I recently published a new video called “What’s Stopping You From Achieving Your Creative Goals” with the aim of motivating people to get crafty!
It doesn’t matter whether you’re thinking of becoming a silversmith, a videographer, a guitar maker or even a horror writer – as creative people we are frequently faced with psychological hurdles that stop us from doing our thing.
I am victim to these hurdles more than anyone but I want to share with you what keeps me going and how you can motivate yourself to carry on and take action!
What’s Stopping You From Achieving Your Goals?
I am close friends with many unbelievably talented people and whenever I get into conversations about creative projects that aren’t getting off the ground there are four hurdles that seem to crop up nearly every time.
No Time
This is common but I consider it an excuse. You have plenty of time and if you think you don’t then find some! Stop playing Xbox everyday, stop wasting time in front of the TV, stay in one or two Friday night’s a month and you’ll be surprised how much extra time you can find to work on your project!
No Money
This again is the same as “not having enough time”, it’s an excuse. Stop buying crap you don’t need to make yourself feel better, make your own dinners instead of eating takeaways, don’t go to the pub as often or even just commit a few hundred pounds to making your dream a reality!
Fear of failure/not being perfect
This is a big one. Many artists, creators and musicians have a fear of being judged or disappointed in themselves if their work doesn’t come out perfect. This sucks and you need to get over it!
When I was growing up my mum told me a story about Thomas Edison. Edison tried thousands of times to make a working light bulb and when asked how it felt to fail so many times, he said:
“I haven’t failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work!”
Failure is critical to success and your brain learns a great deal from making mistakes! You will and you must make mistakes so just deal with it.
Not enough knowledge/skill
In 2016 I believe that it is possible to learn a basic knowledge on just about any subject from the internet! There are millions of generous content creators who pump out information and it is all at your finger tips!
There’s also a strong possibility that you are much more talented than the average person at what you do and you have way more than enough skill to make your passion into a business.
Have confidence in your ability!
What to Do To Overcome Your Hurdles
Pareto’s law or the 80/20 rule states that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your actions so what are the few things you can do to get your creative project off the ground?
In my opinion any successful business is built on 80% psychology and 20% mechanics so the first and most immediate thing you can do is develop a positive mental game.
To do this I would recommend reading, or even better listening to audiobooks while you craft! Some people think that self help books are total cheese but there are a few books that have really changed my life!
Anything by Gary Vaynerchuck and Tony Robbins
or classics like “Think and Grow Rich” are just a few I’d recommend.
Then…when the force is strong with you: START!
Find some time and take action! Chances are you won’t get it right first time but you have to start somewhere and you will thank yourself in a years time!
The moment you put yourself out there the chances are that you’ll receive many compliments and encouragement from your friends, family and the world at large. This may be the boost that you need to dedicate more time and money to turn your passion into profit!
I hope this has been helpful and you are inspired to achieve your creative goals! If you liked this post then share it and subscribe to my Youtube channel for more #makermotivation!
