How to stay motivated to do ALL the things (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star)

This post loosely accompanies Gab & Jam, episode 186, “How to stay motivated to do ALL the things”

(video: https://bit.ly/185motivatedvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/186motivatedpod )

Wow! We kinda think this part is the second MOST important thing after getting started. Hey, if you’re going to get this building your creative empire into full gear, the ONLY thing that can stop you is just fizzling out and not being ready to stick and stay for the long haul. That’s what this post’s all about. If you take these strategies to heart, you will be able to stay buoyant, even when things get tough.

There will be many days when you are not getting “watered”; not getting compliments, not getting feedback, and feeling like, if you’re a tree that’s falling in the forest, you may as well pack up your tent and go home. –Or was that just OUR experience? –Anyway, there are many times when we put work out into the universe that we’re so excited to share, but have to be satisfied that, if you enjoyed creating it, this might have to be enough of a reward. But that’s hard. ESPECIALLY when, as a D.I.Y. Rock Star, you are wearing ALL the hats; you’re the artist, the record producer, the publicist, and the social media manager. The website builder, the photographer….. You get the picture. Here are some ways to keep yourself encouraged to continue to write the songs, get them out, and continually promote them.

This post loosely accompanies Gab & Jam, episode 186,

“How to stay motivated to do ALL the things” (video: https://bit.ly/185motivatedvid and podcast: https://bit.ly/186motivatedpod )

6 Ways to stay motivated to do ALL the things

(for the D.I.Y. Rock Star):

1. Zero in on your purpose (to help you work through ALL parts)

There is NOTHING like knowing where you are TRYING to get to, this will be the LARGEST spark to keep you continuing to do the things that you love and that brought you here. Being a D.I.Y. Rock Star may also mean that you have to gather motivation to do things BEYOND the original creation of the work. For instance, you LOVED writing and recording the song, but putting it out and continuing to promote it might be a struggle—ESPECIALLY because it takes a skill set that is new and more challenging. –AND that’s before we even add in how frustrating it can be, if the promotion that you pushed yourself to do didn’t turn out quite as well as you’d planned. Consider that you have written this wonderful project and that, unless you continue to do your promotion and networking, the person/people who needs to hear it may not. Let THAT help motivate you.

Reasons to create a vision board (for the D.I.Y. Rock Star): http://bit.ly/rockstarvision

2. Document your progress

We say it all the time, but sometimes we need to make note of everything you do—Did you send emails to pitch for playlists? Did you sent out CDs to radio stations? Did you reach out to email folks who are peers in your industry? –Be sure to track all that. Because you will see growth over time, you will realize that every activity builds onto the next and this will motivate you to keep moving forward with those. Bruce compares the way it feels when you’re trying to lose weight. Looking at the scale everyday CAN be discouraging, so maybe NOT looking at the scale each day—but CONTINUING to keep doing what you KNOW will work EVENTUALLY—is the better way to go. If you give yourself some time working ON the activities that YOU can do, so that you allow time for your impact to grow. –One of the things we do from time to time—when we DON’T want to check social media stats!—is to Google our brand, “Prejippie.” Invariably, every time we do that, we see more and more of the impact we’re having, as well as discover new and different parts of what we do that get shared by others without us asking. Needless to say, this gives us an instant boost, even when our social media stats are stagnant elsewhere or—worse yet!—when they are shrinking instead of growing! (More on that in THIS post.) The bottom line is that you will be able to see the positive things that have happened for you, your music, and your brand, because of all the work that you have done, which is rewarding and keeps you motivated to do more.

