There are way too many “once upon a times…” and far too few “…and they all lived happily ever afters”. Being a starter is great, being a finisher is greater, and what happens in-between those two pillars of success holds the keys to all that you are looking for.

5 Momentum Building Ways To Keep Your Creative Wheels Moving

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Building momentum in your creative projects is rather a big deal, and today I want to just talk about five momentum building ways that you can keep your creative wheels moving. You know, it’s really is something to protect and to treasure, because when the wheels slow down on our creative projects or dreams, drag happens, discouragement is drag, procrastination is drag, overthinking is drag. Getting stuck in the weeds of like whatever technical issues you might be facing or the kind of long grass of perfectionism is drag.

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And really it’s essential for our forward motion to keep the wheels moving and to make something. I believe every day it doesn’t need to be a masterpiece. It doesn’t need to be some game changing creation, just enough to give the wheel a bit of a push and keep it spinning. And anyone who’s ever kind of spun a wheel will know that once there is some momentum here in my hometown, we go to a small children’s park and there’s one of the play items there.

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The two young boys sit on it and you push it round and they spin round. And once they’ve got momentum, it doesn’t actually take that much energy and strength to keep them moving and to increase their speed. I mean, actually, it’s it’s quite funny watching them. But but if it if you start from a stationary place or if it’s too slow, it actually takes a lot more energy to keep that motion happening. And I think the same is true sometimes in our creative projects.

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Too many creatives tend to rely on inspiration but apply. Maybe they could maybe apply a bit more perspiration regarding their trajectory towards completion. How many half finished projects that began with a bang but pivoted to a whimper just a languishing on some dusty, hard drive, somewhere too many to mention? I believe there are way too many once upon a times and far too few. And they all lived happily ever after. As you know, too many beginnings, too few endings and been a starter is great.

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Don’t misunderstand me. Being a starter is important. Many people don’t even get that far. They don’t even get the wheels kind of turning at the very kind of start line. But being a finisher is greater. Taking those things that you begin to their conclusion is so, so powerful in so many ways, both for your own confidence and your own growth, but also for the people that you reach with your creative projects and the people who are blessed by them.

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And, you know, it’s but it’s what happens in between those two pillars, the beginning and the ending that really hold the keys for the kind of results you’re looking for. I again, we’ve got to go back to the Bible and the Bible teaches us that we inherit the promises and we read these heartfelt goals through two things, faith and patience and patience, really. I see in this respect as the application of expectant pressure in one direction over a period of time.

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And you really do need that patient expectancy. You need to be expecting good things because, you know, the creative journey oftentimes is fraught with opportunities to feel disappointed. Yeah, like most of us are, like the rest of us get used to it. And I’m not I don’t want to prophesy that. I don’t want to say it’s guaranteed. But there are many times, I believe, where you will be tempted to slow the wheels and maybe even climb out of that creation vehicle, you know, because, you know, it’s it is something that’s why I believe we’re told it takes faith and patience, because this is not just like a five meta sprint.

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We’re in this for a marathon. We really want to make an impact and build a creative legacy. And so here are five ways that I have used. To encourage myself and to keep my creative wheels moving, and I think they might be helpful to you, too. No one is to be accountable to yourself. You know, your first responsibility really in your creative life and pursuits is you. How can you expect anyone else to appreciate what you bring to the table if you don’t actually appreciate it yourself?

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If you don’t give it enough, if you don’t give enough value to it to actually spend time, spend money, spend energy making it happen. You know, if you believe that you’ve got something precious to offer the world, don’t wait for permission before you start doing it. Make a quality decision to consistently create and make public your work on a regular basis. I like I like Daley. I mean, like I don’t know if that’s crazy or not, but I also have the liberty to do that.

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You know this I actually make my living creating and making things and writing things and recording things and and so that’s but it wasn’t always that way. You know, I once had the very understandable and very viable excuse that I was working full time jobs and was not in a position to lend so much of my time and energy to my creative projects. But but believe it or not, I did it anyways. And that’s why I believe today I can say that I actually make money doing the things that were once my dream and my desire.

