December 3, 2024 • 17 mins
Could social media be sabotaging your art practice? Join me, Matt Tommey, as I explore how platforms like Facebook and Instagram might be draining your creative energy and disrupting your artistic flow. I discuss the hidden pitfalls of mindless scrolling, which can create a false sense of productivity that detracts from genuine art-making and spiritual fulfillment. By understanding the impact of social media on your brain's reward system and recognizing the distractions it causes, you can reclaim your focus and foster a more rewarding and intentional artistic journey.
As someone who knows the challenges of managing social media, especially for those averse to conflict and change, I share effective strategies to help you set boundaries and maintain your creative focus. From scheduling specific times for social media engagement to prioritizing creation over consumption, I offer practical advice to help you cultivate habits that prioritize true artistic growth. By removing distractions and connecting with your spiritual and artistic purpose, you'll find greater fulfillment in your work. For more support in nurturing your creative habits, consider joining the Created to Thrive mentoring program. Listen in to transform your relationship with social media and enhance your artistic life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist, the
podcast, where we hope youconnect with God to bust through
the roadblocks that have heldyou back for years, create the
work you love and really livethe life you know.
God created you to live as anartist in His kingdom.
I'm Matt Tommey, your host.
Let's get started.
Well, hey there, my friend,Welcome to the podcast.
(00:24):
I'm Matt Tommy, your host, andsuper glad that you are here.
Listen, I want to talk todayabout social media, and there's
so much that we could say aboutsocial media, but I really want
to pose the question couldsocial media really be the thing
that's killing your artbusiness and even your art
practice?
Your art business and even yourart practice?
(00:45):
You know, I don't know aboutyou, but so many times I find
myself in the evenings or in themornings or just during the day
or at lunch or whenever.
Having some downtime in my handautomatically goes over to my
phone, grabs it, start scrollingFacebook, Instagram, whatever,
and you know, five minutes, 10minutes, 30 minutes go by and
you kind of come back toyourself and you're going what,
(01:07):
what am I doing like?
Why am I sitting heremindlessly scrolling, uh, this
machine that is in my hand,thinking that this is this thing
is making me, uh, more creative, when actually it's distracting
me from the very thing thatthat I need to be doing as an
artist.
And I think it's a crucialdiscussion for us as artists, as
(01:27):
we're all trying to learn tobalance this idea of studio
productivity and doing the thingof what we do as artists with
having an online presence andbeing out there in the world and
sharing our art.
And so I want to really diveinto this today, because, unless
you're getting this in your ownlife and really having a frank
(01:49):
discussion with yourself aboutthis, I guarantee you you're
letting a lot of hours andenergy and focus and creative
juice just drain out of yourlife through social media,
rather than pointing it in thedirection that it can be the
most not only fulfilling in yourlife, but also often sort of
(02:11):
this, you know, just responsethis automatic thing that I do
rather than it being apurposeful activity.
(02:35):
And you know, the funny thingabout this is is that it can
make you feel like you're beingproductive, like you're being
creative, like you're.
I'm doing art stuff I'm anartist, you know but what it
does actually is it creates thismirage of creativity in our
life and so, instead of usactually being involved in
(02:56):
meaningful creativity,meaningful artwork, meaningful
work of inspiration, meaningfuldevelopment of ideas in our
studio and in our art practice,we just scroll and we talk about
art stuff and we look at artthings and we look at other
artists.
But listen, there's a big, bigdifference between consuming art
(03:19):
products, consuming artinformation, consuming other
people, know other people's artonline on social media, looking
at all the stuff that othershave done, and actually creating
art yourself.
Listen, if you're an artist,you have to create art.
(03:39):
You can't just look at otherpeople's art.
You can't just be around otherartists.
You can't just go look at otherartists.
Yeah, that's a big part of itStaying inspired, knowing what's
going on out there in themarket, getting other ideas,
filling your imagination withall of the different things that
we need to bring us life.
