Managing Expectations

In partnership with

Daniel Johnston

For those who don't know him, Daniel Johnston was an incredible artist. You might recognize his merch by now; his image has gotten that big. Kurt Cobain famously wore one of his shirts, and being in Japan recently and seeing how much of his stuff was everywhere was absolutely nuts. He's been dead for about seven years. I was lucky enough to work with him on two different recording occasions. He was a beautiful man.

I rewatched the documentary about him last night. In my opinion, it's one of the most universally loved music documentaries out there, regardless of whether you like his music. It's just incredibly well done. Daniel was very clearly neurodivergent and did a lot of drugs, but he had these profound, simple thoughts. That's a lot of why people love his lyrics. "True Love Will Find You in the End" is one of the most beautiful songs ever written, and it works because of how simply it puts it.

Rewatching that documentary lined up with something my wife and I have been working on with our consulting clients lately, and I'm really seeing it transform people. The way Johnston talked about creating.

Stop thinking about creating and just create

I truly believe we all spend too much time thinking about creating. I'm not saying we shouldn't think about what we're going to make or be intentional about it. That's literally the point of the artist development workbook I've been making. But the thinking isn't the only thing that matters. How we actually create, and what our intent is when we create, matters too.

A lot of people ask me about how to be effective creatively. Most assume there's some formula for making a great song, like if you check certain boxes, you'll get one. Usually, it isn't that. Usually, you're chasing a specific emotion or feeling, and you're trying to get the song closer to that thing. The intent you bring into writing or making a short-form video works the same way.

The people commenting are not happy

I had a consult this week with someone who's totally consumed by what everyone thinks. I keep coming back to the point we covered in last week's piece, which is that the majority of people commenting on posts are unhappy older men. So when you let those comments shape your creative decisions, you're letting unhappy people drive the bus.

The most transformative thing I'm seeing with consulting clients is that they end up happier with what they make and happier as people. The simple practice that gets them there is creating things with no expectation that you'll ever even put them out.

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