How do you guys deal with discouragement and lack of motivation?

[Sentri]

It's as the title says.

This isn't the first time that this has happened with me either. recently I haven't had much motivation to do anything and this is a bit discouraging for me. I look at the time span that I want to complete this in, but life has kinda got me in a rut right now. I've wanted to make a set of armor for years now, but it gets hard when you have always had to work on things alone.

I'm trying to figure out how to get my motivation back to finish this thing by the end of October.

 

[Fallen]

Sometimes you need to take a break and not fret the timeline. If I need inspiration, I play the game that I'm basing my character on.

If what's discouraging you is that you're always working alone, do you talk to friends or family about your build? Do you work with music? TV/Netflix? Do you have a friend or family member that would be interested in making their own set? Perhaps you could work on your sets together.

 

[PerniciousDuke]

Two modes of thought on the same idea here (I like ZP's suggestions too), but for me, completing a piece is the biggest motivation. Either complete the smallest parts and start to see the project take shape. Or, complete the hardest parts and watch the project snowball into completion. I feel you though, it is quite the undertaking. Right now I'm losing motivation on the piece I'm working on and my tactic is to just chip away at it, an hour or two here and there and eventually it will not seem so daunting.

 

[Chernobyl]

It's as the title says.

This isn't the first time that this has happened with me either. recently I haven't had much motivation to do anything and this is a bit discouraging for me. I look at the time span that I want to complete this in, but life has kinda got me in a rut right now. I've wanted to make a set of armor for years now, but it gets hard when you have always had to work on things alone.

I'm trying to figure out how to get my motivation back to finish this thing by the end of October.

First bit of advice? Forget deadlines - toss them right out of the window. Deadlines are the number one cause of poor workmanship and stress with your projects - the more you benchmark a goal and say 'I want it done by XYZ date' the more you'll keep looking at your work and going 'but I have ABC to do before I get there, this seems like a tall order'.

Your work should be a natural flow of progression. Relax, take it at your own pace - you'll get far better results if you don't feel stressed by the deadline, and you'll enjoy yourself that much more. And, if you're feeling a loss of motivation, same applies - don't force it. Take a break, relax, do something else for a while until you find your groove again. Truth be told, sometimes I've gone months without even looking at a model, let alone working on a project, so, again: relax and don't force it.

 

[Reclaimara]

If I ever find a way, I'll tell you.
I have been dealing with some **** since few years and I'm still stuck, lol.

But as for doing the costume - believe it or not but it really helped me to feel at least a little bit better and instead of falling even deeper, at least it stopped.



As for motivation - like it was said before, don't care about the deadlines. They'll just make you more frustrated, will discourage you.
You should relax, feel nice and positive - don't get angry, if you feel you need to take a break, take it.
If you try to force it, it won't work and it may make you feel worse.

 

[kaween]

.... I'm really bad at pep talks, so I hope this doesn't go down the wrong way.

1) you SHOULD be in it for the fun of it. For the "look what I can do with my own two hands" wow feeling. As many before me state : to hell with time limits. If it takes you 10 years to complete it, so be it. Just find a way to have FUN while working on it. The moment you start seeing it as a chore, just walk away for some time and come back to it when you're ready for it. October you say ? Fine. You didn't specifiy the year though. If what you want to do is just too high to attain, switch back gear. Make a simpler design which you can use to come back later and add to, to obtain your ultimate goal later. Example : I did promise my son a full H3 or H4 armor, but there's no way I'll be able to build a full one this year for him. So next con, he'll go as a H4/H5 Cloacked Spartan, he'll have that cool helmet and rifle, the gauntlets, the boots and the shoulder pieces. And next year, it's time to strip away that cloak when I've produced the rest of his armour by then. Because just sitting in a corner trying to THINK the armor together won't really help. You've got to start somewhere, and best is to aim for a goal that you KNOW you can pull off if you're hellbend on hitting a target within a specified time frame.