But listen, if you're onlydoing that and if you're
(04:02):
allowing social media to be thisplace where you're just kind of
getting sucked down the hole ofthe digital algorithm and just
mindlessly scrolling TikTok orInstagram or Facebook and Reels
and all this kind of stuff, Ipromise you it's keeping you
from the thing that God's reallycreated you to do, which is
actually creating art and alsoactually hearing his voice for
(04:26):
your life.
I don't know about you, but whenmy life is filled with busyness
for the sake of busyness, whenI automatically go to social
media or television or Netflixor whatever it is you know for
you, just this mindless activity, when I automatically go to
that as my default, I'mautomatically saying to my, to
(04:49):
my brain and to my heart, andI'm teaching and I'm saying, hey
, this is what we do when we'refeeling empty.
This is what we do when we'refeeling alone.
This is what we do when we feellike we don't have any more.
Whatever we go, get refilledwith this thing.
We use this thing.
Whatever that thing is,whatever that strategy is, we
(05:10):
use that to refill.
Well, I don't know about you,but that's probably one of the
worst things that you and I cando to refill and to re-energize
ourselves is to fill ourselveswith social media.
Why?
Because, number one, we allknow it's a time drain, right?
I mean, you know, if you reallywant to, you know, get get
(05:31):
crazy with it.
Do a time diary of the timethat you are spending on social
media every week.
You I don't know if you havethat on your phone.
I have that on my phone whereevery Sunday morning it comes up
and said you spent X amount ofhours on on your phone, uh, this
week.
Well, 99% of the time that I'mspending on my phone is not in
meaningful work, it's socialmedia or it's doing other things
(05:54):
you know that are not thatimportant.
So look at that, realize youknow that's a huge time drain
for you.
Number two it is that lack offocus.
It's fragmenting our attention.
It's given us these constantdopamine hits which are telling
us that the more you do this,the more you're going to get
response and reward which isdriving us as humans to do that
(06:17):
thing again.
Well, I don't know about you,but when I first started being
an artist and when I'm really inthe place of flow, I get a huge
dopamine hit from that.
But if I'm constantly trainingmy brain to get that reward and
fulfillment from social mediaand just from scrolling the feed
, then guess what my body, yourbrain literally, is being
(06:41):
trained to want to do that, tobe drawn to do that, more than
it is to create art.
And then the third thing I thinkit does for all of us is it
throws us in this comparisontrap of this constant feelings
of inadequacy, where you'remeasuring yourself against these
sort of you know, curatedhighlights of other artists
(07:04):
maybe that are top of their game, or they're the best of the
best, or the most famous or themost successful or whatever and
when you're looking at thatyou're like, oh, that's so
beautiful.
And then you're like, I suck,my work will never be like that.
Or you're not able to enjoywhat you're creating because
always in the back of your mindthere's this thing that I'm not
(07:24):
enough and so I'll just keeplooking at all this stuff and
comparing myself to that, ratherthan actually getting in the
studio and actually, you know,doing the work that you need to
be doing.
It's a huge, huge, huge issuefor us as artists is not just
(07:48):
the comparison trap and not justthe lack of focus, but this
idea that you know it is movingus away from the work that
matters the most in our life.
If you're not creating art andbeing in the creative process as
an artist, you're not doing thething that God has called you
(08:09):
to do.
You know, the core of being anartist is creating in the studio
.
It is refining your skills andproducing meaningful work.
And so this, this mirage of thatyou know that social media
creates, gives us the illusionthat we're building a business,
gives us the illusion that, ohwell, I'm, I'm getting likes and
comments and shares and allthat kind of stuff.
(08:30):
But listen, how many of youactually are doing the work that
it takes to determine if thatis actually producing dollars in
your pocket?
We talk about this all the timein the mentoring program and in
fact I did a whole segment thisyear on building your business
without social media, becausejust doing social media does not
(08:50):
mean that it's producinganything for your business and
it could be just like we'resaying, you know, completely
sucking your time, completelyputting you in the comparison
trap, completely unfocusing youand refocusing you on things
that don't matter.
And so you know, just becauseyou're posting all the time and
scrolling all the time and andall that sort of thing does not
(09:11):
mean that you're building abusiness.
