From Dreaming To Doing: A Musician’s Guide To Daily Momentum

Tired of waiting for the perfect spark before you make music? We dive into the real difference-maker: habits that carry you when motivation stays home. This conversation lays out a practical path for artists who want to replace vague plans with clear action, protect their creative time, and build a career that grows brick by brick.

We start by exposing why many musicians stall—goals that aren’t written, steps that aren’t defined, and calendars that don’t reflect priorities. From there, we draw the line between inspiration and discipline, showing how a simple system of time-boxed sessions and scoped tasks can turn big ambitions into daily motion. You’ll hear a candid look at the host’s own process while writing and producing a new album, including how deadlines, sections, and timers create forward momentum even on off days.

Then we break down the blueprint: turn a goal like “write five songs” into monthly themes, weekly milestones, and focused micro-tasks such as “draft the chorus” or “tighten verse two.” We show why consistency compounds skill and confidence—think daily scales, steady metronome gains, and small wins that prove progress. You’ll learn how to protect a “studio window,” cut through distractions, and choose progress over perfection so work ships sooner and improves faster. If you’ve felt behind, we offer firm encouragement to start where you are, stop comparing, and anchor to three essentials: one clear music goal, one daily habit tied to it, and a mindset shift from waiting to showing up.

If this talk helps you reset your routine, share it with a friend who’s building their craft. Subscribe for weekly strategies, drop a review to tell us your next 20-minute habit, and check the link in the description for the Sonic Kingship Art blog packed with deeper dives. Let’s move with intention and make this the year your music actually ships.

Youtube Channel: https://youtube.com/@thetonikingexperience7645

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2042588/support

Rare Keys Production- https://rarekeysproduction.com

Toni King link: http://www.linktr.ee/toni.king

The Sonic Kingship Art: https://www.rhuffmusic.com/post/it-s-a-big-music-industry-so-where-do-i-fit-in

Christ The King Release link: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/toniking/christ-the-king

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Big Promise
• 1:46 Why Goals Fail Without Specifics
• 2:57 Inspiration vs Discipline
• 4:17 Breaking Big Goals Into Daily Habits
• 7:56 Consistency Builds Confidence And Skill
• 9:55 Protecting Your Creative Time
• 11:20 Progress Over Perfection
• 12:19 Encouragement For Feeling Behind
• 14:05 Key Takeaways & Community Invites
• 15:28 Plugs, Releases, And Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Series, uh, but you know what it is, family. Before we do that, let's get into that theme music. Welcome back, everyone, to another great episode of Teach One Tuesday podcast. I am so excited about well, every episode, of course, you know I'm excited, but let's get into it. In this episode of Teach One Tuesday, we're getting real about what actually separates musicians who dream from musicianship who build. Spoiler alert, it's not talent, it's habits. We break down how to turn big creative visions into small daily actions that compound over time. You'll learn how to stay consistent when motivation fades, how protecting your time can change your entire career trajectory, and why long-term growth always beats chasing quick wins. This episode is for artists who are done waiting and ready to move with intention. All right. And uh, we're going to get into some points, man, today that I want to expand upon that I think is very important at the beginning of the year. And uh I think it's gonna help us all, including me. Including me, even though I'm doing the episode, it doesn't matter. It's my podcast, it does not matter. I am learning along with you guys, and I'm so happy to be a part of this great community. All right, so let's jump in here. Why most very first point, why most musicians struggle to follow through on their goals. And I'll say this up front. Uh, they struggle with this because uh they don't really, they're they're not specific in their goals, they don't write their goals down, they're not specific uh to what they actually want to accomplish. And um they don't uh specify the actual steps that are needed to accomplish their goals. They may say a few things to a few people, they may think about a few things. Um, but you know, when you are building a house or a new structure or building, there's something called a blueprint. And so that everybody can be on the same page, they have a plan, plan of action. What goals where, what walls, what what's happening, right? How far down are we digging to the ground? All these amazing things, uh, specific things that need to be uh flushed out before anyone actually physically breaks ground. Now, I challenge you to think of it this way. What are the goals that you have and what steps do you need to take? All right. Uh going on, next point the difference between inspiration and discipline and why discipline wins. Uh, I want to say this: you can uh be inspired all you want, you can listen to all the motivation that you want, and yes, it will help you in the moment. It has helped me. I still from time to time listen to motivation. It um it is an aid, it helps me uh to get going on what I need to do. But what I want to point out here is your discipline is the very next step. All right. So, so after point one, your goals being specific about your goals, yes, motivation has its place, but I want to turn your attention to discipline and what you are willing to be consistent with and doing to help you to get uh or to help you to achieve the goals that you have. It's really it really comes down to that. What are you willing to do on a daily, on every other day, every week, every month basis? What are you willing to do? You know, and even when you do not feel motivated, there are there's no inspiration that day, you but you know that you need to pick up your instrument that day. You know you need to, you know, work on the next verse of your song, your new song. And it's funny, I'm working on my new album right now, Kingdom Radio 2, and uh I'm in I'm in the actually, yeah, I'm in the midst of uh the writing phase and laying down tracks is kind of how it's happening uh for me. But I know that my music needs to be written. Whether I feel inspired to or not, I have a deadline that I've uh created for myself of when I want my album to come out. Um, when I'm going to be, you know, uh, of course, the writing phase, the the laying down the tracks, arranging, you know, actually producing a track, and then when I'm gonna start doing backgrounds and all leading all the way up to lead vocals, all these things need to happen. And yes, there are days that I will feel motivated to do that, and then there are days where I will not feel motivated to do that, but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter because it needs to get done and it's what I've set out to do. All right. And so I want to pass on uh that mindset to you that uh it uh uh that inspiration is great, but discipline is better, and that will win every single time. All right. So, next point how to turn big musical goals into small, repeatable daily habits. And I kind of already touched on it, but I'll go a little further. So take the the the big goal, whatever you want to do. Say I'll I'll I'll give an example. Say that you want to write, you know, five songs this year. You know, that's just a small goal. I'm just giving an example, and so that's great. Write the big goal down. Then uh get even more specific. How much time do you want to spend on each song? You want to spend a couple of weeks, you want to spend a month on each song, a couple of months? You know, what is the specific thing that you need to, specific time you need to dedicate? And in and in one day, how much time you want to spend on that song? Are you spending 30 minutes? Are you spending 45 minutes? You're spending an hour. This is breaking down your goals and getting very specific uh um about your goals, and and and these goals can also be repeatable and they're small enough. Now, here's what I want to say to you do not pressure yourself to try to write all five songs in one day or one week or one month. You have time, right? That's just the reason why we are breaking down these goals into small little chunks so it's not unbearable and so that it's not overwhelming, right? And so that's just an example of how specific you want to get. And even more specific than that, what section of the song you want to work on? Are we just working on chorus today? Are we just working on the verse or the second verse of the song, right? So get very specific about what you want to do, right? Because it makes it more uh uh palatable and it's not gonna overwhelm you and it will help you to uh get right to work. And what helps me on top of that is giving uh a certain amount of time for a specific task. So if I'm sitting down to practice, you know, I may just put a 20-minute timer on my phone. It helps me to just feel like there's forward motion. I'm not just practicing into the endless abyss of time, but there's a time, and some and there are many times where I continue to practice even after 20 minutes are up, all right? But it helps me to feel like, okay, I accomplished something. I did what I need to do today. And sometimes I may even put 20 more minutes or five more minutes on there if I'm not ready to finish uh practicing at the moment. So this is what it means to break things down and uh so that it's it's uh repeatable and you can do it daily or every other day. All right. Uh the next point, why consistent why consistency builds both confidence and skill, and and this is very, very true. Um take it to, you