9 Ways to Fuel Your Motivation as an Artist

Do you feel demotivated? Or simply lacking in creativity for any number of reasons? Many artists tend to become less motivated and lazy when they start working for themselves. All the pressures of working for someone else disappear and slowly you become despondent and less driven to complete tasks with no deadlines.

Stimulate your creativity with these fantastic motivation-fueling tips:

1. Play to Your Strengths

Understanding and continually practicing your greatest strengths can improve your overall well-being. Making the most of these strengths in your creative projects will energize your creativity, leaving you feeling more fulfilled.

2. Focus on Intrinsic Motivators

Find internal motivators that drive your success rather than external rewards. This intrinsic motivation requires you to forget about all the external rewards, like money, praise, and appreciation, and find what drives you from within.

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Set Huge Goals

Goal-setting is a massive part of achieving success in any field. Importance is often placed on setting smaller, realistic goals. However, the big, audacious goals are equally as important to consider and crucial to achieving any progress. Smaller goals help to build your confidence while working towards larger goals. They may be difficult, but they’re not impossible.

4. Mood-Setting

Creativity often strikes when you least expect it. Don’t wait until the last minute for the idea to come, but rather set your space up for creative thinking. Paint the walls a calming color, and keep your space organized. Get enough exercise to ensure optimal health and well-being. This will also have a positive effect on your creative thinking.

5. Create a Schedule

Routines are essential for success, but no one schedule suits all creative minds. Experiment with different routines until you find the one that works best. Ensure that you are getting enough sleep, allow enough time for finding your flow, and incorporating regular breaks to refresh your mind.

6. Keep Creativity Fueled

The perfect fuel to stay creative is discomfort. When we get comfortable we tend to produce the same things again and again. Find new techniques and experiment with new materials to entice innovation and spur creativity.

7. Be Accountable

Find some other creatives in the field, someone who you can be accountable to that will pick you out when you aren’t keeping up. Set regular deadlines and stick to them to ensure consistent performance.

8. Say ‘No’ to Procrastination

Overcome procrastination by understanding that it is linked to your mood. We tend to procrastinate to avoid any negative feelings associated with a challenge. Avoid procrastination by visualizing how it will feel when the task is complete and set smaller goals to help you reach the finished product. Start with the easier steps that you are more comfortable with to build momentum.

9. Keep on Persevering

Acknowledge that you will have some disappointments, but perseverance is the ultimate ingredient for success. Remember that you can carry on and try again after failing. Commit to your bigger goals, while ensuring any adversity.