You may be building a group offollowers that just want to be
you.
I found that to be true in myown social media.
Rarely are the people thatcomment on my social media
people that actually want to buyanything from me.
They're just people that likeme, people that think what I do
is nice, people that think thatwhat I do is beautiful, but
they're not buying anything.
Well, I don't know about you.
(09:31):
That may feel good, but thatmeans nothing to my business.
But it creates this mirage that, oh, I'm busy, I'm doing stuff
and pretty soon as I'm on theredoing all these things that you
know, I just I think they'regoing to produce it, but I'm not
really measuring it.
Then, as I actually startlooking at it, not only is it
(09:54):
not measuring, not only is itnot producing.
Now it's pulling me down thewhole of the algorithm and I'm
getting unfocused, distracted,all this stuff, and it's keeping
me away from the work thatmatters.
Also, I mean, come on, thisreally can become a big, big
distraction from keeping us fromhearing God's voice and
aligning with his purposes forour art.
(10:15):
Why?
Because anytime that we'refeeling down, anytime that we're
feeling bored, anytime thatwe're feeling anything that's
less than the dopamine hitpromise, what do we do?
We go back to the source thatis giving us life.
We go back to the source thatis giving us pleasure.
We go back to the source thatis giving us pleasure, which for
many, many people nowadays, issocial media.
(10:35):
Oh, but Matt, it's justFacebook, oh, but I just like to
veg out every now and then Iget that I turn.
So do I.
But all of us have to berealistic about how much is the
scroll actually the determiningour focus and our plans and our
desires in our life, rather thanusing that as a tool, keeping
(11:00):
it within a box that actuallyworks for us and intentionally
crafting and creating a life ofcreativity that works for us and
that gives us life as artists?
And so I want to give you acouple of things that I think
that, will you know, help you tobegin to have this conversation
with with yourself.
I don't know if you're like me,but I tend to be kind of an
(11:23):
avoidance person.
I don't like conflict.
I don't like change necessarily.
I like to kind of keep myrhythm.
So anytime I'm trying to tomake a change, it is not
necessarily a fun thing in mylife.
I usually let it get to a pointwhere I'm like, okay, I've got
to do something about this, andso the first thing I would say
is set some clear boundaries inyour life for social media use.
(11:47):
In other words, schedule somespecific times for posting and
engagement that are going tohelp your business?
All right, Use you know aschedule for yourself.
Are going to help your business?
All right, Uh, use you know aschedule for yourself.
Put it on your calendar.
Hey, I'm going to use this 30minutes to post and check up on
social media, uh, in the morningand at night, and that's it.
Or 10 minutes here, 10 minutesthere, All right.
(12:08):
Remember, social media is atool for you, it's not a master,
and it certainly doesn't needto be just the default thing
that you go to as a reaction toboredom.
Number two, I would say createbefore you consume, and we've
talked about this so much in thementoring program, about
(12:29):
creating a social media plan,creating a marketing calendar
for yourself.
So, start each day focused withstudio time, Start each day
with being inspired, Start eachday with your time with the Lord
and really, really focus on thethings that matter the most.
Those are the things that buildmomentum, that establish
(12:52):
discipline in your life, thatreally ground your day in the
creative focus that you havewith the Lord and being able to
hear His voice.
Do the thing that he's calledyou to do and then, if you got
to focus on social media for alittle bit, for your business,
or you want to share something,or whatever it is, do that
afterwards, but don't let thatbe the first thing that your
(13:14):
hand hits when you wake up inthe morning.
It just becomes an empty wellthat you keep going back to day
after day after day.
And then number three, I wouldsay measure success by creation,
not engagement.
In other words, start trackingthe hours that you're spending
in the studio creating everyweek, versus spending that time
(13:37):
on social media.
All right, Set some specificcreative goals.
I want to create X pieces thisweek.
I'm getting ready for a show.
I got to produce this.
I want to go, be inspired bythis activity or that activity.
I'm going to go for me, youknow, harvest some new materials
.
I'm going to have a play timethis week and just experiment
with, with new materials.
