Making space in your life by focusing on the essentials
Take care of the basics so you can focus on other things that matter
I’ve been feeling very overwhelmed recently. But for longer than I’ve been feeling overwhelmed, I’ve struggled to fit certain tasks into my day. There always seemed to be just too little time to do these things, no matter how hard I try to make myself do them, and it’s only today that I’ve realised why.
These two things are:
Promote my music - that means networking, posting on Instagram, getting in touch with labels, etc.
Learn to DJ - that means practising beatmatching, selecting songs, and creating a set.
My desire to do these things is an executive desire. That is, at some point, I have decided that being recognised for making awesome music, and playing that awesome music to a crowd are things that will fulfil me, I will enjoy, and therefore I want to do.
To put this another way: These things, though important and valued goals, aren’t fundamental to my day-to-day happiness.
They’re part of my extrinsic motivations - the desire for recognition - rather than my intrinsic motivations - the need to express myself creatively.
However, gaining recognition for my music and playing live shows are important to me. I know this. And it’s bugged me for a long time why I can’t find the time to work towards these goals.
It’s simply because I’ve been focused on survival that I haven’t been able to meet these executive needs. I’ve been focused on meeting my basic needs instead. Through necessity I’ve been preoccupied with financial stability (thanks inflation!), and staying warm (thanks Bulgarian plumbers!).
Today, for the first time in a while, I woke up without so many worries. I had enough time to take care of my intrinsic needs. I even had the time to check out of work for an hour when I felt inspired to make music, rather than having to ignore that feeling and knuckle down instead.
And so now I sit here, with time to spare, and the energy to spend it on my lofty dreams of recognition and performance.
So, I guess the thing I want you to learn from my experience here is - and I’m sure this is already obvious to you, but I’m going to say it anyway:
If you’re trying to reach higher forms of fulfilment, you need to make sure you have taken care of all the lower steps too.
Take care of your basic needs. Eat well. Sleep enough. Exercise. Save money. Stay hydrated. Wear sunscreen.
But most importantly - and this is where I’ve struggled - don’t be hard on yourself when you just can’t find the time for something you know is important to you - this is a sign that there’s something of deeper importance that you need to take care of first.
So meditate, journal, speak to your partner, cat, or goldfish. Do whatever you need to identify which of your basic needs aren’t being met, and focus your energy there instead of castigating yourself for not meeting some ideal that your executive self decided was important.
It IS important. Just not right now.
Rich.
Next time I’ll try to talk a little less about myself. No promises though. To find out, hit subscribe: