Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
When it comes to staying motivated in your creative practice or projects, it’s important to celebrate your wins – the small ones as well as the large ones. I often hear clients say that they did not do anything creative since the last time we talked. They focus on what they didn’t do and the beat themselves up. However, during our session my clients will reveal a number of small creative acts or tasks they did that were in support of their creative practice. They did a few sketches, or wrote a poem, or contacted a gallery owner, or researched upcoming auditions. Whenever I hear these small wins, I make a point to call them out and applaud my clients.
I do this because guilt and shame are never good motivators. Those negative thoughts and feeling weigh you down, they can erode your confidence and self-esteem. The biggest damage these thought have is that they distract you from doing your work. It’s not enough just to check off items on your to do list and move on to the next. You need to be your own cheerleader and build your motivation reserves that will keep you creating.
“Success is the sum of small efforts – day-in and day-out.” – Robert Collier
Many artists have the idea that only the big accomplishments are important and deserve to be celebrated. They easily dismiss the small tasks that they do each day as unimportant. Yes, big wins are key but it takes many small accomplishments to achieve the big ones.
When you do anything creative you are exercising your creative muscles. You are keeping it active and flexible. And if you do tasks that are in support of your creative practice, those are important to acknowledge too. They can be simple things like, organizing your notes for your novel, taking inventory of supplies you need, cleaning your studio, or making a list of people you need to contact for an upcoming show. This also means that if you are burnt out, doing self-care to rejuvenate is supporting your creative practice.
At the end of the day, make a point of reviewing what you did, big, medium, and small, and give yourself a hearty pat on the back. It can be something as simple as saying to yourself “Hey, Jane, you worked on a few pages of your novel today. Good job!”or do a “happy” dance, spiking the ball in the end zone and doing a victory lap. You can call a supportive friend to share your wins. It may seem silly or trivial to do this but these small celebrations will support and carry you in your future work. Find constructive ways to acknowledge and celebrate your small wins and you will be on your way to reaching the big ones.