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I like the fact that Daley doesn’t leave much room for excuses. I find that I’m prone to that. So if I give myself no room for an excuse, it just helps me to make it happen, you know? And even if that one daily value packed contribution to the world is just 150 character tweet or a 30 second tiktok or a just to post to Facebook, then so be it. But make it your absolute no, no non-negotiable.

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That you’ll offer something from your heart to an audience. Yeah. Even before that audience really exists and do it on a regular basis. It might be daily. It might be weekly. I certainly wouldn’t say monthly is enough unless you’re unless you’re deliverable were a book or something much more substantial. But but and number two, not number one is make yourself accountable to others. But number two is make yourself accountable to others, make it your habit to practice in public, commit to some kind of content schedule, and then let others know that you’ll be publishing in that manner and stay true to your promise to the very best of your ability.

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So whether that’s a podcast, a blog, a song or a recipe each week, whatever, your wheelhouse and arena of service, step out from the shadows and go all in. You know, if the thought of lying to yourself and letting yourself down is not enough motivation to make it happen, let others know. And then maybe knowing that others are expecting you to deliver and will hold you accountable, maybe that will kind of spur you on in those moments where you feel less than inspired or less than motivated to move.

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Keep the wheels moving. Number three, don’t wait for the mythical muse. William Faulkner is coined as saying, I only write when I’m inspired. Fortunately, I am inspired every day at nine o’clock. I love that. You know, let’s let’s face it. If you’re a child of God, you are inspired. You’re not waiting to be, not may be, will be one day. You are right now. God is filled you with this spirit and there is no excuse not to create something today.

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The more ingrained I think this mindset, it gets easier to sit down and tap the flow. And when the flow isn’t felt, you just do it anyways. And it’s actually really quite surprising how much greatness trickles through even the driest of days. If you let it happen. No fault make today your tomorrow. You know, today is yesterday’s tomorrow. And yesterday you said that you do whatever you said you do tomorrow. So let’s go do it because tomorrow is now today.

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And I just encourage you make today. Tomorrow and do it right now, put off putting off what you want and you need to do, merely just pushes your can down the road. And I just want to I just want to tell you, stop kicking your can with your can’t and bend your excuses. Yeah. Don’t kick that can down the road. Embrace it and say I can. And not only can I will prioritise those precious projects, not just the urgent ones.

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You know, I think that sometimes money drives so much of our time and energy in directions that really carry us away from the seemingly arduous task of actually caring about our creativity only when we begin to learn and grow and make it only when we do it. Yeah, well, those dreams that we have transform into dollars. Sometimes we’re looking for the dollars way too early in the game. You know, overnight success is most often preceded by many days and nights that no one else sees.

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So, you know, make your steps really sure. And carve out creation time in your schedule. And then finally, number five. And I think that this is just so useful. Appreciate your work, especially in the early days, months or even years. You’ll need to be your own greatest fan. Cheer yourself on and enjoy what you make. Listen to it, hear it, look on it, wear it, eat it, smell it, speak it, whatever form your awesome takes, be sure to encourage yourself along the way.

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Honestly, if I want to say you are great and the world outside your door is maybe just waiting to catch up with that revelation, don’t measure your worth by the world’s metrics, OK? It doesn’t matter how many followers followers you have, how many comments or how few or whatever other kind of. Yeah, I do. You know what I’m talking about, all of that kind of all of that and all of that. Just let all of that go, you know, be your greatest fan.

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Cheer yourself on. Appreciate what you’re doing. Stay thankful, stay encouraged, stay faithful to your creative call and God will give you the breakthrough. One Saux another waters. But God gives the increase. You know, even God himself stopped to turn around and call his creation good and you should do the same. Well, thanks for listening. Hopefully it’s been an encouragement to you today. If you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at Davidleemartin.com.

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Have a great day.