Do You Need To Motivate Yourself? |
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Do You Need To Motivate Yourself? |
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Aug 7 2015, 09:50 AM |
I was reading an old thread earlier today about avoiding complacency and retaining conviction in what we do. It makes me think about the idea of motivation behind doing something like writing a song or just picking up the guitar for a jam.
We nearly always associate writing music with the need to be motivated. We often picture motivation as something that needs to be acquired, not something that we just have. The only times we need to motivate ourselves are the times where we're not feeling it. The mood isn't right, our head is somewhere else, maybe we just don't feel like writing anything but we force ourselves to do something. How do we motivate ourselves when we just don't feel like doing it? We could make ourselves focus on the positive rewards we will reap from doing something. It could be as simple as "If I write this song, I'll have something new to upload to Youtube and I'll feel good" etc.. Or you could go the other way and use the forces of darkness! You could allow yourself to acknowledge the negative consequences of not doing something. "If I don't start working on this I'll feel even worse about myself" or "If I don't finish this project I won't make my rent payments this month." Negative consequences can be a very powerful motivator. But these scenarios deal with making oneself motivated. This usually comes about because we're not inspired. If we're not inspired then we're not motivated to act on an idea. Therefore we have to conjure the motivation out of thin air. I find the force to act is a lot different this way but can still produce unexpectedly great results. I find that a lot of the time, motivation doesn't really come into because we act without thinking. Sometimes you just pick up the guitar, play and something good happens. You're in the right mood, no external pressure. It all comes together and you just lay some brilliant stuff down. In those cases, does it ever feel like you had to motivate yourself? Did motivation even come into it? I doubt it. What you felt is pure inspiration but it was effortless. Sure, the inspiration motivates you to act on an idea but the issue of motivation itself isn't felt nearly as much as if you were not inspired and had to motivate yourself, like the scenarios described earlier - is that making any sense?? When it feels right, it just happens. No motivation needed, the inspiration is the motivator. When it feels harder (don't even go there...) you have to dig deeper for a reason to act. Either way, both situations can produce great art - creation is an amazing process and more people should experience its rewards. Just act - one note, one brush stroke, one word at a time. Just that little action means you've created more than you had a few seconds ago and that is something to feel good about. This post has been edited by Ben Higgins: Aug 7 2015, 09:50 AM |
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Aug 7 2015, 11:24 AM |
So true Ben So many times when I'm not forcing myself to make a new riff or lick up and just relaxing is when something awesome comes along
-------------------- Tomislav
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Aug 7 2015, 05:41 PM |
A long time ago I was motivated just by the guitar itself.
Now, I generally need a 'project' to get me to pick it up. Not always but most of the time. Said project may lead me to working on unrelated music. It usually does. So, I've learned that in order to get motivated on my own - I need to fake a task. -------------------- - Ken Lasaine
https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/foolin-the-clouds https://soundcloud.com/klasaine2/surfin-at-the-country-hop Soundcloud assorted ... https://soundcloud.com/klasaine3 New record ... http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kenlasaine Solo Guitar ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...5iIdO2tpgtj25Ke Stuff I'm on ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXZh...b-dhb-4B0KgRY-d |
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Aug 26 2015, 10:37 AM |
-------------------- My SoundCloud
Gear Tyler Burning Water 2K Burny RLG90 with BK Emeralds Fender US Tele with BK Piledrivers Epiphone 335 with Suhr Thornbuckers PRS SE Custom 24-08 Ax8 Fessenden SD10 PSG Quilter TT15 |
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