Stop being so ambitious
Hopefully it’s clear to all of us by now that consistency brings results. We can all name an athlete, musician, creator, or artist we admire who showed up with consistency long enough for people to notice. How grateful we are that they did.
But for some reason, as immutable as this law seems to be for other people, it rarely feels that way for ourselves. We wonder if all this hard work will pay off. We falter on our journey of consistency. We get discouraged. We quit.
It may not be because we’re “just not as good” as other people, or because we’re “just not cut out for it.” It might be because we’re trying too hard. James Clear recently quoted a friend on his blog as saying, “never do anything in the gym today that prevents you from working out tomorrow.” When you push yourself too hard in the gym, you end of sore the next day, or maybe even injured. When you push yourself too hard in your creativity, you end up demotivated.
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t challenge yourself or try to improve. But if your expectations for your work are so high that they keep you from creating again the next day, that’s unproductive. You’ll lose out to less skilled, less ambitious artists who found a way to create every day.
