Wanting to write a song, but having trouble getting motivated?

 Try these three simple fixes to jumpstart your soul into greater creativity and output.

Photo by Hailey Reed on Unsplash

I recently subscribed to an app called WeCroak. Its website says, “The WeCroak app is inspired by a Bhutanese folk saying: to be a happy person, one must contemplate death five times daily.” So, as promised, five times each day I receive a reminder of my eventual demise in the form of a brief quote from poets, sages, and songwriters. It’s oddly encouraging. The app actually inspires me to wake up a little to the possibilities right in front of me today before ICroak. It makes me want to do something good with every moment I have left, like spend some time with my family or write a great song.

Funny how remembering that “time and tide waits for no man” can motivate us into doing the very thing we say we want to do. How many of us want to write books, but never do? But when we realize that time itself will eventually run out for us, we get jiggy, or, at least a little jiggier.

If you’ve been in a writing slump and find yourself demotivated, try WeCroak and meditate on these three simple mind shifts to get back in gear.

#1 Remember that inspiration is always under your control. Yep, it’s true. Your hand is the only one on the inspo-throttle. It’s not even GOD’S responsibility to inspire you. You get to decide which year, month, week, day, minute, and second you want to engage with that built-in thing called “spirit” that is the seat of inspiration. God has built inspiration into the fabric of your being. It’s always there to engage with when you’re ready. We’ve virtually abandoned this concept from John 15, if you remember, where Jesus promised that HE would live in us in the form of the Holy Spirit. There is no greater inspiration. 

#2 Lose the fear factor. I never liked that tv show called “Fear Factor.” Not that I’m squeamish (okay, I am about certain things), but it just never looked like fun to get a thousand Tarantulas dumped on my face. When it comes to songwriting, I’ve found a lot of people lose motivation out of the fear of failing. They never finish songs because they subconsciously fear rejection if someone doesn’t like it. Well, guess what. You’ll never write anything significant until you can increase your output. Being willing to fail is a real key to success. Lose the fear, write more, win more.

#3 Take control of your time again. When people tell me they don’t have time to write, I know that they just don’t want to write badly enough to make the time to do it. You make time to do the things you love. Stop saying you’re “called” to write if you never answer the phone. Find the courage to seize control of your time if you’re really called to write, okay? Time is no excuse. You can watch America’s Got Talent on demand. It will be there. You can never get this day back, so why not use it to do something actually worthwhile?

I think it’d be great to have an app that sends me five Scriptures a day to motivate me to be my best in life. If you know of a good one, drop me a line at info@nashvillechristiansongwriters.com or drop a comment here. I’d love to know what you use to stay motivated by the Word.