You Don’t Lack Motivation. You Lack Clarity.

Because you’re reading this, you don’t lack motivation. You want to make music and build your music career.

Lack of motivation is not the problem. 

It’s that you don’t know what to work on.

Habit expert and best-selling author James Clear points this out in his book Atomic Habits.

“Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity,” he writes.

Let’s dive into that idea and talk about how you can find both clarity and motivation to succeed in music. 

What Is Motivation?

First, let’s clearly define motivation. 

Motivation is the desire to act.

You have the desire to write and record your own music, to share that music with people, and to build a music career.

You have the drive to act. 

So stop telling yourself you lack motivation. 

What Is Clarity?

Clarity is what’s lacking from your repertoire. 

Clarity is knowing what to act on.

Another word for this is “focus.”

When you have focus as a musician, you know what direction you want to go.

You know what you can do today to further your music career. 

You Need Both Motivation and Clarity

If you want to continually get better at making music, share it with people, and eventually turn it into a career, you need both motivation and clarity. 

Motivation alone isn’t enough. Clarity alone isn’t enough.

And here’s the interesting thing: motivation leads to clarity and clarity leads to motivation. 

It’s a cycle. Each one feeds the other. 

First, you have to want to figure out what you want in music. 

That leads to clarity. 

Then once you have clarity, that motivates you to move toward what you want. 

As you move closer to what you want, you get more motivated. 

And so on.

How To Find Clarity in Your Music Career

Figuring out what you want in music gives you something to look forward to. It’s an idea that becomes attainable.

This is called hope. 

“If we have hope, we have a reason to take action,” Clear writes.

So here’s how to find clarity in your music career…

Find your “flow”

What part of music are you doing when you lose track of time?

The answer to this question will give you so much clarity. It will tell you what to improve at and how you can build a career in music. 

For me, my flow comes when I’m writing and recording songs. So now I get my songs on TV and in film, and I produce music for other artists.

Answering this question honestly will help you find something you love doing that also can make you money. 

Make a plan

Once you know what gets you into the flow, you need to build a plan centered around that.

Because you can’t stop at knowing what you want to do. You have to make a plan to get there.

“…People who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through,” Clear writes. 

Once you’ve created a plan, “you don’t have to wait for inspiration to strike.”

You can work on music every day, knowing you’re going in the right direction.

Keep it simple

Don’t try to do all the things every day. 

Just do one thing today if that’s all you have time for.

If you only have 15 minutes to work on music, that’s enough. 

Find one small task to do that fits into your plan, something you know will move you toward the music career you want.

Consistency is the way to go, even if you make small movements.

Use The One-Thing-A-Day Worksheet

I created The One-Thing-A-Day Worksheet for myself in 2018.

And ever since then, I’ve had way more clarity on what I want my music career to look like.

It’s what helped me figure out I had to get off the stage and into the studio.

It will help you realize you don’t lack motivation. You simply need a little clarity.

Grab it for free below…