know, or let me give an example of uh building a house. Again, I don't know why a house is in my mind today, but let's use that for example. You know, there are stages. All right, and so uh, of course, you're gonna have a deadline uh as to when you want this house to be finished. So there needs to be a schedule, a timeline, if you will, um, of and so that you can be consistent uh in what section of the house you're working on, because over time, right, you're going to can you're going to see the progress. You're going to see how much you have come along, and you're going to see this thing really turning into a house. So consistency uh is very important. Now we're assuming in this situation that you're already skilled, but also your skills continue to grow. You know what I mean? So uh I'll give a musical example. Uh so you know, if you if you're a pianist like I am, you you want to work on your scales, you want to work on uh uh them being faster, let's just say, for example. Uh you want you there there needs to be some time that you are spending on these scales. I would say it could be a daily uh thing, and it doesn't have to be long, but it can be a daily practice where you get on and you practice these scales. Maybe you're having an issue with minors, you know, um harmonic or melodic, whichever one, all three. Um, you know, some people call it the pure minor or relative minor. Uh, but you need to be consistent with that to see the progress, to see your skill grow. And that's really what this is saying, right? Uh, you need to be consistent with that. And so uh, you know, I encourage you to uh to to build this in such a way where you can be confident as you practice and and continue to build your skills. All right. Next point protecting your creative time in a world of full, in a world full of distractions. And and you know, this goes without saying, family, that I I get that there's so much we could do. There's so much that we there's Netflix, come on. I mean, we have so much, we have devices in our pockets, we have you know so many apps with we there's so many movies and shows, and we can binge watch. I mean, you know, it's exciting. I'm not going to deny how exciting it is, but you need to protect your time. You know, if you really want to progress this year and and beyond, then protecting your time is very, very important. I mean, you want to look back, if if you want to look back uh at this year in December and say, okay, yeah, I was able to accomplish, you know, this or that. I was able to get better at my scales, I was able to get better at this piece I'm working on. You know, whatever it is, I I want you to be able to do that. So I'll so what needs to happen is you do need to protect your time. And we are all busy, we have jobs, we have families, we have you know spouses, all those things. But at the end of the day, do you want this or not? Do you want to grow or not? You know, there's always going to be a ready-made excuse for why you can't do something. And so I challenge you at the beginning of this year. I challenge you to get in place, get into the right place, protect your time, be consistent, diligent, so that you can see uh at the end of the year and beyond how much you have grown. All right. Uh, next point while progress matters more than perfection, it's it matters that you are progressing each and every day on this thing. You may not always get it right each and every time, but uh progress it gives you confidence, it it uh it allows you to feel that I can do this, I can accomplish this goal, I am capable, I can believe myself when I say I want to accomplish something. Uh the progress does so much for you. And so put yourself in a position to constantly progress. Again, even if it's not a daily thing, it'd be an every other day thing, you know, however you want to do it. But this is, you know, I just feel encouraged this year uh that this is the time to really jump in and get done what you want to get done. And so this is what you need to do. And so I want you to put yourself in a position to progress on a daily basis, even if you can't see the progress, it's happening. All right. So keep going. Uh, last point of this episode encourage encouragement for artists who feel behind, stuck, or discouraged. Listen to me. You know, we all have felt these feelings. We all have felt like we are not where we're supposed to be or where we think we're supposed to be. Um, do me a favor, stop comparing yourself to others. I work on this myself. This is a challenge for me as well. Um, do not compare yourself. You're you're not here to compare. You're here, you're here to write your own story, you're here to be the hero of your own story. And so, what you need to do is if you need to go back and listen to this episode again, listen to each and every point, put these things into practice because I want you to be encouraged. I don't want you to feel like you're stuck or behind. No, you're right where you need to be. Just start exactly where you are and continue to go. Pick up that guitar again, pick up the pen, write the song, uh, take that class again on you to me. Whatever you need to do, start even outside of music. If you're writing a book, you know, which is something that I'll I'll let the cow of the bag. I am uh putting a book out this year. I don't know if I said on the last episode. So I'm I'm in that boat as well. You know, so uh please don't feel that it's too late. It's not too late. Let's go today. Let's have let's let's let's let's go at it right now, even after you finish listening to this episode. Let's it's go time. All right. So put these things into practice. And these are the things I want you to take away uh from this episode. One clear, actionable music goal or have your goals uh and and one daily habit directly connected to the goal and mindset shift from waiting to feel ready to showing up daily. All right, take these things away from this episode and let's get to work, family. Let's make things happen. I'm I'm excited for you. And uh please, guys, you know, reach out to me, let me know what's going on. You can leave comments on Buzz Sprout, you know. Let me know what you're working on, let me know what's happening with you because I'm excited to hear what you are doing because we're on this journey together, all right. Uh, if this episode helped you help to shift your mindset, make sure you check out the latest post on Sonic Kingship Art blog. Also, with so much more information is being given, and come back each week as we build uh motive intentional, sustainable, creative careers together. All right, family. I want to thank you so much for checking this out. Before you go, do me a favor, family. Make sure that you tell others about this podcast. Check out what I'm doing on social media. I am uh continuing to do covers. My new cover is going to be released in February, the first week of February, the first Friday, where I will continue to do my covers. My new album will be dropping this year, not giving dates yet, but my new album is gonna be dropping this year, Kingdom Radio 2. Check my stuff out on all uh on everything Facebook, YouTube, uh uh, Instagram. Check my stuff out. I'm always posting, giving even great information. But definitely check out the blog as well. There should be a link there for you to check that out in the description. And uh, we're going to continue to build, family. I want to thank you so much for checking this out. I hope you're having a wonderful day. If you're not having a wonderful day, you can change that by your mind. So thanks so much, Tony King.