There is a way of structuring thinking that can be useful for the prolific musician. This also works well for many other endeavors such as career progress, fitness, or hobbies. The thinking structure is connected with creating goals and achieving those goals. The prolific musician has lofty dreams that they accomplish through decisive and consistent action. First they must establish and refine the dream or dreams into a specific target to shoot for. How can they make progress if they do not know where they are going? They must then take decisive and consistent action every day to move closer to achieving those dreams.
Dream mode is absolutely critical for the prolific musician. The most widely known creatives dream big. They have visions of future creations that not only inspire and drive them to succeed, but also inspire those around them. If one does not have their own dreams, they’ll spend their whole lives working towards the dreams of others. A prolific musician connects their heart to their dreams and leads themselves and others towards a world in which those dreams are realized. For musicians, the dream may be to compose a masterpiece that perfectly captures their emotions. Or to perform in front of others and share those emotions with the world.
If there is one lofty dream, there could be many smaller goals that build towards the overarching dream. For example, if a person wanted to start performing live and meeting other creatives as a singer songwriter, they would first need to accomplish smaller goals. First, they need to buy a guitar. If they cannot afford a guitar, maybe they first need to save up enough money for a cheap starter guitar. Next they need to start learning how to play the guitar and sing. This could involve lessons, which also require money, or lots of YouTube videos and disciplined action. Next they need to write a song to perform. Lastly, they need to find a place, perhaps a local open mic, to perform and actually go, sign up, and play! Below is a picture of this example in a dream pyramid. It takes a lofty dream and breaks it down into specific and actionable goals.
A lofty dream can be overwhelming if one tries to leap directly towards it and expect immediate results. Ed Sheeran did not become a master song writer in a day. He wrote hundreds of songs first. There was a time in his life that he has no instrument and no ability to sing or write music. He built those skills over time.
Charles Bradley spent his entire life performing James Brown covers. His dreams and love for music kept him going despite not realizing any widespread or commercial success. At the age of 62 he released his first album and shared his immense talent, passion, and emotion with the world.
The next critical part of the equation for the prolific musician is action! Specifically, decisive and consistent action in the direction of your overarching dream. In order to have decisive action, one needs to know where their going! The dream needs to be there! Otherwise that action could lead in circles.
On the flip side of that equation, how many people are big dreamers, but take no decisive or consistent action to achieve those dreams? The music world is full of examples of this. The musician that is unable to take action complains that they want to be famous, they want a record label to swoop in and pull them out of the grind, they want to play to a sold out crowd in a stadium. But how many actually wake up every day and have the discipline to take the necessary action consistently to achieve those dreams? Hardly any. How many dubstep artists want to play to massive crowds at music festivals like Skrillex? One year Skrillex played 363 shows. There are 365 days in a year! How much work and sacrifice did playing that many shows take? A hell of a lot! How many people dream big but then have no comprehension of exactly how much work and consistent action is needed to get to that level? Before Ed Sheeran wrote chart topping singles and albums, he wrote hundreds of terrible songs. And after he wrote his 244th song that did not achieve commercial success he wrote his 245th song. Then his 246th. And so on. After achieving commercial success he continues to write with the same tenacity. Only a fraction of the songs he writes ever get released to the public.
This way of thinking has been transformative in focusing my time and energy towards my goals. I hope you find it useful in your endeavors!
Musical Motivation 