Five Ways Creative People Can Stay Motivated in Trying Times

An effective guide to having a positive mindset and conquering the fear of starting.

A challenge creative people face today, is the lack of motivation. It is an unpleasant condition that disinterest people from doing anything. It gets one feeling out of place and like vehicles without direction, it renders them slaves to unproductivity.

Admit it or not, motivation is paramount in the creative process. Some times it’s easy to get motivated and other times, it seems our minds are rid of their thinking abilities. The urge to do what we love to do evaporates and leaves us hanging helplessly on the noose of self-doubt.

Research has proven that motivation is not permanent. There is a chance for a motivated person to get highly demotivated. This is why Zig Ziglar a famous motivational coach said; "people often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing — that's why we recommend it daily.” In other words, finding motivation should be a continuous process, since we live in a world where negativity is upbeat.

But how can creative people stay motivated especially when they have no urge to do anything? I’ve outlined five best approaches that have helped me tackle demotivation over the years and they include:

Identifying your purpose

Your purpose is the reason why you do what you do. Many people are demotivated because they lack intent or reason. This exhausts their energies, while they laze around without goals.

An effective way of finding purpose is to know your why. It serves as a blueprint; whenever you’re low, it gets easier to find your motivation once you remember it.

Set goals with deadlines:

Setting goals helps you plan your life. Albert Einstein wasn’t wrong when he asserted that “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. You control your life when you have control over your goals. Learn how to carve out objectives from your long term goals. If you refuse to have daily objectives, your goals are not separate from mere dreams. You must ensure that your goals are as clear and specific as possible.

Embrace Change: One reason why creative people get demotivated is that they are skeptical about embracing change. The world has been changing since time immemorial. Staying rigid to an idea could be boring and exhausting. Be spontaneous and find your wonder, learn to celebrate wins. When there is a fun activity to look up to daily, your motivation stays put. Discipline, Focus, and Consistency: I attended a seminar three years ago, and the speaker introduced three cores that founded his success. He called them DFC – Discipline, Focus, and Consistency. After setting smart goals, you need to be intentional and disciplined towards making them achievable. Discipline helps you focus on things that bring out the best in you. These may be books, tutorial videos, seminars, and conferences. Focus sharpens your attention to remain on the things that matter. When you don’t have a focal point, you easily get distracted and other things to dominate your time and drains your motivation. Consistency, on the other hand, is the intentional frequency at which you do what you do. This is the effort you make to gain mastery over your craft. Without consistency, it gets easy for self-doubt to cloud your judgment and demotivate you. Positive thinking and affirmations: According to Zig Ziglar, “positive thinking doesn't help you do anything, but it helps you do everything better.” When you are intentional about the way you think and the way you speak, it stimulates your growth. Negative vibes can come from family, friends, and your environment but your ability to tune your mind towards the solution makes you different. Your mind is a fertile soil, whatever you sow into it grows and yields. Feed your mind with the right words and thoughts, then watch how fast you grow. Believe in yourself: I signed up for a paid personal development class a few months ago and 70% of my lessons were on building self-confidence and believing in myself. There are a thousand and one ways to do things. That it seems difficult getting things done using a single approach doesn't mean there aren’t other ways. Life, in general, is not a tunnel, with just a two-way passage. Rather it is a complex system that accommodates even miracles. This is why you are your motivation. Your mind is your superpower, whatever you think, works best for you. You have to focus on looking inwards and opening up your heart to embrace positivity while fleeing from discouragement. Surround yourself with people that motivate you: When a poor man lives amongst rich people, he experiences positive behavioral changes. He starts to live and think like them and in no time, he becomes rich. Likewise, when you surround yourself and interact with creative people alongside people who push you to become better, you become well; it's not rocket science. I joined a clique of writers when I realized I had the gift and we engaged in different writing exercises. We were taught how to set SMART goals, and having accountability partners raised our motivation charts. Every day, I looked forward to new challenges and daily, I got better. However, when you surround yourself with people who have no interest in what you do, you begin to lose interest and get demotivated. Final thoughts The problem isn’t cored on you being demotivated, everyone goes through that once in a while. The problem begins when you can’t jump out of the mire and move forward. This is the purpose of these five approaches, they will help you tackle demotivation and keep you always standing at your best.