Aug 24, 2020
As much as we’d all like to think so, you can’t win at music. You can’t win at art. And you can’t win at life.
It just doesn’t work like that, so why do so many of us treat our music like it does?
Treating every single track, label submission, or particular goal like it's the be-all and end-all of the world - "I have to win this" - will only lead to the kind of relentless pressure which stifles and crushes creativity.
Similarly, looking sideways and perceiving the success of others as your failure - “They’ve beaten me” - will only lead to frustration, a loss of motivation, and giving up.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
In this episode, I discuss the concept of finite and infinite games, and how seeing your creative journey through this lens will give you back control over your progress, and allow you to break free of the pressure of having to succeed at every moment.
There are many things in life that we can’t control, and these often come in the form of small tasks, challenges, and games that we can never always win, no matter how hard we try.
Understanding your journey as part of the long game, a game that you can never lose, allows you to create freely and stay focused on your overall vision, and have a lot more fun doing it.
And this is the mindset that sets apart those who succeed from those who struggle.
Get ready to open your mind and get locked in, this is essential.
Key takeaways:
- Realise that there is no end result, only you becoming a better artist
- Obsessing over finite games results in losing control.
- "Masters are not experts because they take a subject to its conceptual end. They are masters because they realize there isn't one."
- Approach your music as a game that you cannot lose
Quotes:
“There’s never an end to being a creative. There’s never an end to music”
“If you view your tracks, your label submissions, your goals as part of an infinite game, then you're going to be able to create freely. You'll be focused on your overall vision, you'll give it your best. You'll stay motivated no matter the result of that track or that label submission or that particular goal.”