Simple Reminders for when You Get Distracted from your Creative Mission
What I’ve learned from being a multi-interested creator & outdoor explorer
“Pick a tree big and lush, use it as a paintbrush.
Paint that sunset on the sky, the red sun an open eye.”
-Line from my song The Consequences and the Process
So you have a creative mission in your life but you constantly postpone working on it.
Maybe you tell yourself you will give it more attention when you have a better set of life circumstances.
Perhaps you start working on your creative mission but quickly lose momentum and stop taking action on it because living your life gets in the way.
You have obligations and responsibilities that you convince yourself are more important than working on that creative mission that fulfills your sense of purpose in life.
Whatever prevents us from pursuing our creative endeavors, it just seems like there is never enough time to focus, never the right environment, and never the right mood.
This stems from life circumstances that we mold our beliefs and mindset around.
List of real-world excuses for not working on your creative projects:
You had a stressful, busy week at your job
Other priorities matter too (like exercising or socializing to de-stress from work)
You have to help friends or family
Your friends say let’s do shots and you say yes
Your work drains all your energy by taking your focus during your peak creative hours
You want to say Yes to everything so you don’t miss out on life
This kind of dilemma exists in an infinite number of variations for people.
It is a common problem and likely most of us who have aspirations for improving our life circumstances and creative output experience it in some way.
There’s always something we wish we could devote more time to. Some practice or activity to devote more time and energy towards. Something that gives us meaning. Those endeavors that would enrich our life experiences and deepen our sense of fulfillment from life.
My personal experience with the creative struggle
For me this dilemma of consistent devotion to my creative endeavors runs deep. I have large goals in the realms of online business, artistic expression and outdoor travel & recreation. I want to say yes to everything that sounds like a fun or enriching experience.
It’s not a bad thing to want to experience a lot. The problems arise in our relationship with time and productive action. It can be difficult to trust that things will happen and manifest over a prolonged time period.
I expect quick results and have a vast curiosity. This can distract me from remaining consistent on any one activity for a long enough period of time to get results and grow.
I don’t like closing off possibilities or opportunities. I want to experience the realization of my endeavors from the level of seasoned expert. In short, I dream big.
My problem is I am an INFT-J personality type. I become distraught when I don’t feel aligned with my life purpose.
If you haven’t taken your personality test or read about it in depth, take the free test at 16personalities.com.
You will learn a lot about your values, your productivity, your emotional triggers, and what you need to do in life to feel fulfilled.
Personally I don’t transition well from work task to personal creative task. I tell myself if I had just gotten the art right from the get go, I’d be getting paid for something I thoroughly care about and enjoy doing.
This is not a mindset that encourages working towards a solution to any creative impasse I experience. It does not focus on doing the work.
In truth, I have to be creating. Taking the actions of putting words on a page. Producing a video. Practicing and sharing music.
I used to forget about the process. The steps and stages of the journey. I based my satisfaction on the end result. This sent me bouncing from task to task without ever putting the finishing touches on anything and checking it off my to-do list.
This clearly is not the way to get things done.
Last week in the realm of creative production I wanted to accomplish these things:
-do the email marketing, project management & video editing tasks for my day job
-write the next edition of my newsletter
-publish the newsletter as a blog post
-turn the newsletter into tweets and linkedin posts and schedule them
-shoot the newsletter as a YouTube video
-edit the YouTube video with b-roll stock footage
-edit the YouTube video into shorts to repurpose as reels and shorts
-shoot some episodes of my Whats my Nitch? reels series
-edit the episodes
-make updates to my website
-work on writing my next book
-read the chapter and do the exercises in an artist recovery book I’m studying
My thought process went like this:
From a practical view, since my day job pays my bills, that work takes priority (unless I’m on a roll with my own creation and I know I can finish my day job work on time for my team later).
In my heart and soul my priority is working on my book because that’s what fulfills me the most. I see the non-fiction book I’m working on about the creative struggle as something I have to write to release important emotional blockages. This would move me on to a greater phase of creative productivity.
You’d think if I just wanted to write novels, screenplays, and play music more regularly, I could just do that. Yet to embrace the full magnitude of those creative desires, I have a desire to also create a profitable online business that frees up my time and schedule to work on those creative endeavors with greater focus and more resources.
In my past this used to be the opposite. I prioritized creative endeavors over work. What happened was I experienced periods of financial strife and time management stress when the inevitable need for consistent cash flow struck.
I stopped making my artistic projects my priority and only focused on work that brought me money but did not fulfill my soul. I started to believe that’s the way money was made.