Let those things be your goalsand and put those into your
(14:02):
regular schedule, rather thanhaving all this empty time that
you're just automaticallydefaulting to social media,
automatically distractingyourself with the scroll and
listen.
If at all possible, do not, donot, do not have your phone in
the studio with you.
Now some of you say well, mykids need to be, I need to be
(14:24):
able to get my kid.
Okay, whatever, I get that, buthave it in a place or at least
have the notifications turnedoff where you're not listening
to and checking that thing overand over and over again.
Why?
Because you're disjointing yourcreative flow and you're
literally keeping yourself awayfrom the thing that God's trying
(14:46):
to do in and through you, whichis flow, his life and his light
, his transformative power inand through you and through the
work that you create.
Listen, just like everything inour life and I know it's like I
don't need one more piece ofintentionality in my life, man I
just want downtime sometimes Iget it.
I get it, but we all got to berealistic about the things that
(15:12):
we're doing in our life and arethey really giving us the
results that we want?
And for me, social media is oneof those things I have to keep
in a big, big check.
So maybe this week is a week foryou to maybe try a different
strategy that we've talked abouthere on the podcast.
Instead of just having yourphone out everywhere, having it
in the studio when you'recreating, set it to the side,
(15:35):
Actually create some creativegoals and use your time more
wisely in a way that you know isgoing to bring you life in a
way that you know is going tobring you true fulfillment and
true focus toward the thingsthat you know that God has for
you as an artist.
Also, listen, if you need morehelp in this whole process of
(15:58):
developing great habits andpractices as an artist, of
actually taking your dream ofbeing a working full-time artist
or maybe just a part-timeartist into becoming a reality,
we can help you inside Createdto Thrive, and I'd love to do
that in a place when you'reready to get started.
I'd love to do that in a placewhen you're ready to get started
.
You can click the link that'sright here in the show notes and
(16:19):
find out everything you need toknow about the created to
thrive artist mentoring program.
I love you, my friend.
Remember your greatest work iswaiting for you in the studio,
not on your screen.
I love you until next time.
Remember you were created tothrive.
Bye, hey.
Thanks so much for spending afew minutes with me today on the
(16:40):
podcast Listen.
I hope it's been a hugeencouragement to you on your
journey as an artist.
Hey, also, before you leave,make sure to hit the subscribe
button so you don't miss any ofthe other episodes of the
Thriving Christian Artistpodcast, and also be sure to
connect with me on Facebook,Instagram or at my website,
which is matttommymentoringcom.
Until next time, remember youwere created to thrive.
(17:04):
Bye-bye, Thank you.
Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist, the
podcast, where we hope youconnect with God to bust through
the roadblocks that have heldyou back for years, create the
work you love and really livethe life you know.
God created you to live as anartist in His kingdom.
I'm Matt Tommey, your host.
Let's get started.
Well, hey there, my friend,Welcome to the podcast.
(00:24):
I'm Matt Tommy, your host, andsuper glad that you are here.
Listen, I want to talk todayabout social media, and there's
so much that we could say aboutsocial media, but I really want
to pose the question couldsocial media really be the thing
that's killing your artbusiness and even your art
practice?
Your art business and even yourart practice?
(00:45):
You know, I don't know aboutyou, but so many times I find
myself in the evenings or in themornings or just during the day
or at lunch or whenever.
Having some downtime in my handautomatically goes over to my
phone, grabs it, start scrollingFacebook, Instagram, whatever,
and you know, five minutes, 10minutes, 30 minutes go by and
you kind of come back toyourself and you're going what,
(01:07):
what am I doing like?
Why am I sitting heremindlessly scrolling, uh, this
machine that is in my hand,thinking that this is this thing
is making me, uh, more creative, when actually it's distracting
me from the very thing thatthat I need to be doing as an
artist.
And I think it's a crucialdiscussion for us as artists, as
(01:27):
we're all trying to learn tobalance this idea of studio
productivity and doing the thingof what we do as artists with
having an online presence andbeing out there in the world and
sharing our art.
