Compass for Creatives: enthusiasm, stress and relaxation, autonomy

Doesn’t it feel great when you put your heart and soul into something, music for example, and you feel the enthusiasm? You’re in a flow, the world is at your feet. This is what you need to succeed. How can enthusiasm slow you down??

The first version is the enthusiasm that I describe above. It’s the enthusiasm you feel after you’ve accomplished something. The inner fire is burning, you feel happy. You feel it when you succeed in a test, at your first live show, when getting great reviews on your new album or when playing your first show in front of thousands of people. You’ve done it, you feel proud and you radiate with enthusiasm.

I experienced it some days ago. I was prematurely enthusiastic with some shows that weren’t even confirmed yet. The expectation of the shows made me enthusiastic already. Until I got a mail that the drummer is not available on the proposed dates. The disappointment felt like a collapsing house of cards. The disappointment made it impossible to think straight. I couldn’t think of solutions to make the shows happen anyway.

Premature enthusiasm puts you in an emotional roller-coaster. The big feelings of enthusiasm and disappointment give you the illusion to be alive, to live life to the max. The emotional roller-coaster of premature enthusiasm asks a lot of time and energy.

It’s much more efficient to move right ahead. You will reach your goal much quicker, without getting so tired. Moving right ahead also means, that you have time and energy left to look at the surroundings. When you ride a bicycle in the mountains, you don’t have much time or energy left for anything but moving the bicycle. You have to stop to enjoy the view. In a flat country like the Netherlands you have time and energy left to look around you while driving.

When you want to be enthusiastic, you can better look around you to discover real reasons for becoming enthusiastic. I get enthusiastic from coming with the right ideas, from moving into the right direction. By the way, the shows I talked about will happen, with a guest drummer.

If you want a life without stress, don’t become an artist, don’t become a musician! As a musician, you better know how to deal with stress! You need stress if you want to be a good musician.

The most common form of stress is to live up to expectations – from others or from yourself. Don’t underestimate your own expectations. At all levels you meet expectations: how you want to sound, how you want to play your instrument, what kind of show the audiences wants to see, the number of sold tickets the venue needs to break even, the number of sold albums the label expects, and you can go on like this. Parallel there’s the expectation of old friends and family for you to stay the same as you’ve always been.

There are many different ways to deal with pressure. Let’s take a person who is grumpy towards you:

Pass it on: if someone is grumpy to you, you are grumpy to the next person you meet.
Return the pressure: if someone is grumpy to you, you are grumpy to that person.
Step aside: you avoid the grumpy person.
Give in: you take it personally and wonder what’s wrong with you.
Toss it with you: you feel the weight of all grumpy persons on earth on your shoulders.
Run away: you feel grumpy too and look for distractions so you don’t have to deal with it.

Our body reacts to stress with three different hormones. Stress gives you an immediate boost of adrenaline and norepinephrine. Your heart starts to beat faster and you become more aware, awake, focused. It can give you quite a rush!

A bit later the cortisol kicks in. This is the stage when you have to be careful because it’s not healthy in the long run. Too much cortisol can suppress the immune system, increase blood pressure and sugar, decrease libido, produce acne, contribute to obesity and more.

Stress gives you the necessary energy boost you need for a good performance or for the launch a new project.

Though it’s important to take time to relax afterwards. It’s the only way you can get rid of cortisol. If you don’t get rid of it, it will accumulate in your body, with the negative effects mentioned above.

If used regularly, a walk in the woods, listening to relaxing music or getting a good night sleep often will do the job. There are many more options, of course.

What’s your favorite way to relax?

When thinking about autonomy, I always think back to when I moved to Frankfurt. I was 19 and moved from a small village to the big city. It was a cold and sunny morning in October and I had just registered at the city council. When I was walking at Eiserner Steg towards the city center, it felt like the whole world is mine! It was an enormous outburst of freedom, independence, autonomy and love.

Does this sound extravagant and breaking-loose-from-social-obligations? Oh yes! And that is how every artist should feel. Social interdependence with others and with society will always be there. You want others to love you and your art, you want them to buy it. Being an artist means that you can put the thoughts of others about you aside when you create.

Being creative is hard to combine with financial autonomy. The cash flow of artists is very erratic, with many ups and downs. Many artists can’t manage and feel much better at a 9-5 job with a stable income. It secures their financial independence, which helps them to be as creative as possible in the spare time.

Autonomy also means, that you take responsibility for the artist inside yourself. You have to nurture your inner artist. Whatever other people might say, it’s your responsibility to stay creative, to stay restless and active. It doesn’t matter how successful you will be, the artist inside always wants more. More means to stay creative, to do something new, to leave your comfort zone, every time again.

Sports and other physical activity helps in being active on a creative and spiritual level. It took me quite long to realize that. Physical activity like gym or dancing, brings me in a good mood. It makes me feel mentally stronger and more flexible too.

Nurturing the artist inside and physical exercise can both help to move from stagnation to inspiration. We can only learn by doing. And than we suddenly see the joy of creating again


Hello , Did you ever think that enthusiasm can slow you down? I've experienced it last month. Read more about it in the first article. Musicians need stress when they want to perform at their best. They also need relaxation to remain healthy. That's what the second article is about. The third article complements with information about autonomy and how physical activity helps you feeling autonomous, a condition to create. On May 10 I start a new "Online workshop 5 empowerment tools for musicians". All the subjects below are part of the workshop too. Read more information here, also on how to register. Take care, enjoy the weekend, Hilde Spille	Index: How enthusiasm can slow you down Musicians need stress - and relaxation Grip on Creativity (11 of 14): Autonomy Calendar About Hilde Spille Connect Calendar May 10: "Online workshop 5 empowerment tools for musicians - Learn in 6 weeks how to move to an upward spiral towards success" After only 6 weeks: – you will have the right network to support your musical career – you will know your purpose, the flame that keeps you going on as musician – you will resonate with energy and will have found your own rhythm – you will go for it and make things happen – you will enjoy what you are doing with a positive mindset – you will know how to enter the upward spiral, using the 5 empowerment tools. See here for more information. The workshop is for upto 12 participants. About Hilde Spille Hilde Spille has worked at Paperclip Agency since 1995. As senior agent, she is booking Dutch and European tours for bands from all over the world. Names on her roster include(d) Chloe Charles, Jill Barber, John Watts, Balkan Beat Box, I Muvrini, Goran Bregovic. Paperclip Agency, facebook Hilde has become an international expert in the empowerment of musicians. In November 2015, IQ Magazine (of ILMC) featured an article of Hilde about how empowerment can help musicians who feel screwed by the music business. Dutch VVAO magazine published an article in December 2015 about how empowerment can help musicians to be flexible. Hilde's approach of combining her rich experience in the live music business with her accumulated knowledge from her master's degree in Cultural Psychology and her interest in books about (personal) leadership is quite unique. You can find the results in more than 150 posts on her blog Compass for Creatives, in the personal coaching of artists and in the workshops she developed. Compass for Creatives, facebook Connect Hilde Spille Paperclip Agency P.O. Box 1519 6501 BM Nijmegen the Netherlands T +31.24.323 9322 e-mail, facebook, twitter, linkedin If you like this newsletter, please feel free to forward it to anyone who you think might like it too. Thank you. © Hilde Spille
How enthusiasm can slow you down Doesn’t it feel great when you put your heart and soul into something, music for example, and you feel the enthusiasm? You’re in a flow, the world is at your feet. This is what you need to succeed. How can enthusiasm slow you down?? There are two different versions of enthusiasm. The first version is the enthusiasm that I describe above. It’s the enthusiasm you feel after you’ve accomplished something. The inner fire is burning, you feel happy. You feel it when you succeed in a test, at your first live show, when getting great reviews on your new album or when playing your first show in front of thousands of people. You’ve done it, you feel proud and you radiate with enthusiasm. The second version of enthusiasm slows you down. I experienced it some days ago. I was prematurely enthusiastic with some shows that weren’t even confirmed yet. The expectation of the shows made me enthusiastic already. Until I got a mail that the drummer is not available on the proposed dates. The disappointment felt like a collapsing house of cards. The disappointment made it impossible to think straight. I couldn’t think of solutions to make the shows happen anyway. Premature enthusiasm puts you in an emotional roller-coaster. The big feelings of enthusiasm