[NeonBomb]

Yeah, it's non existent. See how I can't even construct a beneficial post?

[infpblog]

Now, I don't know if this happens to everyone, if it happens to INFPs, or if it is just me but..

I find myself having great ideas for art, movies, games (I'm currently studying Game Design at Uni) and other creative outlets. The problem is, unless it is for assessment, 99 times out of 100, I lose all motivation shortly after starting the project.

Anyone else have this?

Any tips for helping it? :P

Thanks

I think trying to make yourself more motivated doesn't work consistently. And then we feel bad and a bit confused when sometimes we can motivate ourselves for one project but then can't for another project. So I ended moving away from seeing it as a motivation issue where your trying to treat the symptom (lack of motivation).

The object is to let go of trying to do all of the ideas, because that's goal-oriented thinking which doesn't quite work for INFPs. We can't do everything nor should we. And according to the Pareto Principle only 20% of what we do produces 80% of our results. So it's not about accomplishing all the projects or even one of the projects and basking in the accomplishment of it which only gives you a good feeling for a day. It's about doing the project that's part of your Creative Self-Expression.

You move away from thinking of the result you're going to get when you finish the project like praise or self-worth for finishing a big project. Instead you do the projects that make you feel like yourself (which I know is vague but it's still very new to me and I'm still in experimentation phase). That project is part of your Creative Self-Expression where doing that project is part of who you are.

So it's not a motivation issue anymore because you're not so much doing a project as being yourself. And not doing the project makes you feel like you've moved away from your authenticity and are being fake and dishonest with yourself.

I write every day. I don't have to motivate myself to do it. Because not doing it wouldn't be me. It would take more effort not to be myself then it would be to start typing even if I write is nonsense and something I'll just throw out later. It's not about creating a result, but about being yourself.

Then there's another side of Creative Self-Expression where you try to find you Creative Self-Expression in things that "reality" forces on us like doing dishes or homework you don't get to choose. That's a whole different area that I'm still trying to figure out.

[Listener]

I don't think that is unusual. Far more common I imagine is to simply dismiss the idea upon originally thinking of it or very quickly after beginning work.

To me it's not necessarily a bad thing to not always follow through on a project. Some ideas just aren't that great. But at the same time creating something really great, something you'd truly be proud of is probably going to be extremely difficult and time consuming.

What exactly are you trying to express? Is there a common theme? If these ideas are just clever, or you think might be popular, it's not surprising that you'd lose motivation. If you don't truly believe in something, you'll need some kind of external motivation.

At the same time there is a great deal to be said for self discipline. For anything to go forward you'll have to have both some form of discipline and genuine passion.

[Sup3rSloth]

Thanks infpblog and Listener. Your replies are both really helpful.
I'm gonna seriously consider everything you both said.
Cheers :)