And so I want to really diveinto this today, because, unless
you're getting this in your ownlife and really having a frank
(01:49):
discussion with yourself aboutthis, I guarantee you you're
letting a lot of hours andenergy and focus and creative
juice just drain out of yourlife through social media,
rather than pointing it in thedirection that it can be the
most not only fulfilling in yourlife, but also often sort of
(02:11):
this, you know, just responsethis automatic thing that I do
rather than it being apurposeful activity.
(02:35):
And you know, the funny thingabout this is is that it can
make you feel like you're beingproductive, like you're being
creative, like you're.
I'm doing art stuff I'm anartist, you know but what it
does actually is it creates thismirage of creativity in our
life and so, instead of usactually being involved in
(02:56):
meaningful creativity,meaningful artwork, meaningful
work of inspiration, meaningfuldevelopment of ideas in our
studio and in our art practice,we just scroll and we talk about
art stuff and we look at artthings and we look at other
artists.
But listen, there's a big, bigdifference between consuming art
(03:19):
products, consuming artinformation, consuming other
people, know other people's artonline on social media, looking
at all the stuff that othershave done, and actually creating
art yourself.
Listen, if you're an artist,you have to create art.
(03:39):
You can't just look at otherpeople's art.
You can't just be around otherartists.
You can't just go look at otherartists.
Yeah, that's a big part of itStaying inspired, knowing what's
going on out there in themarket, getting other ideas,
filling your imagination withall of the different things that
we need to bring us life.
But listen, if you're onlydoing that and if you're
(04:02):
allowing social media to be thisplace where you're just kind of
getting sucked down the hole ofthe digital algorithm and just
mindlessly scrolling TikTok orInstagram or Facebook and Reels
and all this kind of stuff, Ipromise you it's keeping you
from the thing that God's reallycreated you to do, which is
actually creating art and alsoactually hearing his voice for
(04:26):
your life.
I don't know about you, but whenmy life is filled with busyness
for the sake of busyness, whenI automatically go to social
media or television or Netflixor whatever it is you know for
you, just this mindless activity, when I automatically go to
that as my default, I'mautomatically saying to my, to
(04:49):
my brain and to my heart, andI'm teaching and I'm saying, hey
, this is what we do when we'refeeling empty.
This is what we do when we'refeeling alone.
This is what we do when we feellike we don't have any more.
Whatever we go, get refilledwith this thing.
We use this thing.
Whatever that thing is,whatever that strategy is, we
(05:10):
use that to refill.
Well, I don't know about you,but that's probably one of the
worst things that you and I cando to refill and to re-energize
ourselves is to fill ourselveswith social media.
Why?
Because, number one, we allknow it's a time drain, right?
I mean, you know, if you reallywant to, you know, get get
(05:31):
crazy with it.
Do a time diary of the timethat you are spending on social
media every week.
You I don't know if you havethat on your phone.
I have that on my phone whereevery Sunday morning it comes up
and said you spent X amount ofhours on on your phone, uh, this
week.
Well, 99% of the time that I'mspending on my phone is not in
meaningful work, it's socialmedia or it's doing other things
(05:54):
you know that are not thatimportant.
So look at that, realize youknow that's a huge time drain
for you.
Number two it is that lack offocus.
It's fragmenting our attention.
It's given us these constantdopamine hits which are telling
us that the more you do this,the more you're going to get
response and reward which isdriving us as humans to do that
(06:17):
thing again.
Well, I don't know about you,but when I first started being
an artist and when I'm really inthe place of flow, I get a huge
dopamine hit from that.
But if I'm constantly trainingmy brain to get that reward and
fulfillment from social mediaand just from scrolling the feed
, then guess what my body, yourbrain literally, is being
(06:41):
trained to want to do that, tobe drawn to do that, more than
it is to create art.
And then the third thing I thinkit does for all of us is it
throws us in this comparisontrap of this constant feelings
of inadequacy, where you'remeasuring yourself against these
sort of you know, curatedhighlights of other artists
(07:04):
maybe that are top of their game, or they're the best of the
best, or the most famous or themost successful or whatever and
when you're looking at thatyou're like, oh, that's so
beautiful.
