Liya Swift by

Some creative individuals, often unknowingly or unquestioningly, operate under a “scarcity mindset” when it comes to getting ahead in their careers. That is to say, they view success as a finite commodity which leads them into viewing many of the people at their same level as “the competition.” For example, if you’re in the recording studio and the main audio engineer is delegating tasks to another assistant engineer, if you start perceiving that assistant engineer as a threat, you’re operating under a scarcity mindset, surmised with thoughts like: “If he’s doing it, then I can’t do it. He is the competition and I need to beat him.” From there, chances are, you’ll treat the other engineer in a less-than-accepting manner, striving to outdo him or maybe even limit his success, all because you have an artificial hierarchy in your head. This doesn’t help you get ahead. It only makes you look small and overly sensitive. For all you know, the head engineer could have a bigger, more specialized assignment he wants you to tackle, or maybe he wants to free you up to assist with the big band that’s coming in next week.

Follow this thought process through to its logical destination and it gets pretty deep. At its crux, your mindset has everything to do with how you perceive of situations and how you handle them as a result of those perceptions. Most people who find themselves operating within a scarcity mindset have certain fears and insecurities. If that’s you, don’t feel bad about it. Everyone has insecurities of one type or another. The key is to recognize them and to become aware of when your perceptions are being colored by fear-based thinking. A good rule of thumb: the moment you feel competitive towards another person, or find yourself feeling unhinged, breathe and ask yourself if you’re just being fearful. Soothe yourself by telling yourself something positive and go back to doing what you do in the best way possible.

The truth of the matter is that the music industry, film industry, and other creative industries are competitive. Nevertheless, viewing others as “the competition” limits your worldview and makes it much more difficult to see the opportunities that are right in front of you. The higher ups are looking for people who can collaborate and bring their own unique talents and positive attitudes to a project. If you can be a team player and work towards a common good, you’re someone people are going to feel at ease around, someone others can trust. Ultimately, making good music, good art is what it’s about. Contributing to behind the scenes drama is not the way to go. Acknowledge your fears, work to make yourself better, and in lieu of competing, put your efforts into creating, collaborating, and communicating in a positive manner.

At the end of the day we all want to be part of something amazing. We want to use our talents and see something we’ve had a hand in take off. Keep this in mind and think big and let the good stuff inspire you. Set your mind on making good work with people. Stay open to possibilities, options, alternatives, and creativity itself.

Hokey as it may sound, it all comes back to love. You’re doing what you do because you love it. Understandably, you’re going to care more about your creative work, then some dumb job that’s just helping you pay the bills. Because of this, you may encounter your own fears far more often than you have in other facets of your life. That is part of the journey. Choose to fuel your creative engine with the good stuff. Be hungry to do good work and make sure those you work with know your passion. Put the emphasis on being collaborative and interested in the work as opposed to seeming interesting or cool and being thrown off your purpose by competing with others. Stay true and let your world and mind be expansive and inclusive.

On Working in Recording

On Creatives and Creativity

On Film