2) i KNOW it can be very discouraging to see how good many of the guys&girls on the 405th are at their thing. If I compare my suit to many of them, mine looks like total crap. But did I had fun making it, altering it, repairing it, changing it, sometimes ruining it ? You bet ya. So do NOT stare yourself blind on what other people can do in terms of quality. It is YOUR BUILD, and the only thing that is important is that YOU have a good time working on it, learning to do stuff you've never done before and seeing how you can get BETTER at it than you ever thought was possible. As said, I KNOW my armor is only so-and-so and you know what ? The first kid that walks to you at any con with a wide eye look asking for a picture, and getting over the moon when he gets that High-Five from that Mr Spartan or gets to hold that big$ss gun for his pose with you, THAT is what you do it for. All the rest, to me at least, is BS.

For me, the "OMG" moment was when a young guy in a wheel chair poked my knee (approx), I turned around and I didn't immideatly see him as it was pretty crowdy and I focused on "normal height". Anyway, the SMILE on that guys' face when "the spartan" didn't only let his picture being taken, but even posed with him and his dog for a second one didn't make my day, it made my year. It's a good thing he couldn't see my face through the visor as I had diffculties keeping my eyes dry at that moment.

You want motivation ? THAT's you motivation. Putting a smile on other peoples' faces. If that isn't enough -and I understand it won't be for other people-, I can't help you.

For me, that is more than enough to forget all the hotglue burns, the frustrations when something just does NOT work out, the knowledge the suit from X, the paintjob done by Y and the weaponary done by Z looks a lot better than anything I could cobble together TODAY but who knows maybe someday, the setbacks when that model your worked on so long and so hard goes to ***** in front of your very eyes, the bloody much-higher-than-you-anticipated bill that damn suit has mounted up already and it's still not near ready.

And utterly, I did it because I promised my kids I would do so. From that point on, there's no turning back.

Find that thing that makes YOU refuse to turn back, and just get going.

 

[Reclaimara]

.... I'm really bad at pep talks, so I hope this doesn't go down the wrong way.

1) you SHOULD be in it for the fun of it. For the "look what I can do with my own two hands" wow feeling. As many before me state : to hell with time limits. If it takes you 10 years to complete it, so be it. Just find a way to have FUN while working on it. The moment you start seeing it as a chore, just walk away for some time and come back to it when you're ready for it. October you say ? Fine. You didn't specifiy the year though. If what you want to do is just too high to attain, switch back gear. Make a simpler design which you can use to come back later and add to, to obtain your ultimate goal later. Example : I did promise my son a full H3 or H4 armor, but there's no way I'll be able to build a full one this year for him. So next con, he'll go as a H4/H5 Cloacked Spartan, he'll have that cool helmet and rifle, the gauntlets, the boots and the shoulder pieces. And next year, it's time to strip away that cloak when I've produced the rest of his armour by then. Because just sitting in a corner trying to THINK the armor together won't really help. You've got to start somewhere, and best is to aim for a goal that you KNOW you can pull off if you're hellbend on hitting a target within a specified time frame.

2) i KNOW it can be very discouraging to see how good many of the guys&girls on the 405th are at their thing. If I compare my suit to many of them, mine looks like total crap. But did I had fun making it, altering it, repairing it, changing it, sometimes ruining it ? You bet ya. So do NOT stare yourself blind on what other people can do in terms of quality. It is YOUR BUILD, and the only thing that is important is that YOU have a good time working on it, learning to do stuff you've never done before and seeing how you can get BETTER at it than you ever thought was possible. As said, I KNOW my armor is only so-and-so and you know what ? The first kid that walks to you at any con with a wide eye look asking for a picture, and getting over the moon when he gets that High-Five from that Mr Spartan or gets to hold that big$ss gun for his pose with you, THAT is what you do it for. All the rest, to me at least, is BS.

For me, the "OMG" moment was when a young guy in a wheel chair poked my knee (approx), I turned around and I didn't immideatly see him as it was pretty crowdy and I focused on "normal height". Anyway, the SMILE on that guys' face when "the spartan" didn't only let his picture being taken, but even posed with him and his dog for a second one didn't make my day, it made my year. It's a good thing he couldn't see my face through the visor as I had diffculties keeping my eyes dry at that moment.

You want motivation ? THAT's you motivation. Putting a smile on other peoples' faces. If that isn't enough -and I understand it won't be for other people-, I can't help you.

