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How To Focus And Ignore Distractions Easily

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.

What I’m Not Going To Do Here…

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.

The Source Of All Distractions

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?”

The C Word

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?

The Foolproof Procrastination Cure

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.

Quiet Your Internal Critic

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.

A Word Of Caution

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…

Changing Your Beliefs

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 Do You Believe?

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 Power Of Your Beliefs

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”.

Filed Under: Featured Post Tagged With: creative flow, limiting beliefs, self-limiting beliefs

How can I help you?

Claude VonStroke (Dirty Bird, USA)

Mike Monday’s process has helped me enormously. I have two record labels, a heavy touring schedule, a wife and two children, and a music production career all running in tandem. There are times when it seems unmanageable and i get lost in a downward spiral that limits my effectiveness as a leader and my ability to be creative in the studio.

Whenever i have a session with Mike we talk it all out and a sense of calm comes over me. i get back to basics and work out all the things in my head that need to get worked out. His process is both calming and therapeutic.

I would also like to add that the additional fact that Mike is a music producer himself and a veteran DJ lends itself to an extra level of trust. I don’t think i would take advice or listen to someone in the same way who was from outside the music industry. In an nutshell I find Mike Monday’s process to be an extremely valuable way to organize and free my chaotic brain to do what it is supposed to be doing.

Johnson Peterson (Yolanda Be Cool)

“I found the time with Mike to be extremely beneficial. His process opened me up to ideas that, even where obvious, I had overlooked or forgotten and I am looking forward to taking them with me to the studio. It was definitely worth it.”

Janelle Palmer (Tutukaka Coast, New Zealand)

“What your course has done for me has been remarkable and I really feel so grateful to you…

Radical is a good word for it! The most unexpected thing I’ve found about the course is the impact it has had on other areas of my life – I was quite surprised about that…

These are definitely transferable skills we are learning here!”

– Janelle Palmer (Tutukaka Coast, New Zealand)

Brett Adams (Los Angeles, California)

“I already think this is one of the greatest decisions I’ve made, and we haven’t even started the curriculum yet.”

Vernon McCarthy (Wellington, New Zealand)

“I just felt inspired to send you a really quick message to say hello and let you know that I am going great guns at the moment.

Managing to get a average of two hours every day producing. This is a huge turn around for me and am loving it. It hasn’t been easy though but I have kept at it.

And much of it has been due to the help and inspiration from yourself, the group and me now actually putting in the work. The online community is such a good thing. Everytime I have gone to have a look I have found something relevant to my thoughts and that has helped me.”

Joe Roberts (London, UK)

“Mike has helped me to start living the truism that it’s not what you use to make music, it’s your ideas.

Those ideas only mean anything when you start putting them down though and that’s what this course has already helped me to start do regularly.

I’ve made more headway in two weeks than I’d managed in a couple of years on my own starting projects, then giving up and starting something new but never seeing them through till completion.”

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