Your Dream?

(At the risk of shooting myself in the foot…)

What are you doing now?

Now close your eyes and focus on the most ambitious dream you have for your life.

If you could do just one thing right now to get closer to making that dream a reality I bet it wouldn’t be reading this, would it?

“Each moment of our life, we either invoke or destroy our dreams.” 
– Stuart Wilde

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…