This is part 8 of a 12 day blog series called “12 Steps You Must Take To Get Into Creative Flow Whenever You Want” or the more seasonal “The 12 Days of Creativeness”.
Everyone who has experienced creative flow will tell you that it is enjoyable and exhilarating. My experiences of creative flow have been amongst the most enjoyable of my life.
And like the other features of creative flow, it’s a two way street.
Not only will “being inspired” produce an enjoyable and exhilarating experience, enjoyment and exhilaration will produce conditions where inspiration happens.
So how do you create conditions for enjoyment?
Read The Other Posts In This Series
Of course I’m not suggesting for a second that you’ll find reading my posts the most enjoyable experiences of your life! Far from it.
But by taking the steps I’ve outlined you’ll start to enjoy your creative process be more likely to experience creative flow.
Working towards a desirable outcome is an enjoyable activity.
Working for a compelling purpose is enjoyable.
Taking responsibility for your situation is empowering and inherently enjoyable.
Learning, discovering and figuring stuff out by doing is much more rewarding and enjoyable than being taught.
Writing music from a position of strength (being who you want to be) is much more enjoyable than writing it from a position of weakness (being who you perceive you are).
And thinking about your process as an enjoyable activity, not as a struggle, is enjoyable (obviously).
But taking steps to enhance your enjoyment is an end in itself.
Do What You Love
This is your choice.
1/ Choose to produce the music you love, not what fashion demands.
By writing music that you love, your music will shine and your audience will find you. It will be easier, you’ll produce more quicker and at a higher quality than if you just make what is in fashion at the time.
So if you love to produce african nose flute techno, go ahead.
2/ Choose to do more of the work you love.
If you write jingles or commercials for other people and have been meaning to write more of your own music that you love – make the time.
If you’ve been doing loads of remixes for other people and haven’t been able to work on that album – make the time.
You might lose a little income at first, but by doing more of what you enjoy you’ll be invigorating yourself and your creative process. By doing this you’ll be extending and increasing your ability to write music to order.
3/ Choose to make music (or whatever you enjoy) your life
If you’re successful in a career that you don’t love, just imagine how much more you could achieve if you do what you love.
Love What You Do
There are always going to be certain tasks which you enjoy more than others within the creative process.
But you make even these tasks more enjoyable by being creative about it.
I used to hate starting work on the arrangement.
So instead of schlepping through a basic arrangement by copying and pasting parts in Logic, I used Ableton and recorded my basic arrangement in live.
Voila! What was the most dreaded became my favourite part of the process.
Outsourcing
If you can’t find a way to enjoy a certain part of the process, have you thought about outsourcing it to someone who does?
Many producers already do this by employing an engineer to do the mixdown.
But if you can’t afford an engineer how about a collaboration? I’ve often thought about a partnership where each person was responsible for a different parts of the process.
Learn To Enjoy Your Experience
One of the major “ahas” I’ve had from my training as a coach and NLP Practitioner is that by focusing on particular parts of your experience it is possible to enjoy almost any task.
Although this is a very individual process and varies wildly from person to person, I’ve had success helping my clients to find enjoyment in what they do.
But whether you do it by doing what you love, loving what you do, finding a way to love what you naturally don’t, or a combination of all three – it is essential that you learn to enjoy it.
Most assume that doing “hard work” is the only route to success. This misses the mark.
Because when you enjoy it, your route to success won’t feel hard or like work.
This is part 8 of a 12 day blog series called “12 Steps You Must Take To Get Into Creative Flow Whenever You Want” or the more seasonal “The 12 Days of Creativeness”.