Just do the job.

Just do the job you signed up for. This might apply in a lot of situations in life, but since I’m an artist I’ll talk about this topic from an artist’s perspective. I find it hard NOT to be motivated to make a piece of art every day, “How is this possible you might ask?” Well, I figured out what works for me and decided to go with it, and so far it has been a blessing. In my case it’s all a mindset thing, I twisted a few words and changed my perspective on motivation to do things.

 So, after research and watching a lot of interviews with people who have been in this world longer than I have, I learned a few things. First of all, I don’t find the motivation to do things (art in my case), I start making the art no matter what, and I find motivation through that, to finish what I started. I tell myself I signed up for this and now I have to do the JOB. That’s just on a micro level, and I apply the same mentality on a macro level because a lot of things in life are relative, and when you understand this, perspective in life comes easy to you, or so I would like to believe. Let’s take the same mentality and apply it to something that I did, and still doing to this day. So back on the 2nd of April 2020 I decided I would make a piece of art every day, and to make sure I did this I had to find some accountability, it helps a lot. I went on Instagram and decided I would post every day on there, that was my accountability. I realized one thing when I started my artistic journey, every time I told myself I was going to make art every day, there was this thought in my head that was always telling me “well, we need to set time out for a break, maybe the weekends?” I didn’t listen to that voice ever, instead, I stopped thinking about the “every day” thing and started telling myself that I was gonna make sure I made a piece of art “TODAY.” When I started thinking this way it was way easy for me to create the habit. To this day it’s just like brushing my teeth. I’ll go deeper now, you see I didn’t make a pact with myself when I was young that I was gonna brush my teeth every day for the rest of my life, instead, I brush my teeth because it’s today and I just woke up, and also brush my teeth because I’m about to go to bed, I don’t even think about it when I do it. As soon as I applied this mentality, I don’t even think about making sure I made art every day, I just do it because it’s today if that makes sense. After a while when you look back then you’ll be like “OMG, I’ve been making art every day since…” and then people start telling you how hardworking you are, but this doesn’t even register because to you it’s just like brushing your teeth, imagine someone telling you “You’re so hardworking for brushing your teeth every day.” What will be your response?

Some artists might ask, “so what if my art is bad?” All I can say is “who are you making the art for, you or the world?” If you’re making the art for yourself then I would ask “why?” and depending on your answer, I would tell you why you shouldn’t or why you should keep doing it. Personally, I don’t make art specifically for me rather I make it for me and the world to see and hope it makes someone’s day better out there. I truly think it’s selfish not to share your art because your work might help someone out there in a way you never thought it would. You are your worst critique, so don’t wait to share your best work with the world, just share your work. There are people out there who can’t even draw a stick figure: so when this guy or girl sees you’re work that tells a story that’s not even anatomically correct, I believe they’re going to appreciate it. Trust me, if human beings lived forever, I would be the guy to advise you to wait and perfect your skills and art before you decided to share your message with the world, but the thing is we have only 100 years, maybe more if we’re lucky or less if we’re unlucky. There are artists who’ve been making art for more than 30 years who still feel their art isn’t that great. Remember everything in life is relative, the cycle never ends.

Don’t decide for me, because the moment you tell yourself “This thing I made today is not good enough, so I’m not gonna share it with the world.” You’ve decided for the viewer even before they’ve seen your work. Imagine going to buy something and the store owner pops out of nowhere and tells you “Buy this,” without even knowing what you wanted, that’s what a lot of artists do when they decide their work is not good enough to share, you’re deciding for the viewer even before they see your work. So in conclusion don’t create every day, just make sure you made something today.