What motivates people, how they find their passion, cultivate creativity and persevere is fascinating. Some individuals seem to magically have it all figured out. Those in the public eye can particularly appear to practice their passions effortlessly. But more often than not, the reality is they encounter the same struggles and roadblocks as everyone else. They have to put in the hard work to remain productive, prolific and happy. Stoking creativity and passion requires constant maintenance, deliberate and sustained effort.
To learn more, I chatted with Canadian singer-songwriter WiL, a name he’s gone by professionally for 30-years. He’s earned a metaphorical PhD in these arts and was kind enough to share his journey, experience remaining creative, keeping his passion burning brightly and how he perseveres. Have a listen to our conversation. I guarantee it’s worth your time. And the ending is fantastic.
Some highlights from our conversation:
- Listening to Pink Floyd’s The Wall on headphones while sleeping for six-months may have laid a partial musical foundation.
- WiL’s not really a guy that used to like to jam in the early years and in fact had to learn how to write lyrics.
- Once you identify a passion, you now have to do the heavy lifting and forge ahead with it.
- A fan of the band Gomez, WiL suddenly found himself opening for them in Fargo, ND and realized ‘he’d made it’.
- He’s passionate about humans, motorcycles, building fences and martial arts.
- “When I get passionate about the thing, I get super hyper-focused and dive in with everything.”
- Every time he didn’t like a job, a person, or a circumstance, he walked away and gravitated to things he does enjoy.
- When you’re creatively stuck and losing interest, it’s best to get away from it for a while. “Stop pushing the rope up the hill.”
- “If you’re frustrated with something you hate, it’s never going to get better. Then something’s got to change.”
- “When you just go, and do, and be, the rest of it kind of presents itself.”
- “Start doing the thing you love and you will be that.”
- The doing of it drives WiL, not the achievement.
- When the lights are out at the end, maybe you get a cookie. And hopefully not a steak-flavored one (listen to the very end of the conversation and you’ll understand).
Want to go further down the WiL rabbit hole? Check these out:
