The Secret to Getting Motivated

Today I want to share with you a very powerful and simple technique that will help you get motivated to making more music. This can be used in pretty much any area of your life, but I want to focus on how it can help you both in the studio and as a musician. 

If you have any decent amount of experience recording music, mixing, mastering, or songwriting, then you have probably struggled at some point and time with being motivated. You want to make good music but you just don't feel like it. Maybe it's just the thought of having to set up all the gear or spend your one day off doing more work. Whatever the reason, there are times where it is just simply difficult to get motivated. 

Now I want to share with you how you can overcome that. 

Commit to one small task. 

I'd be willing to say that 90% of the time, the reason we aren't motivated is because we are blowing up the project in our mind to this huge ordeal that has to all get done at this very moment. Let's say you want to record a song. You are probably thinking about how you've got to recording guitars, bass, drums, vocals, do multiple takes, etc., and of course that seems like a daunting task! Therefore you get unmotivated to do so, and never start. 

The key is to commit to one very small part of your project and do that. 

When I say a small part, I mean a small part. As small as you need it to be. Maybe it's just setting up the microphones and that's it. Commit to that. Maybe it's just setting up the mixing template and importing the files. Commit to that. No matter how small, just commit to what your motivation will allow and do that.

What you will find is pretty amazing. One of two things will happen. Either A) You will just do that small task and still be farther along than you would have without it, or B) You will get mentally involved in the project and find the motivation you need to keep going. 

I can't tell you how many times when I've just dedicated to starting a very small part of a project, I end up doing far more than I intended to. I'm not sure why this little mental "hack" works, but it does. I've seen this work for many people, not just myself. I think it's because we don't feel like we have to do anymore since we haven't committed to it, and therefore we are able to do more in a pressure free mental state. 

All you have to do is commit to one small task. Do that and you will either be farther along than you were before, or find more motivation to keep going.