And then you're like, I suck,my work will never be like that.
Or you're not able to enjoywhat you're creating because
always in the back of your mindthere's this thing that I'm not
(07:24):
enough and so I'll just keeplooking at all this stuff and
comparing myself to that, ratherthan actually getting in the
studio and actually, you know,doing the work that you need to
be doing.
It's a huge, huge, huge issuefor us as artists is not just
(07:48):
the comparison trap and not justthe lack of focus, but this
idea that you know it is movingus away from the work that
matters the most in our life.
If you're not creating art andbeing in the creative process as
an artist, you're not doing thething that God has called you
(08:09):
to do.
You know, the core of being anartist is creating in the studio
.
It is refining your skills andproducing meaningful work.
And so this, this mirage of thatyou know that social media
creates, gives us the illusionthat we're building a business,
gives us the illusion that, ohwell, I'm, I'm getting likes and
comments and shares and allthat kind of stuff.
(08:30):
But listen, how many of youactually are doing the work that
it takes to determine if thatis actually producing dollars in
your pocket?
We talk about this all the timein the mentoring program and in
fact I did a whole segment thisyear on building your business
without social media, becausejust doing social media does not
(08:50):
mean that it's producinganything for your business and
it could be just like we'resaying, you know, completely
sucking your time, completelyputting you in the comparison
trap, completely unfocusing youand refocusing you on things
that don't matter.
And so you know, just becauseyou're posting all the time and
scrolling all the time and andall that sort of thing does not
(09:11):
mean that you're building abusiness.
You may be building a group offollowers that just want to be
you.
I found that to be true in myown social media.
Rarely are the people thatcomment on my social media
people that actually want to buyanything from me.
They're just people that likeme, people that think what I do
is nice, people that think thatwhat I do is beautiful, but
they're not buying anything.
Well, I don't know about you.
(09:31):
That may feel good, but thatmeans nothing to my business.
But it creates this mirage that, oh, I'm busy, I'm doing stuff
and pretty soon as I'm on theredoing all these things that you
know, I just I think they'regoing to produce it, but I'm not
really measuring it.
Then, as I actually startlooking at it, not only is it
(09:54):
not measuring, not only is itnot producing.
Now it's pulling me down thewhole of the algorithm and I'm
getting unfocused, distracted,all this stuff, and it's keeping
me away from the work thatmatters.
Also, I mean, come on, thisreally can become a big, big
distraction from keeping us fromhearing God's voice and
aligning with his purposes forour art.
(10:15):
Why?
Because anytime that we'refeeling down, anytime that we're
feeling bored, anytime thatwe're feeling anything that's
less than the dopamine hitpromise, what do we do?
We go back to the source thatis giving us life.
We go back to the source thatis giving us pleasure.
We go back to the source thatis giving us pleasure, which for
many, many people nowadays, issocial media.
(10:35):
Oh, but Matt, it's justFacebook, oh, but I just like to
veg out every now and then Iget that I turn.
So do I.
But all of us have to berealistic about how much is the
scroll actually the determiningour focus and our plans and our
desires in our life, rather thanusing that as a tool, keeping
(11:00):
it within a box that actuallyworks for us and intentionally
crafting and creating a life ofcreativity that works for us and
that gives us life as artists?
And so I want to give you acouple of things that I think
that, will you know, help you tobegin to have this conversation
with with yourself.
I don't know if you're like me,but I tend to be kind of an
(11:23):
avoidance person.
I don't like conflict.
I don't like change necessarily.
I like to kind of keep myrhythm.
So anytime I'm trying to tomake a change, it is not
necessarily a fun thing in mylife.
I usually let it get to a pointwhere I'm like, okay, I've got
to do something about this, andso the first thing I would say
is set some clear boundaries inyour life for social media use.
(11:47):
In other words, schedule somespecific times for posting and
engagement that are going tohelp your business?
All right, Use you know aschedule for yourself.
Are going to help your business?
All right, Uh, use you know aschedule for yourself.
Put it on your calendar.
Hey, I'm going to use this 30minutes to post and check up on
social media, uh, in the morningand at night, and that's it.
