I've read a lot of posts here on staying motivated but personally there's only so much motivation can do for me. It's the lack of discipline that's been kicking my ass.
I'm not a lazy person. I graduated college last year with honors and a 3.9 GPA in biochem while holding a couple jobs-- but learning on my own with no criteria, no homework, no exams, no courses, no concrete path, no instructors who instantly answer questions, no study groups... I can go to sleep whenever I want, work on whatever I want, make excuses or give up whenever I hit a roadblock or feel tired of the project. I've made multiple schedules I tried to follow but with no repercussions, I've just neglected them after a while.
I feel helpless! Learning on my own is WAAAY different from being fed material through instructions built off a digestible path.
I feel a large part of it is that I'm literally on my own. No one I know personally is remotely related to any artistic career. My family doesnt support me. I've joined various internet forums (not this one yet, forgive me!) and discord channels, but it's not the same as a classroom setting where I'm almost forced to find a few study buddies (who are at my same level of knowledge) to partner up with and depend on to prepare for an exam.
Anyone have any experience on self-discipline who can share some secrets? I swear, if I had the option of having someone threaten my life with a crowbar on a daily basis to force me to not slack, I'd choose it. But the slacking is so tempting when there's no fire under my ass.
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Second, get people to hold you accountable. Doesn't have to be another artist, just tell one of your friends to shame you if you don't hit your deadlines. If that doesn't work, tell the friend you'll give them five hundred bucks if you don't hit your deadline.
Personal tips that a lot of people give is, set yourself 'work hours' to imbue some sort of routine. Join competitions and everything that gives you deadline. Make few creative friends, either online or in real life with whom you can regularly trade your work.
Quite frankly nothing pushes people into action more than having a whip on their back.
There's one more thing that you can do but from my experience, it can be hard to digest. Start streaming... but that can make work really difficult, especially when you aren't confident on your skills. (speaking from experience)
Our very own HazardousArt started this whole thing. We're in the middle of a competition right now. (About 30-40 days til deadline)
He also started a discord server (where artists chat, post 3d progress and getting feedback). Ask him for server invite.
Also, post link to folio. xD
If nothing else you'd essentially be accountable too others which may somewhat alleviate the absence of a routine and perhapes also instill a sense of self discipline into the bargain whilst at the same time maybe learn a thing or two along the way.
along with self discipline, consistency is key. together they build habits which are even more unbeatable than a ton of self discipline. get in the habit of every day sitting down at the same time to do work, even if its only for 30 mins. It will give you a sense of momentum and accomplishment, which builds self confidence. making lists of things to do and not doing them does the opposite and has been proven to destroy self confidence.
habits take about 30-60 days to take route, so say every day you sit down at your computer at 7pm to work, after a couple months you will probably find yourself requiring way less willpower to sit down and get started and it will just be part of your reality. Don't try and go 0-hero and force yourself to commit to 5 hours of cg work a night, thats gonna set yourself up to make a mountain out of an molehill. commit to 30 mins and if you are in the groove after that (flow state) just keep going. If you are not, dont feel bad about going and doing something else, you have already accomplished your pre-scribed 30 mins of work.
If you can delay gratification and stop letting your feelings influence your actions, you will be on the right track. The more you can start to enjoy the actual process of making art instead of only the finished end result/getting a job/money, the happier you will be.
there are a few great books on the subject that really helped me:
No Excuses: The Power of Self Discipline - Brian Tracey
Flow: the psychology of the optimal experience
The war of art - Steven Pressfield
The Dip - Seth Godin
Those are all worth a read for any creative, like I said, it's a common problem. A lot of people struggle when self employed, or working on their own stuff with no structure/boss/schedule etc.
Along with just being on my own, I think one big challenge is that there's no organization, both on a daily and long-term basis. I dont know what to study in what order. Instead of "okay, we're getting proficient at Zbrush basics and the workflow into Maya this month", for me it's "I want to make a car. Let's spend 2 weeks on this car-- and I've just wasted 2 weeks doing repetitive motions."
I think I have the passion but it's the rate at which I'm learning which is demoralizing. I've seen students who went an art school after I started and they're already landing jobs which shows just how sluggish my improvement is.
A game plan is something I really feel I need (i.e. a curriculum like below):
Lastly, you need to have time. There is some people who have every moment of their life jam packed with activity and deal with it well or even like it, but I think to really get your mind to focus on something you need to have your life in a place where you can sit down for five hours or more at a time on a regular basis and think about nothing but making your art. If you have other distractions going on, well, you get distracted and lose valuable time. I've been working 5-10 hour days 5-7 days a week for about 8 months now, doing nothing but learning and practicing 3d game art, and I wouldn't say I am a particularly disciplined person. What I have done is gotten things in order so that I can do this, and I have very specific goals that give me deadlines I have to work hard to meet. In the very beginning there was some conflict with me not focusingn and getting distracted and wandering off on the internet for hours at a time, but as I started to develop stronger goals and start believing in myself more, I just stopped with the distractions without really trying.
To help get over the hurdle of wandering off with video games or websurfing or whatever you do, try to develop a habit of reexamining your goals, and putting your current behavior into perspective. So you are about to start unwrapping a model, and you think, "ehhh, maybe I'll just check the news for a minute." So you start scrolling through your browser, and at some point you get that little feeling that you know you aren't doing what you ought to be doing. When you get that, stop what you are doing and think aout your goals. Do you really have enough time for this and still be able to meet your goals? If so, fine give yourself a break. But if that is the case, I'd say you need better goals. Remember, somewhere there is a young artist who is smarter and more talented than you. The only way to keep them from getting your dream job is to outwork them!
Also, to echo a few other folks, join an art challenge. I just entered my first one on attestation and it is a huge driver. You could also consider taking an online class through CGMA or something.