So, yeah. Analysis paralysis. I don’t have any brilliant silver bullets for you. We all know it’s anxiety and fear, right?
What’s most excellent about this topic is that I’m stuck in it right now! HA. So good. Not in relation to this post, but it was starting to seep in here, too. So, this will be a bit stream-of-consciousness or brain-dumpy, because, first off --> ACTION.
"Creatives ship their work," as Seth Godin would say. I'm a big fan.
In my experience, start doing. This will not be a perfect post on the topic, and that is not going to stop me from sending it. It won’t solve the problem for me or for you. You likely won’t see me as the guru of analysis-paralysis undoing after you read it. Good. I’m not. You might get a reminder of what you already knew, or a different perspective on it. Or it might blow your mind. Who knows? My job is to do the writing, share my experience, be honest, make a good faith effort to make it a quality piece, and SHIP IT. The point of my writing here is to try to be useful, and to get better at succinctly articulating what I hope are useful ideas.
Which brings me to another thing: what's the goal? When I get stuck writing something here thinking about what YOU all might think of me, I remember what I'm doing. The only way to get better at something is by doing it. Here’s a post.
When making music in particular, there’s a balance between making sure the quality you’re looking for is there and not being so maniacally perfectionistic that it never gets out the door. That’s one of the big reasons I came up with the RPM Challenge (#namedropalert) when I was working at the Wire NH (RIP). Everybody was finally able to record themselves at home, and nobody (including me) was finishing anything. RPM was a place to build community and create a thought-construct that relieved the pressure of perfection.
Anyway. Action. You’ve got to take some. Be kind to yourself, identify the fear, trust people and yourself, do your best, and ship it…
Here are some other thoughts:
NO RUSH?
Go time? Cool. Take your time. Put the song down and leave it for a bit. Maybe you’re in a funk and you can’t hear it right now. Work on another song.
IN A RUSH? TRUST PEOPLE
Don’t have time? Cool. Who do you trust? Find some people who you trust, and ask them if it’s "there." Trust them. And let their feedback illuminate for you what you really think (because that happens too). Sometimes you need someone to take one side of an argument before you realize you just needed someone to give you permission to do what you already know is right.
One time, one of my teenagers asked me if they looked alright before heading out, and I said "yes." It didn’t magically shift their internal experience into complete confidence in themselves. I told them "you’ve got to find some people who, when you ask them if you look like a shlub and they say ‘no,’ you believe them. Then move into your day and act like they;re right - because we all need those people."
Not everybody shares the same musical sensibility. Not everybody knows what you’re going for. There isn’t a formula. At some point, all of this require risk and vulnerability.
WORST CASE?
At the end of the day, what’s the worst thing that happens? You put out a shit song? You’ll survive it. Steel Day has. (#zing! They’re so brave.). Jokes aside, who says we’re the ones who know all the things?
Me, today: Honesty, a good faith effort in alignment with my own creative values, and (often) input from trusted friends, and SHIP it.
You? What’s your guiding principle for moving through analysis paralysis.
During my brief and unremarkable career in HS lacrosse, I played the field when we were either up 30pts or down 30pts. I couldn’t change the outcome of the game, but I was apparently fun to watch; especially when paired against someone twice my size. No particular skill, but too stubborn to stop.
My coach loved it. He was fond of saying I “made the aggressive mistake;” which he was quick to point out was better, in the end, than inaction.
Make the aggressive mistake.