As a songwriter, you could learn a lot from the companies that make and sell sports watches. These are devices that track the number of steps you take, or the distances you walk or run, as well as allowing you to set up and adhere to any number of specific sports training programs.
The success of these devices is their ability to set a daily goal. So even if you aren’t specifically training in any particular sport, you can still aim for a certain particular goal, whether that be 10,000 steps per day, 3 miles per day, or some other specific objective.
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These companies know what they’re doing; by setting a goal, there’s a feeling of “necessity”, you might say, on the part of the user: as they pass 9,000 steps, and it’s now evening, most users of these devices are inclined to do something to achieve that 10,000 step goal. And then of course, there’s that positive feeling of achievement and satisfaction in doing so.
There’s hard evidence out there to show that more people are likely to work toward a specific goal than the people who simply have a mindset of “I really must get a proper amount of exercise today”, with no specific goal in mind.
In the creative arts, the same is true. If all you think is “I really should make songwriting a daily activity”, the feeling of necessity is missing.
So the answer is to set for yourself certain specific songwriting goals. But what could or should those goals be?
In the creative arts, it’s hard to say what a particular objective might be. In sports, you’re either measuring distance, time, or perhaps heart rate (“zone minutes”).
In songwriting, you may spend a half hour trying to come up with the perfect one line of lyric to start verse 2. And while that may seem to others like a waste of time, it might actually be a great use of your time. So what’s the best way to establish goals for yourself in songwriting?
I think in absence of any way to say what the perfect songwriting session might be, it’s best to establish an amount of time where you are truly focused solely on some aspect of your songwriting.
If, for example your equivalent of taking 10,000 steps per day is to spend one hour each day absorbed in some aspect of songwriting — no distractions! — I think that that’s a worthy goal.
And because a songwriting session might be a segment of time where you’re trying to create a great chord progression, craft a catchy melody, write a great lyric, or… setting a length of time will give you that important feeling of satisfaction that you were able to devote a certain chunk of your day to the task of writing music.
That way, even if you don’t actually get that perfect line of lyric, you’ll hopefully feel a sense of satisfaction that you devoted time to an important goal.
So set a goal for yourself today, make it attainable, and see what it does for your feeling of creative self-worth!
Written by Gary Ewer. Follow Gary on Twitter.
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