How do I stay motivated through COVID-19?
As a creative and entrepreneur, COVID-19 has had interesting effects on my craft as a musician. Obviously, we are unable to travel or perform at many of our usual venues. This can cause a lot of musicians and creatives to lose motivation. I do believe we must be open to evolving, or we will find ourselves out of touch, and with lost motivation.
I would like to share just a few tips on how I stay motivated, and hope if you are in a place of low motivation, it will help you to be re-motivated to reach your goals.
1. Outline Goals- In order to achieve something; we must first define what our end goal is to be. As a recording artist, the goal may be to complete an album, achieve Billboard success, and have high streaming numbers. Whatever the goal is, write it down. Habakkuk 2:2 says to Write the vision and make it plain so they may read it and run on. In other words, write your vision/goals down so anyone (even yourself) can read it and get to work.
2. Maintain Positivity- During COVID-19, or any other disastrous event, it can be very easy to be negative. We are unable to attend restaurants, churches, conventions, meetings, or even school. It is very easy to see these facts and lose hope. However, we must keep the vision in mind. Think about new ways to reach your goals even with a worldwide plague going on.
3. Stay Organized/Deadlines- I wont lie, being organized is something I struggle with. However, it is a must when trying to stay motivated. There is nothing worse than sitting down to complete a task and you can not find the paper on which you wrote brand new ideas. Get yourself an iPad or use the note app on your phone for ideas so you don’t lose papers. Utilize your calendar in your phone, or use a huge dry erase board in your home office.
Also, make your deadlines! If something is due to your team, make sure you get it to them ahead of the deadline. The worst thing to do is tell your team you will have something ready for them and you are late with your deadline which puts them into a rush
4. Remove Distractions- This is something you will have to use your best judgment for. What is a distraction to me, may not be one for you. For some it is Social Media. For some it may be friends who always want to go out. For some it may be Video Games. You know what your distractions are, and I know what mine are. Limit them and it will help you stay motivated.
5. Stay In the Zone- Anyone who has ever played a sport knows what this means. When you’re in the zone, no one, or no outside force can stop you from success. Every now and then, get in the zone with writing, music or whatever your area is and you will look down and see you’ve gotten so much work done and wont even remember doing it all.
6. Have Fun- You should have fun doing what you’re doing! It is OK for it to feel like work—after all it is work. Music is work. Once I realized that, I got better. You have to work at it -- practice, study, ask questions, all that. It is work, but it is fun work! If you’re no longer having fun at your craft, it may be time to pick up something else, or find new goals to reach.
These are just a few ways I stay motivated. I would love to hear from you. What are YOU working on? What ways are you staying motivated?
KEEP CREATING!
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