If there’s one thing my daughter loves to do, it’s anything artsy. It’s very rare for her to go a day without drawing, painting, or coloring something. Many people start out life like my daughter, confident of their artistic skills, but as they get older that confidence fizzles as their work is criticized and eventually they stop. That may or may not describe you.

This Week’s Artistic Exercise

This week it’s time to get back to that childlike confidence and express your creativity in a way you may not normally do. Every day, paint or color something whether it’s freehand or something in a coloring book. Don’t worry about what other’s might think since you’re the only one who has to see it!

Here are some freehand ideas – something you can see, something you’re feeling, a favorite childhood memory, something using only one crayon/color, a place you want to go, a picture based on one of your favorite songs, a picture showing where you want to end up with your music.

If you know a kid who loves art, have them join you and do this activity together!

Challenge: Dare to Fail

Are you afraid of failure? Are you afraid no one will like your songs, your lyrics, your music? If you are, you’re definitely not alone. It’s hard to pour your heart into something only to have it ignored or even mocked. But failure doesn’t have to be the end, if you learn from it, it can be a step toward success. Failure helps creativity, it improves it.

Today, along with your weekly creative exercise, I dare you to fail musically. Take a song you’ve been wanting to work on and do it, today. You’ll make more progress writing 100 bad songs and figuring out why they are bad than trying to write that one perfect song.

Here are some tips to help you overcome your songwriting fears.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

– Thomas Edison

“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”

– Winston Churchill

“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.”

– D.L. Moody

“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter.” - D.L. Moody Click To Tweet