For me, that is more than enough to forget all the hotglue burns, the frustrations when something just does NOT work out, the knowledge the suit from X, the paintjob done by Y and the weaponary done by Z looks a lot better than anything I could cobble together TODAY but who knows maybe someday, the setbacks when that model your worked on so long and so hard goes to ***** in front of your very eyes, the bloody much-higher-than-you-anticipated bill that damn suit has mounted up already and it's still not near ready.

And utterly, I did it because I promised my kids I would do so. From that point on, there's no turning back.

Find that thing that makes YOU refuse to turn back, and just get going.

^ Totally agree with that.
Also, kaween, you ARE not good giving pep talks but you're great at it.

As to the 2) - personally when I see all these great costumes and props, I try to take it as inspiration and as a fuel to drive, motivate me to keep on going and doing my best.

I can't imagine how great it had to be, that experience with that kid. Breathtaking moment, but this is why you're doing it.

 

[peterthethinker]

Ditto. To see some one happy makes it all worth it .. my knees are on fire. But when you light up some ones day. All the pain for a day goes away....

 

[bran3nbusby117]

work on your part while watching red vs blue it is really easy, you don't work very fast but you get sucked in to it and don't even realize that you have done that much... works everytime

 

[Chiefwannabe]

If Im mot feeling up to building then I just walk back inside and don't think about it. I chat with my friends about and they're all really interested in it and I think " these guys are really looking forward to seeing this thing done" then I look over at my helmet on my desk and go "stuff it" and get back to building it. I also play the game, and read through some of the ODST threads on the site! I build to music and some times I will take my phone out and chat with friends while Im building. Also, get a friend or family member who's really interested in this. My cousin makes short films and Ive been helping him with costumes and props. My Dad is Incredibly supportive of this and has been following some halo prop pages on facebook. One of my Good mates is really interested in this and he's gone so far as bookmarking this site! We talk about it at school and we both have Halo on the PC so we chat on there as well about all things halo

Thats what I do
Think
Play
Read
Music
Chat
Help
BUILD!!!

This helps me and may only work for me and thats fine but its what keeps me buiding
Don't feel down about not feeling up to building just have some time off
I hope this helps!

 

[Sentri]

To be honest, I wish I had family that was interested in this. My immediate family are okay with it, but not interested, and I don't really speak to the rest of my family (personal reasons).

You guys are right, I've had a few of those wow moments with other costumes, and I guess I just gotta remember what that was like. 2 years ago it was with my Team Fortress 2 Engineer costume. I was hanging out with one of my friends when we had a little boy come up to us and ask if we were the Blue Spy and Engineer. He got super excited when we said that we were and asked for a picture with us, which of course we obliged. He then hugged us both and went running back over to his parents, still excited.

And trust me, I am in this for the fun, but life has kinda got me down ATM. I'm gonna see what I can do this weekend. I know my motivations for doing the costume, it is just getting myself to actually do it.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

ChaosDynasty I feel you man........I truly know the feeling of being in a room full of family members and felling totaly alone. As for motivation........There is a serenity of mind that I attain when building......not just costuming....anything. I'm a part-time handyman and it always raises my spirits when a customer tells me that they already had someone come and try an fix something several times already and I come in and in about an hour it's fixed.......After building my son's suit (which we both were not 100% happy w/ but still wore it), the reaction of his friends when he walked in to the carnival were jaw dropping and well worth all the effort already put in to it. We have plans to improve and fully complete his suit the way we want. He is not the most social boy in the class but now..........after that.....he is always in the center of activity at school now. You might not find motivation........it just may find you. Just be ready for it.

 

[Sentri]

Dirtdives see, here's the thing about that. It isn't that I'm in a room full of people and I'm alone, it's more that I AM alone. I have a house by myself, no roommates, nothing(after a past roommate, never again). I chat and play games with my friends online, but other than that, it is just me.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

If that is the case.......get into a room full of people, have a drink or 4, mingle and get your grove on.......It sounds like you need to reconnect socially.......what ever that is for you.........You need to wake up like the guys from "The Hangover"......but in a more sane and safe environment (w/o the facial tattoo)........You need to recharge your "Fun' batteries. Go wild.....just don't end up on the evening news......."Man arrested for public indecency and trespassing at local Zoo late last night. Souses say he was prompted by fellows on a forum web-sight he frequents. Weather and traffic coming up next.".......

