Talent Doesn’t Finish Creative Projects... Endunrace Does!

Talent alone doesn’t finish creative projects. Endurance does. This is a big thing for artists and why so many people have abandoned projects. It’s not really a lack of talent. It’s their follow-through because, unfortunately, their mental fortitude that hasn’t yet developed.

When I think about mental fortitude, I think about Odysseus in The Odyssey. Just getting home was a ten-year journey. When we think about Odysseus, we think about the Sirens, the Cyclops, and everything else. But really, what it boils down to is that incessant nature that he was going to get to Ithaca, his home, by hell or high water.

When we look at ourselves in the creative space, that’s the challenge.

We all romanticize the big finish: the movie premiere, a published book with author signings, the concert where we’re playing all of our number-one songs, whatever it may be.

But we really have to focus on the years in between, meaning, the things it takes to go from that initial point of having an idea to completion.

At this point, I’ve done multiple projects that have taken quite a number of years, especially on an indie level when I don’t get to dedicate my full time to them because I have a job, and I also lack resources. So I had to get creative, and because of that, it takes a long time. Does matter whether it’s writing books, having made two feature films, or now working on a third one, it all just takes time.

And the same applies to you (most likely).

The thing we don’t talk about enough is that, yes, we look at a creative career as a marathon, and that’s a good analogy. But to refine it, a lot of this ends up being multiple marathons, one after the next.

Once you finish the script, that in and of itself was quite a marathon. Now you have to revise it. Then, as a filmmaker, you have to go and film it. How the hell do you do that And once you’ve done that, now you have to edit it. Each of these is a gigantic task, similar to what Odysseus had to face. He went from the Cyclops to Circe to the giant men to the Sirens. These are each, in and of themselves, Herculean tasks. Pardon the pun. It’s arduous and stacked together, that adds up.

What ends up happening is there are artists who get to a certain milestone, but then their legs buckle, and they can’t get to the next one and the next one. Each phase becomes its own marathon.

The good news is you can space it out if you want. You can finish a portion of something, give yourself a month or two to rest, and then get back to the next phase.

That’s okay.

Odysseus’ journey was arduous, but there were breaks in between when he was just on the ship or somewhere else. It wasn’t always pretty, but he did it. We can too.

The key to all of this is that you can’t allow motivation to be the engine. Discipline will take you further than anything else. There’s a big misconception that motivation can last throughout the duration of a creative project. The answer is simply that it can’t and won’t.

Motivation is a wonderful start to any creative endeavor, but it will not sustain you. You have to have routine and discipline in order to get there.

So how do you do that? Well, I want you to think like an athlete.

No person, regardless of whether they’re a professional or just someone trying to live a healthy lifestyle, is going to walk into a gym on their first day and lift 500 pounds or run 30 miles. They’re going to build up their endurance over time.

That’s how you have to think about this. This is why it’s a journey.

Let’s think about a filmmaker. They’re not going to make a feature film right out of the gate. They’re going to make a series of short films, practice, get better, and build those muscles—not only from a talent perspective, but also by understanding what it really takes.

When people ask me about my feature films, I knew I could do them because I’d already made so many short films. It was the natural next step.

Authors start with short stories or essays before they write a book. And before you’re going to make a full album, maybe you just start with one song. It’s okay to take things in smaller chunks and build toward the bigger things, no different than an athlete would.

That’s how you build your creative endurance. The goal is to become someone who doesn’t require motivation. Start by finishing smaller projects and THEN move on to slightly larger ones over time.

Focus on consistency before intensity.

And what you also have to realize—and be honest with yourself about—is that a lot of days are going to be boring. As mentioned, we glamorize premieres and the finish line. It’s our welcome home party in Ithaca as Odysseus would have imagined it.

But even Odysseus’ journey, as arduous as it was, gets romanticized because we remember him overcoming giants and monsters. What gets left out are the monotonous, boring days of him simply traveling and trying to make progress.

Here’s a seven-day challenge for you. Think about one creative project you’ve been avoiding. Ignore how big it feels and just commit to working on it for 30 minutes a day for the next seven days.

Not a ton of time. Literally just 30 minutes. Don’t worry about the quality and don’t even worry if 30 minutes doesn’t feel like significant progress. I want to make this doable and actionable. Just show up. Show up for those 30 minutes so you can start by building that promise to yourself.

Put it on your calendar and just do it. It’s making those simple habits over time that become routine, and that’s how you build endurance.

Think back to Odysseus. He didn’t become legendary simply because the journey was difficult but rather he became remembered because he refused to abandon his mission. There were many points of temptation where he could have said, “Okay, I’m just going to stay here.” But he never stopped dreaming of going home.

If your dream project is calling you, then it’s not a question of talent. It’s whether you can keep showing up long after the excitement wears off. Because it can, and it will.

You have to be willing to keep rowing toward your own Ithaca—your own destination. I believe you can. Just keep taking small, incremental steps every single day.