Inspiration On Demand
My “How To Focus” course was a free video course and pdf which helped many hundreds of DJs, producers and other creative minded individuals cut through the distractions inherent in modern life.
It was so successful (and got such great results for those who did it) that I’m now working on a new and enhanced version, and have removed it from the market.
So at the moment the only way you can get the original version is as a free bonus with my Start Now Finish Fast program.
Because it ain’t just an ebook!
This new free training offering – includes both a free ebook “7 steps every music producer needs to take” and a series of training videos designed to deepen and embed what you’ll learn in the ebook.
To get the lot right now for nothing – just sign up below and I’ll see you on the other side…
This is part 12 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”.
By now you’ll have realised the massive impact finding your creative flow will have on the quantity and quality of your music and your enjoyment in making it. And to help you get you there I’ve focused on your mental approach to making music.
I’ve focused on this because with the right mindset not only will you find creative flow more often, but you will succeed. And without it you won’t.
It’s astounding that while in almost every other subject – business, leadership, selling, sport, weight loss, dating – you name it, there is a wealth of wisdom on how to use your mind to create success, but in music production virtually none.
Instead, our community is obsessed with how to compress this or how to eq that, what equipment we need before we can do anything, what the specific steps are to write a hit…and so it goes on.
We are obsessed with information and ignore wisdom.
But how you think about what you do and how you do what you do is as important as what you do. And focusing on what you do alone can lead to frustrating months, years or even decades of chasing your tail.
Having said that, I don’t want to suggest in any way that you spend all your time simply thinking and dreaming. For all I have said has no meaning, point, or purpose unless you take action.
Some “success gurus” suggest that simply by thinking and desiring something enough, you’ll somehow get it. I am not one of them.
Everything I’ve written to this point is to get you to do, and continue to do, the one thing that will move you forward.
TAKE ACTION.
Now there are some reasons why you might think you find this challenging. It’s time for some tough talking…
The worst decision you can make is no decision.
By making no decision, you are making a decision. A decision to let external forces determine what happens. This is the worst decision you can make. It’s the polar opposite of taking responsibility.
Don’t sweat it. Go with your gut instinct, listen to your intuition and take action.
This point is so important that I’ll leave it to someone more qualified than I emphasise the point:
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
No matter what they might say, everyone fears criticism.
I fear it when I write these posts. Whenever you put yourself “out there” as soon as you make an impact you will attract criticism. Criticism is a sign you’re doing something important.
You wouldn’t believe a some of the things I’ve been called since starting this blog. And I’m not going to lie to you and say “I don’t care”. I’m human, and being the subject of criticism is unpleasant (particularly when it’s offensive).
But have you noticed that when you read a bad comment, review or criticism of someone else’s work, you end up drawing conclusions about the critic more than the subject of their criticism?
I certainly do.
And anyway, what exactly are you scared of? What’s the worst that could happen?
Asking yourself the right questions. And I ask myself these questions every time I get scared or freaked out. What’s worse? The odd criticism here and there? Or inaction?
Either the criticism will be valid and useful or you will disagree with it. And if it’s insulting just feel sorry for the critic. Either way, you’re giving them power if they stop you from taking action.
(By the way, most people are polite, encouraging, awesome and more than make up for the occasional weirdo.)
Fear is a completely natural part of doing something to your best. Those who are successful acknowledge the fear and do it anyway.
Once again, I’ll let Teddy do the talking:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt
I’ve already talked about this elsewhere, but here’s the short version:
If you don’t stop you don’t fail.
If making music was important enough to you, you would find the time.
It’s about priorities. You will always find the time to do things that are important to you.
This is the reason I asked you to decide what you want and connect with your purpose. If you have completed those steps your ideal outcome should mean making music has jumped the top of your list of priorities.
If it hasn’t, maybe it’s not for you. In that case, stop beating yourself up about it!
If it has – make time and take action.
Both of these are excuses, pure and simple.
Many, many great musicians have become great by starting with no “knowledge” and very little equipment.
Even if you have an old beat up laptop, you will already have more power at your fingertips than most musicians in the history of music.
And unless you are tone deaf or don’t possess ears and a brain, you already have enough knowledge to make great music.
Nuff said. Take action.
There is no better way to ensure you take action than by finding someone who will point you in the right direction, be a sounding board, a model, and hold you accountable.
I thought for many years that I could do it all alone. I was wrong.
I now have a number of mentors who I often turn to for help in many different ways.
Whether it be a partner, manager, agent, label guy, teacher or coach – a great mentor will inspire you, push you, and be there for you when the going get tough.
In just 12 posts, it wasn’t possible to teach you everything.
And at the beginning, by getting you to think of your ideal future I’m aware that despite the last post on goals and planning, the enormity of what you want to achieve might be causing you to wonder what to do next.
The compelling future that you’re now working towards might seem distant and out of reach, but just know that all your musical heroes have been exactly where you are now.
Trust that you know what to do. Because you do. It might be scary, it might be a challenge, but isn’t it more scary to imagine living the rest of your life wondering “what if”?
Break down your overall goal into smaller sub-goals until they become doable but challenging.
Then pick one. If you’re wondering which one to pick, just ask yourself which one seems right. Relax. Ask the right question, and the answer will come.
Then – take action.
Ok, I think you might have got the point now. You must take action!!!
Go Forth. Prosper. Rock it. The world needs your music…
Day 0 – My aims with this series and for you this year.
Day 1 – How to make lightning fast creative decisions.
Day 2 – Build your desire by creating your compelling future.
Day 3 – The most common creativity killing mistake music producers make.
Day 4 – Forget procrastination and make decisions easily when you take this simple step.
Day 5 – How the things you think move you forward might be doing the opposite.
Day 6 – The unusual step you must take to become a successful music producer.
Day 7 – Change a few simple words and do more in less time with better results.
Day 8 – What’s the vital ingredient that’s missing from your work?
Day 9 – The source of all distractions and how to neutralise it for good.
Day 10 – How to finish up to 5 times more music in the same time by thinking differently.
Day 11 – How to ensure that every goal propels you towards creative flow.
Day 12 – What you must do next.
This is part 12 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”.
This is part 10 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”.
You’re working on a killer tune.
You’re fired up. The ideas are flowing and it’s effortless. You have complete belief in yourself and what you’re doing.
You start to think that this could be the one, the hit that takes your career to a new level. You keep playing it over and over and almost can’t believe you did it. It’s that good.
Isn’t this why you got into music in the first place?
As you tweak and tinker the doubts start to creep in. Slowly at first, then quicker your raw excitement and energy dissipate.
You ignore it and work even harder. You turn off your phone and the internet in order to fully focus. You think that if you stop working that feeling will be gone, lost forever.
You use all the willpower, mental stamina and self motivation to get it back. But like a dream that disappears as you wake, the energy, excitement and possibility fade.
Before long you’re bored and frustrated.
If you’re honest you’re thoroughly sick of it. What was a joy is now a slog and you can’t get it right or move forward.
Eventually you can hardly bear to listen to it again and can only hear things you don’t like, made worse by the memory of how good you thought it could be. It becomes yet another unfinished tune to add to your growing scrapheap.
Is this a familiar story?
The track didn’t change much between loving it and hating it.
You know this because all you did for the last few hours was tweak it, making it just that bit better.
How can you feel so differently about what is essentially the same piece of music?
You can because you lost momentum.
I have nearly a whole 1TB hard drive full of unfinished tunes where I lost momentum. It’s like my own personal graveyard of unfulfilled hopes and dreams!
Even though I could be described as a prolific producer, just imagine what I could have done if I’d finished even a fraction of that unfinished music. And I hate to think of the golden ideas (maybe even hits) that are languishing on that machine.
Spending more time on a tune doesn’t make it better.
And what’s so much more important than attaining perfection (or anything near it) is your creative momentum.
Do what is necessary, spend less time doing more and build momentum.
If you’re stuck or finding it hard going, focus on your momentum first. Don’t worry about how good what you’re doing is. Gradually you’ll start to finish more which will build your confidence. This confidence will allow you to do yet more fast which will then create more momentum. A virtuous cycle.
And even if you’re not stuck, if you maintain and build your momentum you will eventually reach what I call “escape velocity”.
This has happened to me a few times in my career, and it’s incredibly exhilarating.
At this point the process starts to becomes almost effortless. When you get to this point, and certainly if you’ve also completed the other steps I’ve suggested in this series, you will be experiencing creative flow on a regular basis.
This is why I believe that building momentum is the key to an enjoyable and successful career as a music producer. Not trying to be perfect. Perfectionism will kill your momentum. If you try to make every track perfect you’ll stall, crash and have to continually start all over again.
(And anyway “perfect” is boring, dull and lifeless. Isn’t it the rough edges that give your music beauty, soul and life?)
A way of thinking that can help you gain momentum is the 80/20 principle.
It’s an anti time-management idea. Instead of making incremental improvements in your productivity, you work out the value you’re creating in relation to the effort you’re expending.
Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian Economist who in 1906 found that in Italy 80% of the land was owned by 20% of the population. And when he conducted a survey of other countries he found a broadly similar distribution applies. He then also observed that 20% of the pea pods in his garden contained 80% of the peas! Strange but true…
Since then, this imbalance has also been found in many other areas of life. In business, 80% of sales usually come from 20% of customers. At home you’ll tend to wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time. And I’ll bet you listen to 20% (or less) of your music collection for 80% (or more) of the time.
What’s important here isn’t the exact 80 or 20 numbers but the general principle that most of the results from an activity come from a small part of the effort.
So let’s apply it to music production. You create 80% of the “value” (or maybe a better word might be “quality”) in your music from only 20% of your effort. Or in other words you expend 80% of your effort doing stuff which only yields 20% of the results!
Shocking isn’t it? How can it be true?
But if you analysed it honestly I’ll bet you’ll find that a majority of your effort is spent doing tasks which have a minimal effect on your music.
Avoid doing or cut down significantly that 80% attempting to achieve that final 20%.
In music production, by shooting for that last 20% you’ll rarely get it. You’re also likely to lose what was great about the original vibe and you’ll run the very real risk of losing your momentum. A surefire inspiration killer.
And imagine what impact doing 5 times more in the same time will have on your life!
(If you want to learn more about the 80/20 principle read “The 80/20 Principle” by Richard Koch. It’s mainly a business book, but it changed the way I thought about my life and work.)
I’m not advocating sloppiness or laziness. And you might find it challenging to work out what the 20% is in what you that creates the 80% and what is superfluous.
Start by asking yourself “where does most of the value lie in my creative process?” As I’ve said before, just asking the right question will usually bring an answer if you’re open to it.
Of course, the simplest course of action would be make an effort to complete your music in 1/5th of the time. Why not try it?
But however you apply it, finish it, ship it, move on. Finish it, ship it, move on. Finish it, ship it, move on. Make this your mantra.
This is part 10 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”.
This is part 9 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”.
Perfecting every detail of every track, buying new software or equipment, checking email, surfing the internet, tidying your studio, watching how to tutorials, commenting on forums, making cups of tea, reading this blog post…
While there are benefits to each of the activities above (especially the blog post one!) aren’t they usually just clever forms of procrastination?
And they are particularly clever, because you can pretend you’re doing something useful. But being busy doesn’t equal being productive.
By focusing on these distractions you are not focusing on the main task that counts:
Finishing your music.
In certain circumstances some of the activities above will help you finish music, (for instance if you don’t own any equipment, you’re going to need to get some) but if you’re honest with yourself I’ll bet you’re just putting off finishing that tune.
I could go into detail about various tips and tricks that I’ve used over the years to help you avoid procrastination.
But my aim with this blog series is for you to find the peak state of creative flow whenever you want, or at least to start moving towards it.
And writing a bog standard “10 tips to beat procrastination” post wouldn’t do that. Just like the last time you read a post like that, you’d get limited results for a short time, and soon find yourself falling into the same old habits.
Because these distractions aren’t the cause. They’re merely symptoms of the only distraction that counts.
YOU.
If you’ve taken the other steps I’ve suggested in this series, the distractions already won’t be quite so distracting. Who knows, you might even already be a focused music finishing machine!
But what I’ve often found with my coaching clients is that even when they’re working towards a desirable goal, doing what they love, for a compelling purpose, they still come up against internal resistance.
And this resistance usually comes from their fear, self-doubt and/or lack of confidence.
And the advanced procrastination techniques above are an effective way of avoiding confronting their fear and self-doubt, especially as they get closer to finishing their music…
“Is it good enough? What if it’s not as good as the last tune? Will they love it as much? Will it ruin my career?”
