Self Assessment: how to get an objective view of your own abilities

I think before we get into any discussions about gear, recording techniques, and the like, it might be a good idea to do a little self-assessment to get an idea of what internal problems you can fix before you move on to the external.

A lot of the problems I see with artists seems to be with ego, goal-setting, and competition. Actually, those seem to be general human problems. But having been guilty of the worst of it and having scraped myself out of it, I think I have a few nuggets of advice.

1. Ego.

Learn how to take criticism. Just because you want it to sound great, doesn’t mean it is. Just because you think you’re the best at what you do in your social sphere, doesn’t mean you are. In fact, chances are if you believe you are the best, it’s only because you have a tiny network of friends, which is probably a result of your belief that you are the best.

You are only limiting yourself by not taking advantage of the greatest artistic tool known to man: external criticism. Nobody wants to be around an egomaniac and for some reason there are an overabundance of them in the artistic industries.

A couple of books I would recommend to anyone and everyone (not just artists) for purposeful ego-suppression are: How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age by Dale Carnegie, Love Is the Killer App by Tim Sanders, and The Thank You Economyby Gary Vaynerchuk. I’ve read all three, and they are excellent books.

2. Goal setting.

This is so important; by setting goals, coming up with strategies to meet those goals, and ensuring that progress is being made you can give yourself the best chance to improve. The first step in goal-setting is visualization. By knowing what you want you can begin to deconstruct it into a step-by-step process.

Most people are too afraid to imagine what they could be or what their life could be like, so they never give themselves the opportunity to build a roadmap. It’s the same thing with art. Visualization is not about going into lala land, it’s about solidifying your goals and seeing what kind of steps need to be taken to get there.

3. Competition.

Comparing your work to the work of people you admire is a great way to improve. It’s also a great way to feel shitty about yourself. Provided that you stay aware that the main purpose of comparing is for self-improvement, you can glean a lot of insight into your own shortcomings.

Make several versions of your own work and compare them, then let other people decide which is best.Facebook makes it pretty easy to use votes and polls to get an idea of what other people think. Competition with friends is ok, but we live in the Internet age there is a much bigger talent pool to choose from. Just don’t let it turn into a pissing contest.