To get out of this creative rut and believe that artistic creation was possible again I had to examine the disappointments in my life experiences that formed the basis of my limiting beliefs about what was possible.
I talk all about this in one of my latest letters Rising from a Creative Rut.
Once I had reframed my beliefs about how I could spend my time, I needed to be methodological about how I devoted time to each project. I accepted that not all of these things would happen at once. There would need to be creative seasons where I transition from one big project to the next.
I needed to pick one main project or two to remain consistent at. For me what made the most sense was working on building an online business where I teach and coach other creators how to work on their creative mission while working on my book when I could. I wanted to focus on consistent habits of creation and showing up for my creativity. Occasionally, I pick up the guitar too.
So realistically one could say that you can get your day job’s work done AND work on a creative project in your freetime. The problem for me is that I LOVE my freetime, and also derive a massive source of inspiration and purpose from recreating and exploring in the outdoors and socializing with people when I can. (My personality test said I am 81% introverted but when I do get out, I thrive on social interaction).
So last week, in addition to the extracurricular tasks of working on my business and book, I also had these experiences on my radar:
-I wanted to backcountry snowboard a Mountain on the edge of Canyonlands in Utah before the snow melted too much
-I got invited to a camping desert disco party for a friend’s birthday on the Green River
-I wanted to canyoneer a canyon with a friend
-the following weekend I had a wedding party for two friends in Durango, CO
-there was another backcountry snowboard trip to do with a friend who was in town
I don’t like missing out on life experiences, especially when I am in the prime of my life. These are all activities that make life-long memories.
Even though I had a lot of content work to do beyond my job, I don’t want to remove myself from other passions and hobbies that fulfill me. Here I snowboarded a mountain above the Canyonlands of Utah.
In addition to all this here are the things I want to be doing weekly for my health:
-morning workouts
-yoga classes once or twice a week, at-home yoga everyday
-play music with other musicians
-read books
-cook healthy meals
-practice shooting my compound bow and arrow
-if there’s time study the storytelling techniques in a movie or series
Obviously this is A LOT to do in a week.
Naturally there will be tasks that get ignored, neglected, or postponed.
I make sure I get in workouts and eat healthy meals everyday.
Sometimes the other desires don’t happen.
I admit I am still a work in progress.
There are times I have to sacrifice things I want. I postpone the endeavors and wait for a more opportune time.
This creates the need to really visualize the process of achieving what I want.
If I want consistent cash flow, I have to work my day job consistently each week for now.
If I want to make money from my own online information/education business someday, I have to build. I have to post consistently on social media to share value and build an audience and email list.
If I want to write another book, I have to carve out time to write consistently.
If I want to recreate outdoors, or take a roadtrip, or socialize, I have to plan ahead and get the priority tasks done ahead of time so I can thoroughly enjoy the fun.
I published my YouTube video before the trip, scheduled a few reels, tweets, and LinkedIn carousels to be published while I was away, had a writing session on my book, and told myself I’d have to be extra productive the following week to get ahead on video production and make some progress on the book.
To continue making progress towards realizing all these projects and activities I want to do, I have to choose the priority goals and work at them consistently.
I do this until I reach a milestone where sustaining that work becomes easier, or I finalize a project and move on to the next.
This can be stressful because you don’t want other things that are important to you to suffer. Trust your intuition about what is most important and then go for it. Anything that you are meant to work on will come back around in time.
Also bear in mind that you may change in the midst of this process and your priorities may shift with what you create, learn, and experience. That is okay. The key is to remain adaptable and always work to have clarity over your objectives and your creative time.
How to avoid getting distracted from your creative mission
Once you have clarity over your creative mission, the thing that is going to move it forward the most is showing up consistently to work on it. Block out time in your week. Even if it it just 10-15 minutes to start, that is okay. You are developing habits of showing up for your creative project and that is always worth it.
There are a plethora of tasks, events, and excuses that could distract you from showing up. This happens all too much with writing my next book.
I get frustrated. I blame external causes.
Sometimes I blame myself for choosing to do something else with my time. Yet if I get to snowboard a backcountry mountain or hang with some cool people, I don’t regret it. Life is meant to be lived and I am grateful I can do the things I enjoy.
The trick is not being too hard on yourself. If you miss a writing session, don’t dwell on how upset you are that you missed it. Don’t make statements that say it’s just too hard to show up with your current life circumstances. That will create limiting beliefs that will take root in your subconscious and inhibit your productive abilities.
