29: Creative Input Vs Creative Output

If you aren't aware of your creative input vs creative output ratio you are going to run into a number of problems when it comes to finishing songs.

If you are doing more input than output it means you aren't implementing what you are learning, you are just digesting information, and information rarely leads to transformation. Implementation requires a lot more mental energy , which is why we prefer to consume.

So what is input & what is output?

In simple terms input is the information you take in. This can be watching tutorials, speaking with a coach or even reading this post. Output is what you are putting out into the world. Output is the only way your voice gets heard. A life with input alone will leave you with your music still in you. You don't want to die having never shared your art with the world.

Dopamine: The brain's reward system

There is nothing inherently wrong with input, but we need to understand our brain's reward system.

See, our actions are largely motivated by a reward system, typically dopamine.

When we receive new information, we get a dopamine hit, the feel good drug our body creates.

All addictions are based on a reward system. People don't repeat bad habits because they are stupid, it's because they keep getting rewarded with dopamine.

The problem is, it's very hard to get ourselves to delay the reward system when there are so many ways to get a quick fix. Social media is borderline evil in the way they reward you for doing almost nothing.

When you get a reward for doing next to nothing, where is your motivation for implementation & creative output?

Most music producers get stuck in the input cycle. More videos, more blogs, more forums, more social media, more plugins, more hardware etc...

This feeds the reward system & makes you feel like you accomplished something. Sadly, this steals your drive to actually create.

The problem is that the reward system for creative output is a delayed reward. Sometimes the reward for your output is less than you had expected or hoped for. In order to stay motivated to create, we must starve the brain of it's quick dopamine fixes & feed it more meaningful but delayed rewards for accomplishing something of importance... Your art.

You reading this right now is input for you, but for me it is output & I can't predict how you will respond to this. There will certainly be a dopamine reward for the feeling or finishing this & then posting. That is the output. Me waiting around to see the reactions, likes & comments is input & that can become dangerously addictive.

If you're not careful, you can easily get into the habit of waiting for reactions to your old art instead of investing your energy into creating more output... or new art.

Very likely, your current creative input to output ratio is 90/10. This mean for every 100 minutes, you spend 90 of those minutes sourcing & consuming information & only 10 minutes actually working on your art.

Ideally you would like to have 80% output and 20% input. Even the best of us don't live up to this, but it's a great practice if you want to be among the top 5% of music producers.

31: Write Like You're Rehearsing