 

[Jme]

What about a call out to other 405th members in Michigan for a get-together, build party or the like?

For me, when I am building, I just get in a grove and lose all track of time. I throw on some tunes, or put a show on Netflix (I started my build with RvB and then binge-watched Archer) grab a beer and sink on in.


"I don't know what's weirder, that you're fighting a stuffed animal, or that you seem to be losing" - Suzie

 

[Sentri]

If that is the case.......get into a room full of people, have a drink or 4, mingle and get your grove on.......It sounds like you need to reconnect socially.......what ever that is for you.........You need to wake up like the guys from "The Hangover"......but in a more sane and safe environment (w/o the facial tattoo)........You need to recharge your "Fun' batteries. Go wild.....just don't end up on the evening news......."Man arrested for public indecency and trespassing at local Zoo late last night. Souses say he was prompted by fellows on a forum web-sight he frequents. Weather and traffic coming up next.".......

There is no worries of seeing that headline since, for one, I am female, and two, well, I can't drink. If I were to do something like go to a club or a bar, honestly, I'd rather be the DJ (but I have no gigs. EDM isn't a big scene where I live).

I know what you mean though. Just not sure how to go about doing that. maybe I'll just put on some tunes while working on my build and listen to see what to put up for my next online setlist. This weekend specifically, all of my friends are at colossalcon, in Ohio, and due to lack of money I can't go.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

What about a call out to other 405th members in Michigan for a get-together, build party or the like?

For me, when I am building, I just get in a grove and lose all track of time. I throw on some tunes, or put a show on Netflix (I started my build with RvB and then binge-watched Archer) grab a beer and sink on in.


"I don't know what's weirder, that you're fighting a stuffed animal, or that you seem to be losing" - Suzie

Love Archer....just can't watch it in front of the wife......she hates it w/ a passion......

Any way, that is a great Idea Jme.
ChaosDynasty, to paraphrase the true quote ...If you can go to the Con....bring the Con to you!!

As far as male/female........there are females getting arrested for the same thing........it's not a male exclusive club.......and I didn't know you gender....Had 50/50 chance.......went w/ the statistics male over female in that category.....fail. Perhaps your bummed out because your not going to the Con?........Just think, there will be others and many more years to enjoy them.

 

[kaween]

I know what you mean though. Just not sure how to go about doing that. maybe I'll just put on some tunes while working on my build and listen to see what to put up for my next online setlist. This weekend specifically, all of my friends are at colossalcon, in Ohio, and due to lack of money I can't go.

.... that sucks royally, and it may not be much of a comfort but I think all of us have been there at some time either long ago or recently (not in Ohio, you know what I mean ). You'd think that in this day and age with all the snapchat/whatsup/what-do-I-know going in it would be hard to still feel left alone and behind but there you go : it happens to all of us. And every single one of us has to find his own method to beat that feeling. For me, it's putting the amplifier WAY up when I'm alone at home and go dark'n gritty to some eighties new wave tracks belching long forgotten lyrics -it hardly qualifies as singing- which will sound totally _wrong_ to many but hey, that's what helps me no end.

It's like Dirtdives says, try to get in touch with others, be it face-to-face or using the net when times are rough. It makes all the difference in the world.

So bite the bullet, grit your teeth and dig your heels in Spartan.
Know we all have been there.
And we all made it through, because that's what a Spartan does.

 

[Sentri]

Thanks to everyone for the ideas. just as a little bit of an update, I'm now waiting on supplies to come in (my angle cutter and case of plastidip) but until then I'll probably be cutting out templates for sizing so I'm good to go with cutting foam, and maybe some of the smaller easier components.

In other news, I actually have a paid DJ gig this Sunday, so that has my spirits up as well. Since it is for a birthday party, I get to play what I specialize in, Video game remixes!

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Good for you......just what you need to lift your spirits. FUN!!!! Enjoy, get paid, get social.........and get back to the build..........it's calling for you.....can't you hear it.......or is that the radio again?........keep leaving it on......