Just show back up and keep working on it.
The Motivational Triad
It is natural that we get distracted. The human mind is a curious thing and we are designed to follow the motivational triad within the study of evolutionary psychology.
The motivational triad maps our survival instincts.
The motivational triad shows the three categories of survival instincts that control humans and animals actions or inactions.
Our reasons for not doing something or for doing the wrong thing stem from one of these reasons or a combination of them.
Unless we become disciplined in consistently showing up for our creative projects, we will always become distracted by one of these three things.
Avoid pain- sometimes buckling down and working on a creative project stirs up trauma from past disappointments so instead of working on it we neglect it so we can avoid the pain.
Conserve energy- Life is exhausting. Work, relationships, exercise, socializing, not taking enough time for our own wellbeing, all take a toll on our energy.
Replenishing our energy requires conserving energy. When our days are already super busy and exhausting, why would we lend more energy to a creative project when we are already doing what’s required to survive (work job and pay bills)?
Seek pleasure- Life gets stressful and so naturally we want to seek instant pleasure as much as possible. We may choose socializing, netflix, or outdoor recreation over working on a creative project because it gives us instant pleasure. This feels good and eases our stress.
Avoid pain. Conserve your energy. Seek pleasure.
All of these considerations are valid and we shouldn’t forget the importance of avoiding pain, conserving energy, and seeking pleasure but we need to find the right routines for our own individual levels of creative output.
Often this involves at least confronting a little bit of pain up front. Your tolerance improves over time because you learn to manage your reaction to that pain, which conserves your energy.
You begin to realize how to get the most amount of work done with the least amount of energy.
With control over your energy and your pain tolerance, you begin to find more opportunities to seek pleasure, not only in life’s simple joys but in the work that you contribute your creative forces to.
If you want to bring a creative mission to life, you need to learn to manage the motivations of avoiding pain, conserving energy, and seeking pleasure and find a system that works for you. A system where you can still accomplish the work required of your creative mission.
You still need to avoid long-term damaging pain, energy drains that inhibit your work output, and find the bits of pleasure that you can do without for short periods of time.
For example with avoiding pain, I often choose to read instead of write because I know it will be easier.
Writing is hard and makes me think and dig into my subconscious depths. Yet I know that if I avoid writing it will perpetuate my pain of having slacked on my creative mission.
I can endure a little discomfort (pain) by opening my word document even when I’m not in the perfect mood for it and convert thoughts to words on the page by thinking and typing. I can prioritize showing up at the times I know I am in the best mental, emotional, and physical state to work on my creative designs.
Conserving energy is a challenging one. Sometimes I get done with a full day’s work editing videos and programming emails for my day job, and I absolutely DO NOT want to keep staring into a computer. I want to get outside and unravel my eyes upon the mountains across the valley and the clouds floating above them.
Digital burnout is a real thing and not healthy. So I work with what I have. I try to get up early and write a little bit before work. Then I take a break and make breakfast or step outside for some fresh air over a tea or coffee.
Next, I get back to work and try to take brain breaks throughout the day. If I manage my focus well, I usually have some energy left before bed to work on stuff like shooting my videos and editing them or get a little more writing in.
This involves making some sacrifices. So I try to minimize my socializing during the week so I can get my tasks done.
I trust that my life will not always be this way and perhaps someday I’ll be able to outsource my video editing or other time-consuming tasks. This way I can focus on what matters most to me like the concepts and ideas I write and narrate in my videos (the content creation itself).
Having a positive belief about what you are working towards helps a lot. I believe that one day after being consistent at this for a while I will develop systems, acquire more help, and be able to get out more during the week to go on a hike, play music with friends, attend more yoga classes or whatever I want.
This leads to seeking pleasure. I’m a hedonist by nature. I am addicted to pleasure. Snowboarding, hiking, learning paragliding, exploring, soaking in hot springs, traveling, meeting people, playing music all sounds like a great use of time to me and I want to do these things to the best of my ability.
I admit my creative output is drastically affected by the fact that I am a hedonist by nature and addicted to seeking pleasure in outdoor experiences.
It is the tiny, forgettable instant pleasures that I seek while I am trying to work that I can do without. I procrastinate and look at instagram on my phone. I message friends at unnecessary times. These things are not evil, but I need to manage them and do them at the appropriate times with respect to my creative obligations to myself.
I try to cut down on phone time during the work day, and stay as focused as possible for given focus blocks where I crank out my work for my day job or my own content publications. I set the intention of what I will work on and try my hardest to not let any other task pull my focus until I reach the end of the time block or the end of the task.
At the end of a long work day I often choose to go on a walk instead of write. This is pleasurable to me and relaxes my mind and body. I see it as an important pleasure for survival because it is good for my health. Mood management really has to be the primary deciding factor of your longevity in life.
I realize there are ways to improve the productivity of my evenings even when this time is a major call for seeking pleasure.
I see there is opportunity to squeeze extra workouts, yoga or creative bouts into the fabric of my spacetime.
I trust it will all come together as long as I keep intending, writing, and moving my body and mind.
Making time for your creative mission
To make more time to work on your creative mission, you need to balance how you manage avoiding pain, conserving energy, and seeking pleasure.
We must strive to make a time management system for our projects and work endeavors that serves our lifestyle and our bursts of creative focus.
This will not happen all at once.
The process of creation is not instant.
The pyramids weren’t built in a day.
Novels aren’t written in one sitting.
Businesses don’t hit $100k/month recurring revenue in one week.
The world record for longest paraglider flight did not happen on the pilot’s first solo flight.
Bringing a creative project or vision to fruition is a process of interconnected single acts. It is not a single solitary event.
To realize the project vision you need to be consistent with your interconnected single actions.
I am talking about dedicated acts that serve the project and move it forward.
What also helps is becoming good at transitioning between priority tasks.
For example, I am on a roll writing this newsletter right now but have a Monday work meeting to attend.
Instead of bringing the stress baggage with me of how I wish I had this newsletter done RIGHT NOW, instead of blaming my job for my slow pace of creative growth, I accept that a break may serve my creations’ overall quality.
I’ll attend the meeting and get back to where I left off later today.
The meeting will be a gentle social break where I interact with other humans about goals that require productivity and thorough communication. I also recognize that we are discussing the performance of our online business practices.
Studying what is working and not working in our video content production system, ours ads, our email marketing, our course production, our business operations is a valuable experience I can learn from to help aid me in my own creative endeavors.
Our daily experiences are all linked and when you learn to see how differing tasks support the others in a whole ecosystem, you are well on your way to increasing your productivity and easing your stress about your slow and sometimes backwards pace of progress.
Maybe I’m stubborn and idealistic, or maybe I actually believe I can discover the secret to bending time and manifesting gardens of creative projects like the stellar nurseries of the Milky Way birth new Stars.
I still believe there’s a way to achieve everything on my personal creative to-do list.
I call this my cosmic to-do list because it is the list of tasks I must do to realize my life vision and live my purpose.
More on cosmic to-do lists in my future letters:
Snowboarding in the mountains after reaching milestones on creative projects is one of the many things on my cosmic to-do list.
Simple Reminders to stop getting Distracted from your Creative Mission
It may be tempting to give up on your creative mission. To tell yourself it’s not worth the effort.
If you’re called to create something or if you envision a better life for yourself, you are already ahead of most people.
By envisioning improved life circumstances for yourself through the act of creating something that means something to you, you are already living with purpose.
It will not be an easy process but it is a worthwhile one.
Life is inevitable to have setbacks and obstacles for your creative mission.
These challenging experiences can cause you to form limiting beliefs about what you are capable of if you don’t maintain a positive mindset.
You will face off against your inner critic.
Know that you can defeat your own inner critic with the power of your mindset.
There is no success in waiting around for life to deliver a better set of circumstances.
If you don’t convince yourself to start taking action on your goals now, no one will.
Start small and get in the habit of consistently showing up for your long-term projects.
When you find yourself making excuses about why to postpone your life goals even longer, that is a signal that something is wrong.
Misleading beliefs have taken up residence in your subconscious. Once this becomes clear, don’t be too hard on yourself. This happens to the best of us. Begin work on restructuring your beliefs about what you are capable of.
Become an expert at the process of beginning again.
Breathe. Release. This condition is not final if you don’t want it to be. You’re still in this.
You can reform new beliefs and new behaviors that start moving you towards your long term goals.
Take up your torch and carry on.
Weighed on a cosmic scale, your potential holds far more gravity than your self-doubt.
Stop giving your doubt the spotlight.
Little acts of working towards your potential is how your full potential is manifested.
-Brady C Snow, 5/8/23
Weighed on a cosmic scale, your potential has far more gravity than your doubt.
How I can Help You
Check out my creator resources on my website to help kickstart your content production.
Download my Video Shoot Checklist
Download my Content Strategy Jumpstarter
Read my Previous Letters in my archives
