Be a Better Artist

It's no mystery why we choose short-term pleasure over long-term dedication. The rewards are here, now, guaranteed, and pleasurable. But every time we choose those over our goals and dreams, we delay our arrival to them. In this episode I propose some ideas of how to stick to those long-term goals, and how one might even learn to get pleasure and happiness out of the process of pursuing them.

I've been disappointed in my performance lately. I've fallen out of habits that have previously been very lucrative for me. And I miss those days. But I know not to take it too heavily, because falling off the horse happens all the time. That's just life. What matters the most, is learning how to get back on. And a big part of that is setting up your day strategically. By simply designing your day in ways that you find inherently motivating and complementary, you get so much more done, and reserve your willpower for the moments when you absolutely need it.

The biggest hurdle when facing an obstacle often is that we refuse to accept what's in front of us. We didn't expect it, it makes us uncomfortable, or it doesn't fit our inner narrative of what we think 'should' be happening. It's this refusal to accept whatever's there that stunts our growth. We always think it's going to be something different. We think this is not what things are supposed to look like. But life will always be like that. Reality is complex and unpredictable. In this episode, I offer a mindset and strategy that assists you in facing whatever comes your way.

Financial stress is still stress, and a very strong one at that, as money has a hand in almost everything. As we talked about in the previous episode, stress puts you in survival-mode, and that will make accessing creativity increasingly difficult. In this episode, I share some of my basic concepts of how I think about money and expenses, and how those relate to pursuing a creative career as a musician. The information in this episode is not financial advice. I am not a financial expert. I am simply sharing my own experiences and story. Always consult a professional when seeking financial help.

When real life bears down upon you.. When you struggle to find time and energy for music.. Working on it can feel more like a depressing reminder of what you can't have, and it's very easy to feel overwhelmed and consider just ditching music altogether. But of course, I won't let you do that. In this episode we touch on a number of topics, but primarily focus on defining, categorising, and prioritising your goals so that you get CLARITY and CONTROLLABILITY back into your own musical journey.

Real life can be hard and taxing. You get home from work, and you don't have any juice left to fire up the DAW and get to work. We've all been there. It's a tricky beast to figure out. But we CAN do so much about this. In this episode, I lay out some fundamental perspectives and concepts for you to brew and contemplate on regarding your mental energy.

There are several theories of 'How to make it in music' out there. Some say you have to tread your own path, some say you have to study others in order to be able to figure out how to succeed. In this episode we inspect both perspectives, and in fact explore why you should explore and integrate BOTH approaches to your career as an artist.

Sensitivity is what allows artists to pick up information and patterns that they can leverage to create their art. But if your art isn't currently producing you any financial or other benefits, your view of sensitivity can turn on you, seeing it more as a curse and a burden. In this episode we talk about how that's not true, and how every single trait in us is a double-edged sword.

We've all been there. Sitting in front of the computer or our instrument, and feeling frustrated, hopeless, useless, or all of the above.

Worry not, there's a solution. There's always a solution!

https://beabetterartist.com/

Artists are notoriously known for their instability and turbulent emotional life. But why exactly is that, can something be done about it, and why would you WANT to do something about it?

https://beabetterartist.com/