and disappointment give you the illusion to be alive, to live life to the max. The emotional roller-coaster of premature enthusiasm asks a lot of time and energy. It’s much more efficient to move right ahead. You will reach your goal much quicker, without getting so tired. Moving right ahead also means, that you have time and energy left to look at the surroundings. When you ride a bicycle in the mountains, you don’t have much time or energy left for anything but moving the bicycle. You have to stop to enjoy the view. In a flat country like the Netherlands you have time and energy left to look around you while driving. When you want to be enthusiastic, you can better look around you to discover real reasons for becoming enthusiastic. I get enthusiastic from coming with the right ideas, from moving into the right direction. By the way, the shows I talked about will happen, with a guest drummer. Musicians need stress - and relaxation If you want a life without stress, don’t become an artist, don’t become a musician! As a musician, you better know how to deal with stress! You need stress if you want to be a good musician. The most common form of stress is to live up to expectations – from others or from yourself. Don’t underestimate your own expectations. At all levels you meet expectations: how you want to sound, how you want to play your instrument, what kind of show the audiences wants to see, the number of sold tickets the venue needs to break even, the number of sold albums the label expects, and you can go on like this. Parallel there’s the expectation of old friends and family for you to stay the same as you’ve always been. There are many different ways to deal with pressure. Let’s take a person who is grumpy towards you: Pass it on: if someone is grumpy to you, you are grumpy to the next person you meet. Return the pressure: if someone is grumpy to you, you are grumpy to that person. Step aside: you avoid the grumpy person. Give in: you take it personally and wonder what’s wrong with you. Toss it with you: you feel the weight of all grumpy persons on earth on your shoulders. Run away: you feel grumpy too and look for distractions so you don’t have to deal with it. Our body reacts to stress with three different hormones. Stress gives you an immediate boost of adrenaline and norepinephrine. Your heart starts to beat faster and you become more aware, awake, focused. It can give you quite a rush! A bit later the cortisol kicks in. This is the stage when you have to be careful because it’s not healthy in the long run. Too much cortisol can suppress the immune system, increase blood pressure and sugar, decrease libido, produce acne, contribute to obesity and more. Stress gives you the necessary energy boost you need for a good performance or for the launch a new project. Though it’s important to take time to relax afterwards. It’s the only way you can get rid of cortisol. If you don’t get rid of it, it will accumulate in your body, with the negative effects mentioned above. If used regularly, a walk in the woods, listening to relaxing music or getting a good night sleep often will do the job. There are many more options, of course. What’s your favorite way to relax? Grip on Creativity (11 of 14): Autonomy When thinking about autonomy, I always think back to when I moved to Frankfurt. I was 19 and moved from a small village to the big city. It was a cold and sunny morning in October and I had just registered at the city council. When I was walking at Eiserner Steg towards the city center, it felt like the whole world is mine! It was an enormous outburst of freedom, independence, autonomy and love. Does this sound extravagant and breaking-loose-from-social-obligations? Oh yes! And that is how every artist should feel. Social interdependence with others and with society will always be there. You want others to love you and your art, you want them to buy it. Being an artist means that you can put the thoughts of others about you aside when you create. Being creative is hard to combine with financial autonomy. The cash flow of artists is very erratic, with many ups and downs. Many artists can’t manage and feel much better at a 9-5 job with a stable income. It secures their financial independence, which helps them to be as creative as possible in the spare time. Autonomy also means, that you take responsibility for the artist inside yourself. You have to nurture your inner artist. Whatever other people might say, it’s your responsibility to stay creative, to stay restless and active. It doesn’t matter how successful you will be, the artist inside always wants more. More means to stay creative, to do something new, to leave your comfort zone, every time again. Sports and other physical activity helps in being active on a creative and spiritual level. It took me quite long to realize that. Physical activity like gym or dancing, brings me in a good mood. It makes me feel mentally stronger and more flexible too. Nurturing the artist inside and physical exercise can both help to move from stagnation to inspiration. We can only learn by doing. And than we suddenly see the joy of creating again

How enthusiasm can slow you down