Habit goes into all your actions, life hacks, and automations.
Human beings run off of some rather amazing software. We’re capable of making ourselves into something far beyond what any other animal on Planet Earth can.
I’m not a scientist, but I’ve studied enough to know it’s part of the makeup of our brain chemistry that empowers us so. I believe, however, that this is just a matter of the hardware. The software, apps, and programs we run are another matter.
No two people are alike. Even those who have similar goals and do similar things are different. What lights me up and inspires my creative momentum isn’t the same for you. This is why some people are drawn to creative arts and others are drawn to more analytical things.
Whatever the case, maintaining momentum with anything – especially creative work – comes down to habit.
No idea, concept, or action becomes regular and ongoing without habit-building. Habit is how rote and routine are created.
Maintaining creative momentum is all about habit.
The conscious mind and the subconscious mind
Everyone is of 3 minds. The one you have pretty much zero control over is the unconscious mind. The unconscious mind is how your heart beats, stomach digests, blood flows, and so on.
Then there’s your subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is where memories, beliefs, and values exist. This is also where habits exist. They are akin to the embedding of a video on a website, but in the subconscious. Like that video, they are a bridge to another place within your head.
That’s the conscious mind. Your conscious mind is the active, in-the-moment isness of you. When you are here, present at this moment, and aware of not just the world around you, but also your inner being, you’re employing your conscious mind.
Creative work is a spark that might be an idea, an impulse, a thought, a feeling, or some combination therein. Then, your conscious mind turns it over, examines it, and works out how to make the idea/impulse/thought/feeling/etc., real.
You cannot paint a painting, write a book, sculpt clay, or make any other art manifest without action. Active, conscious work goes into what turns the notion into something tangible.
Sometimes this is simple, and one-and-done. However, some projects take far more time and energy. This is where finding and maintaining creative momentum comes into play.
Maintaining creative momentum is all about habit
I write novels. A novel is a book that’s generally 40,000 words minimum and sometimes far, far more. It is impossible to write 40,000+ words in one sitting. I’m sure some outliers can bang out 12,000 or 15,000 words in 8 hours. Realistically, though, that’s a major challenge.
The point is that to spark the creative momentum necessary to write a full novel requires building a habit. While you can do the work without a habit, you will do so in fits and starts with little to no momentum and regularity.
The habit you create for creative momentum is going to vary. What you’re creating will impact what momentum you need. For example, to get my novels written in a timely manner, I strive for 1500 words a day. To get to that word count, I work on making writing 1500 daily words my habit.
This won’t work for every writer. Some people can only make it a habit of writing 1 paragraph a day. Others might only be able to write a sentence daily. It’s still a habit for maintaining creative momentum when you write daily at a given time or just commit to the act of writing without any set word count or goal.
To become a better painter, you need more experience. This also applies to improving as a cook, sculptor, actor, singer, and so on. Building and maintaining creative momentum will look different for each person, but it’s still a matter of habit. Habitual work is a keystone of improvement of your craft, whatever it is.
Habit is how you create a means to maintain momentum, creative or otherwise, and instill in yourself the automation of practice.
Habit can be good and bad
Everyone knows people who have “bad” habits. Many are subjective, and one person’s bad habit is not another’s. Still, the definition of good habit or bad habit is whether or not a given habit has a positive or negative impact on you.
If you do something habitually, by rote and routine that interrupts your creative momentum, that’s likely a bad habit. While this can be frustrating and annoying, habits are never set in stone. They’re changeable.
To change a habit takes these 4 steps:
- Identify the habit. Is this something you do with little or no thought by rote and routine? That’s a habit.
- Recognize and acknowledge the habit. What is it, what form does it take? Is there anything that triggers it?
- Replace the habit with something new. Either use the existing trigger or create a new trigger that causes you to start a new automated action. For example, if you check your email every hour on the hour, you can instead choose to get up and stretch, write sentences, draw a sketch, or something else that makes better use of your time and energy.
- Keep doing the new thing. Habit is formed by repetition.
Yes, it really is that simple. And it’s a matter of taking action.
Maintaining creative momentum is all about habit. You’re empowered to use your conscious mind to manifest whatever creative work your heart seeks to create. Nobody can take that from you, and you are always capable of making it happen.
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you every week, please consider this: How are you inspired and empowered to be your own creator, whatever form that takes?
Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
Feel free to explore the rest of the website.
Please subscribe to my newsletter. Fill in the info, click the submit button to the right, and get your free eBooks.
You must be logged in to post a comment.