Or 10 minutes here, 10 minutesthere, All right.
(12:08):
Remember, social media is atool for you, it's not a master,
and it certainly doesn't needto be just the default thing
that you go to as a reaction toboredom.
Number two, I would say createbefore you consume, and we've
talked about this so much in thementoring program, about
(12:29):
creating a social media plan,creating a marketing calendar
for yourself.
So, start each day focused withstudio time, Start each day
with being inspired, Start eachday with your time with the Lord
and really, really focus on thethings that matter the most.
Those are the things that buildmomentum, that establish
(12:52):
discipline in your life, thatreally ground your day in the
creative focus that you havewith the Lord and being able to
hear His voice.
Do the thing that he's calledyou to do and then, if you got
to focus on social media for alittle bit, for your business,
or you want to share something,or whatever it is, do that
afterwards, but don't let thatbe the first thing that your
(13:14):
hand hits when you wake up inthe morning.
It just becomes an empty wellthat you keep going back to day
after day after day.
And then number three, I wouldsay measure success by creation,
not engagement.
In other words, start trackingthe hours that you're spending
in the studio creating everyweek, versus spending that time
(13:37):
on social media.
All right, Set some specificcreative goals.
I want to create X pieces thisweek.
I'm getting ready for a show.
I got to produce this.
I want to go, be inspired bythis activity or that activity.
I'm going to go for me, youknow, harvest some new materials
.
I'm going to have a play timethis week and just experiment
with, with new materials.
Let those things be your goalsand and put those into your
(14:02):
regular schedule, rather thanhaving all this empty time that
you're just automaticallydefaulting to social media,
automatically distractingyourself with the scroll and
listen.
If at all possible, do not, donot, do not have your phone in
the studio with you.
Now some of you say well, mykids need to be, I need to be
(14:24):
able to get my kid.
Okay, whatever, I get that, buthave it in a place or at least
have the notifications turnedoff where you're not listening
to and checking that thing overand over and over again.
Why?
Because you're disjointing yourcreative flow and you're
literally keeping yourself awayfrom the thing that God's trying
(14:46):
to do in and through you, whichis flow, his life and his light
, his transformative power inand through you and through the
work that you create.
Listen, just like everything inour life and I know it's like I
don't need one more piece ofintentionality in my life, man I
just want downtime sometimes Iget it.
I get it, but we all got to berealistic about the things that
(15:12):
we're doing in our life and arethey really giving us the
results that we want?
And for me, social media is oneof those things I have to keep
in a big, big check.
So maybe this week is a week foryou to maybe try a different
strategy that we've talked abouthere on the podcast.
Instead of just having yourphone out everywhere, having it
in the studio when you'recreating, set it to the side,
(15:35):
Actually create some creativegoals and use your time more
wisely in a way that you know isgoing to bring you life in a
way that you know is going tobring you true fulfillment and
true focus toward the thingsthat you know that God has for
you as an artist.
Also, listen, if you need morehelp in this whole process of
(15:58):
developing great habits andpractices as an artist, of
actually taking your dream ofbeing a working full-time artist
or maybe just a part-timeartist into becoming a reality,
we can help you inside Createdto Thrive, and I'd love to do
that in a place when you'reready to get started.
I'd love to do that in a placewhen you're ready to get started
.
You can click the link that'sright here in the show notes and
(16:19):
find out everything you need toknow about the created to
thrive artist mentoring program.
I love you, my friend.
Remember your greatest work iswaiting for you in the studio,
not on your screen.
I love you until next time.
Remember you were created tothrive.
Bye, hey.
Thanks so much for spending afew minutes with me today on the
(16:40):
podcast Listen.
I hope it's been a hugeencouragement to you on your
journey as an artist.
Hey, also, before you leave,make sure to hit the subscribe
button so you don't miss any ofthe other episodes of the
Thriving Christian Artistpodcast, and also be sure to
connect with me on Facebook,Instagram or at my website,
which is matttommymentoringcom.
Until next time, remember youwere created to thrive.
(17:04):
Bye-bye, Thank you.
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