Finishing small creative projects builds momentum far more reliably than chasing big goals.
Do you have a dream, a wild hopeful dream? I’m talking creative dreams here, not world peace or a long-lasting Man Utd manager. Perhaps new year resolution creative dreams, goals that will make your future horizon bright. Perhaps to be a successful author, or a recognised musician, songwriter or performer. It is good to have those sort of big goals, they are reasons for you to do things, the reason for you writing or making music. But those goals are big. That horizon may be way off. The way to reach those goals is to build momentum. Small creative acts and projects are the blocks, the stepping stones toward the big goal.
Big projects feel motivating but stall easily
The bigger the goal, the easier it is to feel motivated. It’s why resolutions are make us feel good. This year I will be x, y and z. It’s also why they stall very quickly. We see a glorious destination, but don’t quite know the steps toward it.
Small finishes train follow-through
Each step we take toward something brings us closer. Remembering that a journey is made up of steps is vital. Counting those steps encourages us and trains us to keep going. If you want to be a great author, you need to decide what your regular steps equivalent will be. I will write 500 words each day. And when you complete that, celebrate.
Completion builds confidence, not quality alone
It doesn’t matter how bad the content you create is. When you are working toward a major goal the important thing is to complete the little steps. Over time you should improve. You should notice an improvement with what you create on day 100 compared to your tentative meanderings on day 1. Having completed the 100 days, or 50, or even just 10 you’ll begin to notice changes. You learn as you finish each creative step. The more you make the more confident you will become.
Momentum comes from closure
Stories can be broken into chapters. Finish a chapter and you’ll find a desire to write the next. Finish the recording of one song and you’ll want to mix it, or remix it, or move on to the next track for a collection of songs. And this multiplies. A paragraph becomes a scene, becomes a chapter becomes a book, becomes a sequel, becomes a trilogy. A melody, encourages a harmony, dances a rhythm, begets a chorus, extends to a song, a recording, an album. Finishing one creative project leads us to the next creative projects.
Small doesn’t mean insignificant
500 words, or 300 words or even less, each day, is not insignificant. Just 100 words a day means you’ll have 36,500 words at then end of a year. One melody a day will give you enough ideas to fill many a songbook. Small creative acts. One chapter. One song. One blog post. Or a number of words, or an amount of time spent creating. Each of these are small, but they are far from insignificant.
Create something now
Choose to create something small, name it and block a time to do it. Then, when it is done, celebrate and repeat the process.
There’s nothing wrong with having the big motivational goal or dream, but the small creative habit is what creates momentum to reach that goal.
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