Finishing a track is an act of Commitment. Once it’s finished and released you can’t change it. It’s out there. You are committed. And taking that act of commitment can be scary.
So you surf the internet, check your emails, do a course, watch a tutorial, look for a cool new plugin to play with or just give up for the day.
Isn’t most of the music you finish completed in spite of these distractions?
Doesn’t the urge to distract yourself get greater the closer you get to finishing it?
Isn’t it exhausting?
There is a way out.
Taking the other steps I’ve asked you to take in this series will be a start.
Because all of the steps I’ve asked you to take are designed to create a natural momentum within you which will blast through much of your resistance.
But without addressing your fear (and if you’re thinking big enough there will be fear) you will still waste time. And much of what lies behind your fear are your beliefs.
If you change those beliefs you will naturally become that focused music finishing machine you dream of.
Imagine being able to turn off that negative internal chatter. Or to just know that your music’s right. Or even to be a little afraid but do it anyway.
What could you do? How much time would you save? How much energy?
By working on your beliefs first you’ll be dealing with the cause of the distractions, not just the symptoms.
You won’t even notice the constant noise around you because you’ll be so excited to finish the next thing the distractions won’t distract you.
At this point I have to be honest with you.
Depending on who you are and the belief, just reading this blog post might not be enough.
I work with my coaching clients on changing their beliefs often, and sometimes they can be stubborn to shift.
Sometimes – but not always.
Often, simply an awareness of the existence of a limiting belief can be enough to create the change you’re looking for…
You might think that your beliefs are unchangeable.
But what about Santa or the Tooth Fairy? People change their beliefs all the time.
You might think that your beliefs are based on facts.
But you are the only person on the planet with your particular set of beliefs, they are uniquely yours. Do you think that you alone are right and everyone else is wrong?
By the way, all of the statements above are beliefs in themselves. 🙂
For any belief you have and assume is based on fact there’s as much evidence for the opposite being true. Some people find this hard to accept. That’s how wars start.
Now I don’t want to enter into a religious or political argument here. Let’s just focus on the beliefs you have about yourself and your music.
What beliefs do you hold about you and your music?
Do you believe that you can’t make a living in the music industry any more? Do you believe it’s much harder to get heard than it used to be? Do you believe you’re getting too old? Do you believe you don’t yet know enough to finish a tune worth releasing? Do you believe you’re not as talented as your musical heroes?
Even if they’re positive, whatever your beliefs are about you and your music, list them all.
Now next to the beliefs that are stopping you or slowing you down write a big red cross. Go on, even if you think they’re “true”.
With those “red cross beliefs”, come up with another that still works for you, something that you could still believe, but which helps you, not hinders you.
So for instance, instead of “it’s not possible to make a living in the music industry any more” you could alter it to “for someone with the right attitude and planning the music industry is more wide open than it’s ever been”.
Remember, for any belief you hold, there is as much evidence for the opposite (or pretty much any other) view.
So once you’ve written the new belief down, keep your mind open and your eyes peeled for evidence to back it up. When you notice that evidence, just make a mental note of it.
And (whether you believe it or not) you will be amazed at how much evidence there is to back up your new belief!
The starting point of this post was how to focus and avoid distractions, but in reality beliefs go way deeper than that.
Yes, changing your beliefs will stop you distracting yourself, but changing your beliefs will also cause you to make different choices. This could completely change the course of your life.
So if you’re completely content, happy and don’t want change – please feel free to ignore this post.
But if you have a suspicion that you could do more, do better and even make what you dream of a reality, start thinking about how you could change your beliefs.
Since I started coaching music producers, the understanding I’ve gained about beliefs and how they affect your choices and permeate your life has been one of my biggest “ahas”. It’s also completely revolutionised my life.
When I realised that I had the power to change my beliefs left me wondering why I had I held so many beliefs that were holding me back.
And the realisation that most of my beliefs weren’t based on fact, but on what I chose to notice and focus on, allowed me to change many of my own limiting beliefs. This has improved my life and the lives of my family immeasurably.
Because if discover your beliefs are not based on fact and you can change them, why believe something that stops you? Why not believe something that will help you instead?
This is part 9 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”.