How did we grow our YouTube to 163k? https://bit.ly/23010ksubsblog

3. Recalibrate your BIG goals regularly

As you travel the path of working on your goals, ask yourself if you still desire that outcome. –In our experience, we have THOUGHT we wanted a major deal, sponsorships, etc., but as we have grown in our own authentic creativity, we’ve been able to see the kind of shit that others who have what we thought we wanted had to put up with. –We’ve had friends with major deals, who cannot make the music that fuels them, but then when the project is a flop, the flop is blamed on you (even though your potential fans never heard the music you naturally make). We’ve seen folks have to cut off associations with certain manufacturers and brands, because they have signed a sponsorship with another brand. Finally, we’ve been offered money to test and endorse a product that we didn’t believe in and that we were afraid might have been hackers trying to steal users’ data. –So, as we were looking around at what we want, we know that we’re not necessarily in the market for ANY opportunity that undercuts our values and the vision for our music, which means we cut quite a bit off our list of opportunities to try for. THIS helps us stay clear and motivated to do the work that it takes to work with—and for—brands and people, and making music for folks that “get us”—and not just sucking up to anybody for anything. Not only does it make the workload lighter, but it gives us a sense of confidence and clarity as we focus on TRULY getting what we want. We ask that you continue to do the same. The more you learn about who you are and what you want, the more you should re-examine what you’re working toward and what work it takes to achieve this newer, re-calibrated goal. This will keep you motivated and focused on getting what is necessary done.

How to start an email list for bands: https://bit.ly/254emaillistfreebie

4. Be grateful for your life (including your gifts, talents, and loved ones)

If you really stop and think about the idea that God has given you ALL you need, so that you can achieve what you want, it will make you NOT feel sorry for yourself, NOT take it out on your loved ones, and NOT despise the life you live. –Believe me, we spent enough time doing that and it solved NOTHING. –It was when we STOPPED looking at what we DIDN’T have and started cherishing what we DO have and CAN do that our creative empire started to grow. –If you have a lifestyle where your bills are paid and you have folks that love you, don’t become so obsessed with achieving your music goals that you forget that “life” is so much bigger than this. –We KNOW it sounds like “Old Dude Wisdom,” but, in life, there are peaks and valleys and that failure is necessary in order to realize success. So, it may be difficult in those moments of perceived failure, but if you learn from it and re-focus yourself, and continue on. –Also, as much as we hate to admit it, loved ones are here NOW, but won’t be forever, so you ONLY get this time with them. Don’t waste the time with them pining over perceived music business failures. Allow yourself to enjoy other things and the people around you, so that when you are ready to re-focus your efforts, you can do so from a place of joy and not of desperation.

Did you know we’re writing a book? https://bit.ly/prejippiebklanding

5. Planning (keeps you doing the “right” things)

We KNOW we’ve probably beat this topic, like it’s a drum, but planning helps keep you on-track toward achieving your big vision. You see what you do is that, when you’re feeling great, you decide on your vision—and set your goals and tasks from that—so that when you’re NOT feeling so great, you have a list of things to work on, come rain or shine. So, just like with weight loss, where you know you want to lose however many pounds total and that it’s going to take however many steps and reps and workouts per week to get there for however long. So, that EVEN when you’re down, you can say I can, at least, do whatever was on that original plan—EVEN if a NOTHING else! What we’ve found is that, even when the day turns out crappy, we feel good when we know we’ve kept our promises to myself by doing whatever was on the list that needed to get done. The great thing about having a plan is that you can work it whether you’re happy or sad. And we KNOWW that this method pays off, because it’s been our daily mantra for the last 7 years. That’s how we stay motivated; we do what needs to get done on a daily/weekly basis and see how the work yield new opportunities, growth, or exposure in new places and to new people.

Do you want a place to share your livestreams and links to your awesome music? http://bit.ly/diyrockstarjoin

6. Try to surround yourself with people on a similar path

Not only can your peers be your role models, but sometimes you can answer questions for one other. –For instance, we have YET to find a solution for ordering band t-shirts, so we are CONSTANTLY asking questions of those who have had t-shirts made. –By having people who share related goals, you will have someone to bounce ideas off of and to share in your victories—ESPECIALLY if that person has a positive mindset. So, whether in person, at workshops or conferences, or online, at webinars, or in Facebook groups—here’s a link to our very own positive, independent artist group—try to find folks who can uplift you in your creative empire-building journey; just as you will encourage them. The way we see it, it will set you BOTH up for more creative success. It will also keep you motivated to do more, try new things, or be enthusiastic about the opportunities out there.

9 Tips for collaborating better: https://bit.ly/Ep163collaborateblog

We KNOW we’ve only scratched the surface of ways to keep that motivation alive, which is why we’ll be curious to hear what YOU do to keep yourself learning what needs to be learned and doing what needs to be done to move your music and your creative empire moving forward.