Let’s face it - most of us have a ton of cool ideas that we’re not acting on.
Sometimes, we’re overwhelmed at the sheer amount of energy it’ll take to bring those ideas to life.
But as it turns out, whether they’re sitting in your head or being brought to life, those ideas are using up energy either way.
I’ve been digging into The Coaching Habit at the recommendation of my mentor Rich Webster, and read a statistic that blew my mind:
"A 2010 study started by making the point that any time we have something on our mind, it's literally using up energy. Even though it accounts for only about 2% of your body weight, your brain uses about 20% of your energy."
Crazy, right?
Even just THINKING about something uses actual energy.
Kurzgesagt released a video on their YouTube channel on exercise recently, which echoed that study.
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"Your body is evolved to move regularly and is fine tuned to a certain base level of activity. If the activity is missing, it still uses almost the identical amount of energy - just on stupid stuff."
So what’s the takeaway here?
Many composers I talk to have a ton of ideas, dreams, and aspirations…
But struggle to take action and do them.
Without action, these things just sit in our heads…
Burning valuable energy that could be used doing things instead of thinking about them.
So...
This week, I encourage you to take one idea/goal that’s been on your mind and take one small, actionable step towards it.
- 🎹 If you’ve been sitting on an unfinished musical idea, write another 4 bars
- 📩 If you’ve been waiting to build up your network, send an email out to someone (anyone)
- ✍️ If you’ve been thinking about making your first YouTube video, write an outline for it
Get in the habit of expending your energy with action - NOT over-thinking.
That means accepting that your work won't be perfect.
Tough pill to swallow?
Listen, I get it - you’re an artist.
You want your work to accurately reflect who you are on the inside.
But the truth is, your insides are messy.
You’re NOT perfect - so why should you expect your art to be?
(Or your creative career, for that matter?)
If that feels painful to hear, let me offer you a different perspective:
Instead of running from imperfection, embrace it.
The pain you feel is because you’re resisting mistakes and unexpected outcomes.
Instead...
Start seeing imperfection as a signal of growth.
Different means new.
New means progress.
And only after you’ve made some progress can you decide if you like the direction you’re heading or not.
👋 Ready for more?
When you're ready, here's 4 ways I can help:
- 🎥 My YouTube. Watch 350+ videos including music tutorials, career tips, and more.
- 🗞️ The Newsletter Archive. Read articles from previous weeks of this newsletter.
- 🎬 Composing Career Bootcamp. Join my 6-week cohort-based course to learn how to land paid composing work from anywhere in the world. (100+ students, 5 stars)
- 👋 Work Directly with Me. I'm offering private mentorship to a handful of select media composers. If you're interested, click the link to apply.
That's all for now!
Hit reply to share your thoughts, questions, or just to say hi.
(I love hearing from my readers. 🙂)
Otherwise, happy music-making and I'll see you next Tuesday!
- Zach
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