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MY⚡️Feature
featured piece of advice for creatives and creative leaders
What You Can Control
As a creative person it’s easy to feel helpless. We have so little control over how the world reacts to what we create. We really never know what song will be a hit, what logo will be iconic, or what story will resonate with the masses.
And yet, so often, we build our creative goals around the outcomes that we can’t control. We set goals around a certain number of streams of our new song, or a certain number of views of our new short-film, or a certain number of reads or shares on our new blog post. Those goals aren’t intrinsically bad. They can even be helpful and reveal valuable things to us about our work, but we really have very little control over them.
Additionally, so much of the creative world is controlled by gate keepers and algorithms that can literally make it impossible to create something with the full confidence that it’s going to yield a desired outcome.
I recently saw a clip of the incredible record producer, Rick Rubin, in which he states that when we as creative people like something enough that we want to share it with the world, that is the win.
That post got me thinking about fresh ways to set goals in our lives as creative people that focus more on input rather than outcome. It’s fine to have dreams and goals about millions of streams, winning oscars, creating an iconic logo for an iconic brand, or writing the cover article for Rolling Stone. Those things motivate us, they cause us to dream and that’s important, but we have to begin with goals set around what can control.
Let’s say you have a dream to win a grammy award. Well, you’re going to need to release music, which means you need to record music, which means you need to write music. And not just any music. You need to write music that you love and believe in. While you really can’t control if you win a grammy or not, you can control whether or not you record and release music that you love and want to share with the world.
So set goals around THAT.
If you want to release a record in 2 years, then set a goal to write 40 songs in the next 18 months, take your favorite 12, make that record in 2 months, then you have 4 months left to plan the release.
So, if you want to write 40 songs in 18 months then that is a little more than 2 songs a month, which is one song every 2 weeks. So, you need to write 1 song you’re excited about every 2 weeks for the next 18 months.
That’s a great place to start.
Set goals that are clear, measurable, and under your control, but that are pointed in the trajectory of your wildest dreams.
MY⚡️Follows
great people to follow on social media
Scotty
(@scottys_art) I discovered Scotty’s art by accident while searching for the work of another artist and I’m really glad I stumbled upon it! His instagram bio says, "Your best teacher is your last mistake: everything I make is a series of mistakes.” Fantastic. His paintings are mostly abstract and surrealist faces and are incredibly interesting and beautiful.
MyFever
(@myfeverband) is an emotional and powerful indie rock/alternative band that I also happen to call great friends. They’ve released a lot of amazing music, but their forthcoming full-length album is their best work yet in my humble opinion. I actually got to co-write and record a track with them on the album and I’m so excited for everyone to hear their incredible work. Give them a follow and check out their current single “Red Sky”.
Joseph Awuah Darko
(@okuntakinte) is an advocate and encourager for all kinds of creatives and creative leaders. His “post-it note” posts are wise, uplifting, and important. He was voted one of Forbes magazines 30 under 30 and he has a website launching soon call Dear Artists, which is built around his inspirational note posts. If you’re a creative person of any kind you will love his account.
MY⚡️Finds
cool stuff I found this week
Daily Rituals
This week a good friend told me about a series of books written by author Mason Currey. The books are about the daily rituals and rhythms of different types of people. I picked up his book “Daily Rituals: How Artists Work”. It includes the daily routines and rituals of people like Ernest Hemingway, Louis Armstrong, Flannery O’Conner, and more. I’m fascinated by the work flow and habits of creative people and this book has been amazing so far!
Tone Gym
Tone Gym is an ear training resources for musicians and singers that uses a game format to help you train your ear to particular pitches and intervals. It’s a free website and fun for every age and every level of musician or vocalist. You can even keep up with your game stats and compare with friends. It’s motivating and super fun!
MY⚡️Favorites
some of my favorite sights, sounds, and reads
Notion
For almost 14 years I was an avid Evernote user, but a little over a year ago a friend turned me on to Notion. It’s more than just a great writing and organizational app, it’s really creative and you can do loads of different things within it. Notion combines incredible features and creative user templates that make it useful for loads of different applications. I use it for songwriting, task management, brainstorming, and more. Even better it’s free!
Super Clips
Ok, ok… hear me out… I know this sounds ridiculous, but I bought these super strong 6 inch clips on Amazon and I use them for so much stuff. They keep my dog’s food bag closed, they keep my air compressor hose in order, and have come in handy several times clipping and carrying multiple bags. Just a simple, helpful tool that I could easily take for granted. Hope you find them helpful as well!
MY⚡️FI Podcast
a podcast about the journey of creativity
Ep. 037 :: Needlz
The newest episode of MYFI Podcast features Grammy award winning, super producer Needlz. He has worked with Bruno Mars, Drake, Lil Wayne, 50cent, and more. Jump in this conversation as we talk about his internship at Bad Boy Entertainment, how a Bruno Mars hit was intended for Adam Levine, and how you can actually watch him work on his upcoming website.
MY⚡️FI Blog
monthly blog for creatives and creative leaders
The Power of Creative Clarity
This month on the blog I share at length about the power of creative clarity and some tips to help you find it. I also share what MYFI is all about and how you can benefit from free resources, one on one coaching, and more. Check out the blog by clicking here.