WHAT KEEPS YOU GOING?

For some reason, people often ask me what keeps me going? How do I stay motivated to write when I get so few songs cut in relation to the number of songs I write? I have come to believe that motivation is an internal force, not an external one. I don’t believe in “motivation”, at its core. Or some kind I can say that I don’t believe the motivation comes from any outside factors. I’m not more motivated to write if I get more cuts. I’m motivated to write by some internal force that will not be denied. There is a part of me that IS going to succeed no matter what. The part of me that write at least one new song every day, regardless of how many cuts I get. I just keep writing for matter of writing and when I write, every time I just try to write the best song I’ve ever written, and I don’t think of what to do with it next. When I think this way, I have nothing to be worried about and I can write with no stress nor any pressure.

​I have not always been that way. For most of my life, I have struggled with self-doubt and funnily I used to have extremely low confidence. I have talked myself out of doing so many things because my internal voice convinced me that I couldn’t do whatever I was thinking about attempting. So, I failed before I even tried. I didn’t even take the risk. I was defeated before I even gave myself a chance. Now, I have learned that I CAN do almost anything I decide to do as long as I lock my brain on it and put my full focus on it. I set realistic goals and I KNOW that I can achieve them if I work hard enough and long enough. So, I brace myself for the long haul and I put in the work. The result? 23, #1 songs and 185 cuts. Did they happen as quickly as I would have liked? No way!!! But they happened, nonetheless. I keep going because I KNOW that I can achieve great things. I’ve removed the boundaries on what I can achieve. I keep expecting more of myself, and I’ve delivered so far.
 
The honest truth is, you can too. It takes hard work. It takes dedication. It takes sacrifice. But, if you want it bad enough, you can achieve it. Don’t let outside forces motivate you. Find that within yourself. No one else can do it for you. Find that fire inside yourself and fan the flame. If you want something bad enough, you can probably achieve it. Don’t listen to the voices telling you that you can’t. Follow the voices telling you that anything is possible. Will you be an overnight success? Not likely. Can persistence and hard work translate into success down the road? Yes, they can. You can do this. Make a plan. Work your butt off. Continually improve your skill set. It’s not rocket science. Those who persevere come out on top. 

Author

Hangi Tavakoli is our in-house established and professional music producer with 20 years of experience in songwriting, music production, mix and mastering. He has written and produced more than 5,000 published songs to-date, including some major hits in international scale.